Astuti Motorsport enjoyed a fine weekend at Oran Park as James Winslow won on his debut for the team in the Australian F3 Championship.
Winslow won the second race of round three, on the debut of the teams' brand-new Dallara F307-Renault combination.
The #11 Shell Racing Solutions Dallara leapt into the race lead on the first lap of race two and, despite heavy race-long pressure from behind, held out to record a stunning win.
The win with Astuti's Renault power is believed to be the first for that engine in an F307 chassis anywhere in the world, as Winslow topped a field packed with both Mercedes Benz and Mugen Honda-powered cars, F3's dominant power sources worldwide.
It was also another race win for the chassis in question – the same car that won the British F3 championship last year for Hitech Racing and Marko Asmer.
Winslow earlier finished second in race one – after starting fourth – to score more points than anyone over the weekend and cap off a remarkable return to the competition for Melbourne-based Astuti.
"It's been a hard month, and I'm really glad to get on the track because I didn't know if I would be able to run here or not," the Briton said. "We did the deal with Gawler Farm Machinery and Astuti to get on the circuit and it has paid off.
"I'm hoping we can continue – I'm now leading the championship so, hopefully, we can get some new backers on the car to continue the year and the championship assault. It's fantastic for Sam because his team has put in a lot of work to make this happen.
"I'm really pleased for him, but this is a win for all of those who have helped me in the past. It's a fantastic feeling."
It was the first time in the team's current incarnation that Astuti Motorsport had run three cars and the performances over the weekend indicated the depth of talent exiting within the team.
The team also had a strong run with new driver Ash Samadi in the National Class, rebounding from a hefty shunt in race one to record second in class, in race two.
![James Winslow - Astuti Motorsport [Pic credit: RaceTorque/Klynsmith]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/433697.jpg)
