AUSF3: Team BRM Mallala test notes

Team BRM puts new combinations to the test at Mallala Raceway.

MALLALA, (Thursday, 17th February, 2005.) Team BRM have concluded their first test session of the 2005 racing season, completing a successful day's running with four cars at Mallala raceway in South Australia earlier today.

The test was a day of firsts for team BRM -- The debut run for the newly arrived Dallara F304 Speiss chassis, First laps in a Formula 3 car for both Michael Trimble and 16 year old Kiwi Marc Williams, and the first time in a championship class car for reigning Trophy Class champion Nic Jordan, who along with Tim Slade put the newly liveried F301's through their paces under clear skies and warm temperatures.

Reigning Formula 3 Trophy class champion Nic Jordan took his first laps in an outright class car today, completing more than 50 trouble free laps in the same chassis that took Karl Reindler to the 2004 Australian championship.

Jordan quickly acclimatised to the more potent car, posting a best lap of 1m04.45 and deeming himself happy with the test.

"I am extremely satisfied with the laps I have done today, and how I have come to terms with the new tyres from Kumho." Jordan said.

"Driving the 01 car makes this track a lot more fun. The car likes to be driven aggressively than what I am used to with the trophy class car, but its fantastic to drive."

South Australian Tim Slade ran a full program driving the same Dallara he drove in his 'one off' drive at Mallala late last year. Despite having the longest off season out of all the team's drivers, Slade quickly found the pace and consistency he showed in 2004 by completing over 60 laps and nailing a best time around the 1m04.2 mark.

"I have been looking forward to jumping back into one of these cars for a while now -- It was great to be able to run some laps today." He said.

"I got back into the rhythm of things, and gained a great working knowledge of the new Kumho Tyres. In the end, I'm very happy with the progress we have made today and I can't wait to get in the car at Wakefield Park in a week or so."

Despite only receiving the car early Wednesday morning, Victorian Michael Trimble was able to run a solid test program in the team BRM's new, Ex-Menu Motorsport Dallara F304. The session was the first opportunity for Trimble to get behind the wheel of a Formula 3 car, and despite setting competitive times he said that he had plenty to improve on before Wakefield comes around.

"The biggest thing I have noticed is that these things are so much harder on your neck muscles than a Formula Renault or Formula Ford, Which is something I will work hard on before the season." He said. "Today was a great opportunity for me to get some laps in before the season, and I am happy with what we have achieved here."

Formula 3 newcomer, 16-year-old Marc Williams, completed his first ever laps in a 'wings and slicks' car today, behind the wheel of the same car that took fellow kiwi and good friend Nic Jordan to the 2004 Trophy Class championship.

Williams completed over 40 laps of the 2.6km Mallala circuit, and improved greatly over the course of the day.

"Driving the F3 car was like nothing I have ever driven before," he enthused. "I really enjoyed driving the 'wings and slicks' car and experiencing the control it gives you.

"The speed of the car was fantastic, and it was great to get some laps in before the season starts. I really want to follow in Nic's footsteps in Trophy Class, and I'm looking forward to getting on the track with some other cars at Wakefield."

"I have been very impressed with Marc's attitude today," Said engineer Craig Rundle. "It is a huge step forward from what he has driven in before. Despite the fact he was running ancient tyres and limited revs, he has showed us all that he is up to challenging at the front of Trophy Class this season."

Team BRM technical director Ian Richards deemed the test a success, and said a lot was learnt from the day -- especially about tyres.

"Today was only really a shakedown, to give us an opportunity to get to know the tyres before the season proper. We hadn't done any laps this year before today, so it was a good chance for us to get some runs on the board.

"We deliberately only ran one set of tyres on each of the cars to test durability, and managed to get within three tenths (of a second) of the guys that were running new tyres, so we are very impressed with the product from Kumho."

The opening stoush of the 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 championship kicks off in a week's time, at Goulburn's Wakefield Park Raceway, where team BRM will aim to pick up where they left off in season 2004 -- In front.

-www.teambrm.com.au