Australian F3 wasn't the best of seasons for us. We were always quick - we had pole positions and I think we won more races than anyone else in the series - but we were also let down by the car a few times, so the plan didn't exactly go as we wanted it to. But it was still a good season, we won races, Opes Prime won their first races and brought themselves into the sport, so it served a purpose. I basically used Australian F3 to gain a bit more experience and build up my relationship with Opes Prime before we could take it forward, hopefully moving over to America for 2008.
Crash.net:
Opes Prime has since taken on a larger role in motorsport, both in the F3 series and overseas, but it was you that really brought them to wider attention. How did you get involved with them in the first place?
JW:
I first met them in 2006, when I came over to Melbourne to take part in the F3 races which supported the grand prix. Myself and Bruno Senna came over for that as 'international' drivers and managed to win all four races between us, so it was a successful weekend. I also met Anthony Blumberg, one of the owners of Opes Prime, and we got on well. I put on a good display by winning one of the races and Anthony mentioned that he was looking to get involved in motorsport more seriously in the coming year and, basically, we put a deal together for me to come over to Australia and help him in his quest to expand Opes Prime in motorsport.
Crash.net:
The Australian F3 series, like Asia, is becoming an option both for drivers looking to make their way up the ranks in Australia, but also for those from overseas. Do you think that this year was perhaps the most competitive that it has ever been?
JW:
I think, for sure, that it has been well documented that this year was the most competitive season in Australian F3 ever. I think, among the top four drivers - or five, after Bart [Mawer] came in for the last three rounds - it was definitely competitive. It was great to race in. Opes Prime contributed heavily to increasing the competition and sticking more cars on the grid and, for next year, they are going to back the championship quite heavily with some serious prize money for the winners of the national class and the championship class. I think they're also going to be supporting three or four cars on the grid, so they are really supporting the series and dedicated to bringing Australian F3 up to the level of the British series and even the Euroseries.
Crash.net:
They also backed you when you went to the V6 series and, as we understand it, they are also going to provide a prize drive for the winner of the Australian F3 series, but what was your motivation for branching out into the V6s when you were, at that point, doing reasonably well in F3?
JW:
Basically, we started the season in F3, but wanted to do something else as well as I'd already won an F3 series and wanted to branch out. I felt that, if I was to come over to Australia and do F3, not really moving my career on as such, I wanted to do another series which could move me up the ladder. Of course, I'm glad we did now as we managed to win the V6 series but, at the time, we decided to do both series until the last round of the V6 series clashed with the last round of the F3 series, which ultimately stopped me competing in Australia, even though, mathematically, we could still have won the F3 title. But we decided to go to Zhuhai and compete in the final round of the V6s and managed to score enough points to win the series there, so I'm glad I went for that option in the end.
![James Winslow will get his first taste of Champ Car when he tests with Conquest Racing at Sebring in September [pic credit: AFOS]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/378760.jpg)
