LEANNE TANDER will back up her appearance in the New Zealand Grand Prix last weekend by shooting for her first ever race win in a Formula 3 car, at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne later this week.
Australia’s leading female race driver finished her first international racing sojourn at New Zealand’s premier race meeting last weekend, once again showing plenty of pace driving in the Toyota Racing Series.
Despite an unlucky race, Tander finished 10th in the New Zealand Grand Prix at the Teretonga circuit, following up from a strong top six race result in the previous round at Timaru the previous weekend.
Leanne will now return to the familiar surrounds of her adopted home city (whilst born in Sydney, Leanne and her Fleetcare TanderSport team are based in an outer Melbourne suburb) and her Holden powered Dallara for the four Non-Championship Australian Formula 3 races at the Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix.
This weekend’s event will be Leanne’s second outing at the challenging 5.3km Albert Park street circuit following her Formula 3 debut at the track last season, where she bounced back from a slow start to the weekend to record a top four finish in the final race.
Leanne now has a full season of competition within the Kumho tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship under her belt and is arguably one of the form drivers so far in 2007.
The first round of the 2007 championship was a disappointment in terms of results for the high-achieving driver, but her strong pace – as indicated by storming charges through the field in both races – was a good indication of her potential for the season ahead.
“I’ve competed in a real National Grand Prix now, so on to ours! †Leanne enthused today upon her return from New Zealand.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it. I didn’t go as well as I could have last year because I was just starting out in the Formula 3 car: I was still learning how to drive the cars and get the most out of them.
“I’m looking forward to going back there now and just enjoying the circuit because it is a very good track for our cars. It suits my driving style and has plenty of similarities to circuits that I have been very competitive at throughout the last season.
“It’s nice and smooth, flowing and very wide in most places so our cars can really open up. †She said.
Whilst positive about the track and her chances, Leanne said that it was time to get her first Formula 3 win on the board after a number of promising performances throughout the last 15 months.
“I’m itching to get my first win, †she said.
â€The last three rounds I’ve done I have been right on the pace and in a number of them I have been the pace.
“The task now is to get that win under my belt and I’m pretty determined to do that this weekend. The fact that I’ll be able to race without the pressure of having to score championship points will give me a chance to just drive and shoot for the win.
“If I can win at Melbourne hopefully that will kick start me for the remainder of the year, and help us towards a championship.
“I think it will be easier to win more often once you have taken the pressure off and got that first win. Once you’ve achieved that you can just get down to the job of doing the best you can, knowing that you have and can win races. †Leanne said.
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