Kostera, McFadyen ink late Oz deals.

Stuart Kostera and Neil McFadyen will both be on the grid for this weekend's opening round of the Kumho Tyres Australian F3 Championship, having landed themselves eleventh hour deals to return to the series.

Stuart Kostera and Neil McFadyen will both be on the grid for this weekend's opening round of the Kumho Tyres Australian F3 Championship, having landed themselves eleventh hour deals to return to the series.

Just one day before the 2008 season-opener at Eastern Creek, Scud Racing was a two-car operation harbouring only longer-term plans to expand into the ranks of the Australian Drivers Championship. However, Kostera desire to return to the series, allied with team owner Bill Maddocks ambition, closed a deal that will lift the team up the pecking order full-time. Kostera will take over the ex-James Rosenberg Dallara F307-Mercedes for the full 2008 series and beyond after winning one race and twice finishing on the podium in 2007 despite only taking part in six of the eight rounds contested.

"I had been talking to Bill for a couple of weeks to put something together for the season, but nothing was concrete and I didn't think I'd be here," the driver admitted, "When he called and said that he had a new Dallara and wanted me to drive, I jumped at the chance. It's great to be back in the series and I'm really thankful to Bill for the chance to drive for him. These are fantastic cars and he's got some excellent ideas about bringing the younger kids through, so it's good to be a part of that."

Though the Scud team, in partnership with Bevan Carrick of Cooltemp Racing, won last year's title last year with Tim Macrow, it had no plans to enter the Championship Class which features newer generation cars this season. Instead, it had intended on taking on the Opes Prime National Class with team newcomer Mathew Radisich and the Trophy Class with impressive 16-year old newcomer Justin Tate.

As it has turned out, however, the opportunity to acquire an ex-Manor Motorsport Dallara dramatically accelerated the team's plan to create a three-tiered developmental system for young drivers coming through the ranks.

"It certainly wasn't our intention to get a new car this year," Maddocks commented, "We were happy to run Mathew and Justin this season and look at getting a 307 next year. The plan was to purchase a 307 car for next season, but the chance to get this car now was too good to refuse so we have made the investment in an effort to take the team forwards. It was a case of biting the bullet and buying the car when it was available."

"I had always intended on getting Stuart in one of our cars this season and I can't think of anyone better to run the new car. In Stuart, we have a driver with the potential ability to win the championship, like we had with Tim last year.

"This is another piece in our plan to run a programme that allows drivers to gain experience and come through the ranks of F3 to gain as much experience as possible in a very affordable way. We don't put our drivers under any pressure to perform - they generally place enough on themselves anyway - so we want to work with them to learn the tracks and cars in the National and Trophy classes, before going out and having a crack at the championship.

"We have a plan in place to work with Mathew and Justin to give them experience, miles and laps in an F3 car and progress them through the classes. We think Mathew has the potential to be in the championship class next year and Justin can step up to the National Class.

"This is an ongoing plan that we have mapped out into the future, but it's really exciting. I'm very excited about the potential of the young kids we have this year and the potential for them in the future."

McFadyen, meanwhile, is excited about returning after a short lay-off working in the UK, having been confirmed as a full-time entrant in the championship with revitalised Sydney-based team Piccola Scuderia Corse.

The 2004 Australian Drivers champion - from when the series ran for Formula Holden machinery - joins a team with championship-winning experience - from 2001 with Peter Hackett - and a brand-new ex-Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes.

"I'm really rapt to be back in the seat and in a good, competitive car," he enthused, "I bumped into Rudolf Masi from Piccola Scuderia at a race meeting late last year and he mentioned that he had drives available. I'd had enough of being out of the seat and was very keen to get back into a competitive car, so we started talking and put the deal together from there. Hopefully, we can have a good year."

The late arrival of the car to Piccola's Sydney workshop - a mirror of the problem James Winslow faced in 2007 - has ensured a hurried build-up to this weekend's meeting and will left the morning's opening practice session as the first laps for both team and driver.

"The first laps the car turned, and the first laps I've done in twelve months, were in the wet which wasn't ideal," McFadyen explained, "If it stays wet, then we won't give away too much to the cars that have been doing a lot of testing before the start of the season. If it's dry, then we'll work hard on dialling the car in to make it as competitive as possible. I'm confident that we can challenge at the front because the guys have worked hard on the car for the last two or three days to get it ready, they have done a fantastic job."

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