3 October, 2007: Newly crowned British Formula Ford Champion Callum MacLeod will get his first taste for F3 power next week (9 Oct) when he undertakes a full test with the Ultimate Motorsport team.

Nineteen-year-old MacLeod will go behind the wheel of the Mygale Formula 3 car which Ultimate pilots Esteban Guerrieri and Michael Devaney raced with success in this year's British F3 International series.

The test, at the Pembrey circuit, was offered as a prize for the highest-placed Mygale driver in British Formula Ford, one which MacLeod secured easily thanks to his 14 wins in the Ford-backed championship.

"This is not just a quick 10-lap try-out," said Mygale's UK representative, Alan Cornock, "but a full day-long session with seat fitting, briefings with the engineers, and if the weather dictates it will roll into a second day. Callum deserves the chance - he has driven brilliantly this year, particularly towards the end of the season when he really had to show racecraft. He has put in a good, professional performance and stamped his authority on the championship."

Ultimate Motorsport boss Barry Walsh, a Formula Ford racer himself in the 1980s, is looking forward to the test: "Esteban and Michael will be there also and it will be interesting to see how Callum compares. He's done a really good job in Formula Ford… But F3 is a different ball game and we'll see what happens next week."

One of MacLeod's prizes for winning the BFFC is a free entry and registration for British F3 in 2008, a valuable consideration for any team looking to take him on. He will also test for the Fluid Motorsport F3 team, as will championship runner-up James Nash. One of Fluid's '08 F3 seats has already been filled by a Formula Ford graduate, Jay Bridger.

Sam Roach, of British Formula Ford Championship promoter RacingLine, said: "It's pleasing that the leading Formula Ford drivers are regarded as being ready to go straight into F3. Our ties with Formula 3 are becoming ever stronger and Formula Ford is really re-establishing itself as the most credible first step on the single-seater career ladder."

The new British F3 Champion, Estonian Marko Asmer, is one of a host of top drivers in the championship who were groomed in Formula Ford. Briton Stephen Jelley, who finished third overall, is another.

Links  |    Teams area   |    Archive  |    Site map  |