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TANDERSPORT
GETS A STEP UP ON RIVALS AS BEN CRIGHTON
TESTS AT MALLALA
 TANDERSPORT
has got a leg up on the competition ahead of the 2009 Kumho Tyres
Australian Formula 3 Championship following a successful test at Mallala
Raceway, near Adelaide, last Friday (14 November).
New Zealander Ben Crighton drove the #42 TanderSport Dallara F307 –
Mercedes Benz entry used to great success this season by Leanne Tander,
winning five races and finishing on the podium nine times from 15 races.
In preparation for an attack on the Australian Drivers Championship next
year, the 26-year-old completed a full day of running at the 2.6km
circuit to help the adaptation from his National-Class Dallara F304 he
utilised this season. The latest-model Dallara features more aerodynamic
grip than the older cars and has lapped substantially quicker this year,
especially on the faster tracks.
Though running during an open practice day ensured plenty of traffic,
the team worked though a solid checklist of tasks designed to bring Ben
up to speed and by the end of the day left pleased with the results.
“Ben did a great job, we were very pleased with what was achieved given
the conditions and the slower traffic he had to work around,”
TanderSport team manager Leanne Tander said.
“We didn’t get as many clear laps as we would have liked but Ben showed
plenty of improvement and positive gains that we were looking for at the
start of the day. I think he showed with the job he did that he is
heading in the right direction to be a strong contender next season.”
“The F307 car just does everything better than the ’04, it’s just a big
step up so it was great to get a taste of that well in advance of the
new season,” Ben Crighton said.
“The day was made up of lots of short sessions of only eight or nine
laps each but I think we made some really good progress with what we set
out to achieve. We came to Mallala because it’s a hard track on brakes
and that was probably my biggest weakness this season. We definitely
made progress which was positive as braking is even more important in
the ’07 car.
“It was good to run at a track I hadn’t been at before and one we may
well be back to next year. I’m looking forward to getting our testing
program in place and getting back in the car!”
TanderSport are continuing preparations for the 2009 Australian Formula
3 Championship and are currently talking to several drivers to
potentially fill a second seat at the team for next year.
The 2009 Australian Drivers Championship will kick off at the Clipsal
500 Adelaide between March 19 – 22.
mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk
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