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2008 Kumho Tyres

 Australian Formula 3 Championship

Scud Racing's last minute expansion sets up strong 2008 season

Melbourne-based Scud Racing put into effect the first steps in a long-term plan to develop the next generation of young driving talent at last weekends’ opening round of the 2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship.

A three-tiered approach to the series, with one car in each class, was put into effect at Sydney’s Eastern Creek following the purchase by the Bill-Maddocks owned team of a new Mercedes-powered Dallara F307 chassis to contest the full 2008 Australian Drivers’ Championship.

With experienced driver Stuart Kostera behind the wheel, the team made solid progress at the weekend to finish the first race 7th – despite not having any pre-round testing or setup information for the car.

“This weekend wasn’t about big results – it was just trying to get some points and more importantly learning about the car,” Kostera explained.

”We also moved forward from tenth on the grid to finish in seventh, so it wasn’t a bad day for us. It was pretty exciting to get the call on Wednesday to come over and race, so our preparation was pretty short and sweet – we didn’t have any!”

Kostera’s strong start to the year was mirrored by Scud Racing’s two young future stars who also posted strong performances at Eastern Creek.

In his first visit in an F3 car to the circuit, Mathew Radisich posted strong performances in the ultra-competitive Opes Prime National Class to record a stunning 4th in class in race one – after a race long battle with Daniel Cotton.

Radisich, the 19 year old nephew of Touring car legend Paul, has joined Scud Racing for a full-time campaign this season after contesting selected rounds of the 2007 championship.

“We worked our way forwards in the race, and I thought that finishing fourth in the Opes Prime National Class was pretty good,” Radisich enthused.

“I’ve got a lot of learning left to do, but I learnt a lot about what needs to be done and that’s important for us to progress. The aim right now is consistency and not so much speed, and that’s what we slowly hope to achieve.”

16-year-old Justin Tate impressed behind the wheel of the #25 Scud Racing Dallara F301 in the Trophy Class in his Formula 3 Championship debut.

After just one test day behind the wheel at Winton prior to the round, Tate qualified second in class at Eastern Creek and finished third in the race despite stalling on the grid. The young Victorian had the presence of mind to quickly refire the car to take the start from where he recovered to score a solid haul of championship points.

”The start of the meeting was amazing, because I never really expected to do as well as I did in practice - Setting quicker laps than the newer cars was personally really satisfying,” Tate said.

”But then I had trouble at the start of the race and after managed to restart the car I was too far behind to really do anything, so I just took that as an opportunity to get more laps under my belt with a nice long run. I managed to set some pretty fast laps then, so it was a shame that the start didn’t go my way, otherwise we could have been up the front.”

Team owner Bill Maddocks explained that the weekend was just the first step in a long-term plan for the team to progress and develop throughout the coming season – and beyond.

“All three did a fantastic job at the weekend, I’m really thrilled with the result,” Maddocks enthused.

”Everything came into place very late – we entered the weekend expecting to run two cars and ended up running three so it was a lot of work, but everyone has pulled together to make it happen and I think it’s going to be a fantastic season.

”This is another piece in our plan to run a program that allows drivers to gain experience and come through the ranks of Formula 3 to gain as much experience as possible in a very affordable way. We don’t put our drivers under any pressure to perform – they generally place enough on themselves anyway – so we want to work with them to learn the tracks and cars in the National and Trophy classes, before going out and having a crack at the championship.

“This is an ongoing plan that we have mapped out into the future, but it’s really exciting. I’m very excited about the potential of the young drivers we have this year and the potential for them in the future.”

Scud Racing will continue its season when the championship returns to the Clipsal 500 Adelaide for the first time in four years, between February 21 – 24.

www.formula3.com.au