TanderSport will be banking on a solid pre-round test and driver Leanne Tander's consistent successes' at Oran Park to help put together a strong third round of the 2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship this weekend.
The team also hopes that new signing Ben Crighton, a young Kiwi driver who will drive the #52 TanderSport National Class entry, can give the team continued success in both top classes within Australia's premier Open Wheel category.
In the past three visits to the circuit, Tander has qualified on pole three times from six qualifying sessions – and she's never started outside of the top four. In the two visits the series paid to the track last year she never finished lower than third.
Tander completed a solid day of running last Monday in the TanderSport #42 F307 in preparation for this weekends' round, and will look to leap up the championship order with a continuation of her strong Sydney form.
”I'm pretty happy that we have a good race package for Oran Park,” she said. “Our test day didn't go as well as I would have liked but I'm very confident that when we come to raceday we will have an excellent package.
”Neil [McFadyen, points leader] is a fair way in front so it's clear that he is the target. He's very fast but we need to make sure that I score good points and keep the score ticking over. At times last year I was 20 points – or more – behind and was able to come back into contention so we just need to keep scoring; It's a cliché, but there is a long way to go!”
Crighton comes to TanderSport fresh from finishing a strong ninth in the 2007 / 08 New Zealand Toyota Racing Series, where he has raced since 2005.
The 25-year-old is a multiple New Zealand karting champion and also has experience in his domestic Formula Ford championship, finishing fourth in the 2004 New Zealand Grand Prix.
