BW:
We have had our issues. Magny-Cours isn’t the easiest place in the world to get to, but we have video-conferencing which we are working hard at. The guys at Mygale are putting in a huge effort to deliver the modifications and development parts that we are trying out all the time, but that’s just part-and-parcel of what we are here to do.
Q:
As you say, Dallara has ruled the roost in F3 for such a long time. Other manufacturers have tried and failed to get the better of them; what makes you think Mygale can take them on and win?
BW:
If you look at the cars Mygale have produced, they have all been of a very high standard. They have had great success in every formula they have entered into. Just looking at the car aero-wise, it’s so far advanced compared to the Dallara, which speaks volumes in itself. The quality of their work is superb. We have the right engine in the back too in the Mercedes, which is very strong. We have the right engineers and we feel we can develop the car to challenge Dallara.
Q:
How has initial testing gone so far?
BW:
Testing has been very good. We’ve been the quickest in the wet. We tested before Christmas with Fabio Carbone at Lurcy-Levis and we were quicker than Signature on the same day. We tested at Pembrey too, and though in the dry we didn’t get Esteban (Guerrieri) out on new tyres we had Maro Engel testing for us there as well and what we found was that the springs we were running on the car were too soft, so we are now doing a lot of dyno work to bring it up to where we need to be.
Q:
You talked about Esteban. He is Ultimate’s only confirmed driver so far and he has a lot of experience in both F3 and F3000. What do you expect of him in 2007?
BW:
Esteban is the whole package. He is motivated, very focussed, very fit and a great development driver too. He gives the engineers the feedback they need to push the car on, and we definitely expect him to be winning races before the season is out.
Q:
How close are you now to making a decision regarding your second driver? You have Ben Clucas testing for you and, as you said, previously ran Maro Engel…
BW:
Ben will be driving on Thursday (1 March). We do have another driver in the frame, and we will make our final decision out of the two of them within the next fortnight.
Q:
Looking at the year as a whole, what are your aims and expectations for Ultimate Motorsport?
BW:
As a team, that we can prove ourselves capable of delivering with a car that is hitherto unknown, and our realistic goal is to get some podiums.
