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A1 GRAND PRIX - ROUND 1 2007 The 2007 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship kicked off in style as the cars headed to Sydney for Round 1 of the series, which took place at the unique A1 Grand Prix of Nations event at Eastern Creek Raceway.Victorian driver Tim Macrow came into the event preparing for another strong showing as he was given the opportunity to step back into the Cooltemp/Scud Dallara F304 which was once again to be prepared by Gary Sturdy and the team at Scud Racing. This superbly prepared Dallara was the bearer of much late season success for Tim in 2006 as he became acquainted with a new car and team - and the results were more than pleasing bringing Macrow his debut race win with three late season race wins. Saturday was the all important Qualifying day as Tim and the team at Cooltemp and Scud Racing were confident heading into the two sessions. Macrow finished the session by setting the second quickest time giving him a front row start for Race One, just missing out on pole by a narrow 0.0391 seconds. A close session was staged with the top eight drivers covered by a second with Stuart Kostera taking pole position for Race 1. "With the times so close it's important to be up front so I'm happy with a front row start, but also a little disappointed at missing out on pole by so little!" Macrow said. Leading into final qualifying, the team made minor adjustments confident of another strong performance from Macrow. Macrow spent most of the session sitting on pole with a solid time of 1:28.35. In the dying stages of the session after the chequered flag, Macrow was pipped over the line by Astuti Motorsport's Charles Hollings for pole position. "Again a little disappointed not to be pole but two front row starts puts us in a good position for tomorrows races. Hopefully our qualifying pace can be converted into consistent race pace." Race day was turning out to be a cracker as the field was pumped and ready to go with a great crowd watching and the weather blooming. The aim of the game was to stay out of trouble as Macrow got off the line well. With late braking moves in the field, there was carnage in the middle as Walter Grubmuller, Leanne Tander and Marco Mapelli found themselves in strife as there was contact into turn two. With Macrow staying out of trouble and a safety car period, all resumed well with Macrow spending most of the race dicing positions with Chris Alajajian. Tim was unable to hold of Chris finishing in a pleasing third position. "We made a couple of changes to the car overnight which was the wrong way to go, so I'll sit down with Garry and Pete my engineer and see what we can do to make the car turn better," he said afterwards. The final race of the weekend saw Macrow starting from the front row again and fully prepared for a strong showing. Tim jumped off the line well and stayed out of trouble throughout the race to take his first race win of the 2007 racing season. This weekend was a great start for Macrow proving he will be one to beat this season with the strong combination of Tim Macrow and Cooltemp/Scud Racing. Tim Macrow currently sits on top of the championship points table after Round one, equal on points with Chris Alajajian. "The car felt great in race 2, the changes we made after race 1 worked and gives us a good direction with the car," Macrow explained. "Thanks have to go out to Gary Sturdy, Bevan Carrick, Bill Maddocks and the team at Scud Racing for their assistance over the weekend. I couldn't have asked for a better way to start the season for the guys and I'm fully ready for a strong showing this season." The next outing for the 2007 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 season will be at the 2007 FORMULA 1 ING Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park for a Non-Championship round in March, in what is set to be one of the biggest grids in the history of the championship. |
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