It was a tough weekend for
TanderSport at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide.
Round two of the 2008 Kumho
Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship didn’t go to plan for drivers’ Leanne
Tander and Samantha Reid, but positives can be found from what ended up being a
destructive weekend on the 3.2km street circuit.
Improving pace throughout
the weekend for Tander and a strong debut in the Opes Prime National Class for
Reid were bright points in an event that can best be described as
character-building for the team.
Tander struggled for car speed in
qualifying but raced strongly in race one to finish where she started, in sixth
position.
In race two she was an unwilling participant in a massive
crash that eliminated the #42 TanderSport car and two other championship class
competitors in one hit.
Earl Bamber’s car had ridden the kerb exiting
turn nine and subsequently was veered across the racetrack. Tander tagged Bamber
with her rear wheel as she passed to the left, looking for clear track.
Unfortunately, Bamber then tagged his team mate Nathan Caratti who was
veered into the wall – right into the path of Tander’s Dallara. The impact
caused damage to three corners, a nose box, underfloor and other ancillary
components of the F307-Mercedes car.
Samantha Reid’s debut with
TanderSport was positive – qualifying her car a strong third in class for race
one in the ultra competitive F3 ‘race within a race’.
She then improved her lap
time further in the second session and was running inside the class top five in
race one before an unfortunate spin at the final corner dropped her to sixth in
her class at the flag.
In race two Reid lost time
with an incident at the hairpin early in the race, dropping as low as 19th
place; but she recovered strongly and – setting lap times as quick as the class
leaders – raced back to 10th overall and 3rd in the National Class.
As a
result Reid sits 7th in the Opes Prime National Class with 16 points, whilst
Tander is 6th in the overall battle with 19.
Round 3 of the Kumho Tyres
Australian Formula 3 Championship will be held at Oran Park Raceway, in Sydney,
on April 25 – 27.
Leanne Tander - #42
TanderSport Dallara F307 Mercedes Benz
”It was a really
disappointing weekend. I know that the car and I am good enough to run at the
front,” Leanne Tander said.
”To be back in sixth and eighth in
qualifying was not a good enough result for me. I was, however, pretty happy
with the improvements on the car for the second race – I had moved up to seventh
and was feeling confident that I was going to be able to move up a spot or two
but then (The incident with Caratti and Bamber) happened and I was in the
wall.
”I just had no where to go. I went left to try and stay away but my
rear clipped earl. I felt like I could carry on but then Caratti’s car came in
front of me and that was it.
”These things happen when you race on a
street circuit; It’s disappointing and expensive but unfortunately,
unavoidable.”
Samantha Reid - #52 TanderSport Dallara F304
Spiess Opel
“I’m very grateful to the
team for allowing me to be involved this weekend,” Reid said.
“The weekend didn’t go the
way I would have liked, or the way I had planned, but I think with it being my
first meeting with TanderSport you have to get over the dramas and move on. I
hope that I can come up with the budget to do better the next time.
”It
was frustrating to have pace all weekend but not express it the way I would have
liked.”
Garth Tander – TanderSport Co-Owner / Team
Manager
“It certainly wasn’t a great
weekend for the Tanders’ in Adelaide,” Garth Tander said.
”It’s
disappointing for Leanne. The speed just wasn’t there all weekend and then she
was caught up in someone else’s’ accident. One up side is that a lot of the
serious championship contenders’ didn’t have fantastic weekends either. This
result releases all pressure from a championship perspective for Leanne – now we
will just focus on winning as many races as possible and if that happens then
the championship should look after itself.
”It was always going to be
difficult for Samantha – traditionally the street circuits like Clipsal and the
Grand Prix are very frantic races and there isn’t a lot of time to get into a
groove.
”I think her speed in qualifying was excellent and the speed she
showed over the entire weekend proved that she has the capability to drive these
cars very competitively.”
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