Having secured victory in the prestigious Formula Ford Festival last season, Nick Tandy will hope to make an impression when he kick-starts his first season in the British F3 International Series this weekend at
Oulton Park.
The 23-year-old graduates with the JTR with Marshall Westland team, which will also be debuting in F3 this season, with the team electing to join Ultimate Motorsport in running a Mygale chassis – increasing the number of Mygales on the grid this season to three.
"When the decision was being made for this season, we'd just got onboard with Mygale for the Formula Ford side of the JTR operation so we had built some links with them there," Tandy said. "We saw the F3 project they have been working on in recent years, had a good look at it, and they have done a lot of work and really focused on it.
"You could say Dallara have maybe become a little content as they have dominated things but Mygale will be pushing to make sure that everything is the best it can be and they will be at the track working with us. We wanted that personal relationship with the manufacturer that we didn't feel we might be able to get as a new team coming in against all the established Dallara teams."
Although there was delays in getting hold of the car for pre-season testing, Tandy added that he remains confident for the season ahead and would love nothing more to be fighting for podium finishes as the year progresses.
"We are keeping our feet on the ground and need to be realistic," he said. "Everyone would love to win, but the fact is that I am a new driver and, while we have some experienced figures, the team is mostly new to F3.
"The car is very new and we know it is good so if we can get it all to gel, we are here to be competitive. We want to be near the front mixing it but we aren't stupid enough to think we will be going for the title. However, it would be great to get on the podium at some point."
