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Tomorrow will feature qualifying in the morning followed by the first race – to be staged over 15 laps – in the afternoon immediately preceding the first of two V8 Supercar races to be staged this weekend.

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Title contenders first and second in Symmons Plains practice

TITLE RIVALS James Winslow and Chris Gilmour have begun their battle for the 2011 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship crown by topping practice at Symmons Plains Raceway in Tasmania today(Friday).

Picking up where they left off five days ago at Phillip Island – where the pair diced all weekend for the victory – Winslow was quickest in both sessions today with his best of 51.3087 seconds coming late in the second of two, 20-minute, practice sessions.

Sunny skies and relatively warm conditions greeted competitors at the 2.4km circuit this morning with Winslow instantly jumping to the top of the charts at the circuit where he won his 2008 Aussie F3 title.

His quick time in the second session showed that the British racer – some 19 points behind Gilmour in the championship battle – was going to go all-out to win this weekend and take a second championship, a feat only one person has achieved before in Australian F3 history.

“The car feels good,” he said. “It feels like it did at Phillip Island during race two when we won! There’s more to come and times were a bit slower than expected but so far, so good.”

Gilmour was also easing himself into the weekend but his pace today showed that he wasn’t going to be just accumulating points in Tasmania.

“We’re here to win, I’m not just chasing points,” he exclaimed.  “Cruising around trying to finish third and only do enough to win the title isn’t my style. It’s going to be very competitive and I’ll be right in the fight with a goal to win. The car feels good. There are improvements to be made but we’re well on the right track.”

Former champion Tim Macrow proved that five months out of the car have done him no harm as he instantly jumped into podium calculations today by finishing both sessions in third place, just tenths from the leaders.

Macrow and his dad – former open wheel champion Peter – rebuilt the Victorian’s F304 Dallara from a bare chassis in the space of a few weeks, finishing the car moments before it was shipped to Tasmania at the start of the week.

Without having turned a single lap the car was instantly on the pace, the older-model Dallara revelling in the long straights that are a Symmons Plains feature.

“The car isn’t bad at all given we’ve just thrown it all together,” Macrow smiled. “The only issue we had was a small braking issue in first practice and we destroyed a front tyre because of it – but aside from that it’s good and there’s plenty more to come from it. I think we’ll be pretty close to the money.”

Yellow Tail wines / Astuti Motorsport driver Mat Sofi was bang on the money as well, and ended both sessions today in fourth place confident that the team has uncovered underlying issues that saw them struggle for pace last week.

R-Tek Forpark Australia National class competitors Steel Guiliana and Tasmanian hope Josh Burdon took turns topping their class times today, Burdon on good form early before Guiliana bounced back later in the afternoon.

Team BRM driver John Magro had a shortened day, a broken gearbox curtailing his second practice session short after completing just seven laps.

Queenslander Ben Gersekowski finally got some practice laps in his Vic’s timbers / BF Racing Dallara, though his flight in this morning ensured he missed first practice.

Despite the dramas the 20-year-old was quickly on the money and was able to close to approximately one-second of the pace in the second session – and within half-a-second of his Scholarship rivals.

Roman Krumins improved three seconds between sessions to complete the field.