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Photo: Tom Tweedie
faced stiff competition at QR but held them all off to lock away
the National class title in style.
Image: Dirk
Klynsmtith Photo - Click to download hi-res for media use
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TOM TWEEDIE wrapped up the Formula
3 Australian Driver’s Championship National Class title at Queensland
raceway and beat the strongest class field of the year in the
process.
The performance again confirmed why 20-year-old
Tweedie is one of the rising young stars of Australian Motorsport,
wrapping up the title after just six rounds and continuing to mix it
with the later-model cars racing for the Gold Star.
Tweedie
scored his ninth and tenth class victories of the season and finished
inside the outright top five on two occasions, despite facing the
deepest grid of the year intent on unsettling the proven 2009 pacesetter
in F304 cars, F3’s ‘race within a race’.
Revelling in the
challenge that saw four cars covered by less than three-tenths in
qualifying two, Tweedie outlasted and outplayed his rivals to end up
with two class wins driving his #19 Team Tom / Battery World / Tizzana
Vineyards Dallara F304 – Renault.
The results at the weekend,
racing in front of a three-day crowd of nearly 50,000, mean that Tweedie
and his small family-run team can now spend the remaining two rounds
focussing solely on knocking off some of the leading championship cars
fighting for the Gold Star – something they have already achieved on
more than one occasion this year.
“The weekend was
fantastic!” Tweedie beamed.
“To be crowned National Class
Champion for 2009 with two rounds to go is a huge credit to everyone at
Team Tom – and there was no better way to do it than winning the class
in both races at the weekend.
“I knew before we raced that we
would be up against some tough competition, especially with Chris
Gilmour returning and Rio Haryanto joining the series from Asia, so this
is a great result and it’s very satisfying to have that kind of
competition and still come out on top.”
Race one was the most
competitive of the 2009 season to date, with a pitched battle for not
only the outright lead but for the National class as well.
“I got
a good start in race one and was forced to tuck in behind Gilmour at
turn two,” Tweedie explained.
“From there I had to keep the
pressure on and took an opportunity to pass Chris at the last corner of
the last lap – I just managed to pull the car up and get around turn six
without losing the place back again.
“Race two was also good –
Rio got the start but I was able to get past when he served a drive
through penalty. So after that I could see the TanderSport F307 ahead of
me make some mistakes so I tried to close the gap down before the end of
the race.
“I think reliability and mistake-free races are what
have made my season so good. Thanks again to Battery World – their
support has definitely helped us win the National Class title and I
looking forward to next week at Oran Park, where hopefully we can
continue the success!”
Team Tom and the Battery World Dallara
will now face a quick, four-day turnaround before contesting the
penultimate round of the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship for
the CAMS Gold Star award at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway this coming
weekend.
Tom Tweedie is supported by Battery World, Tizzana
Vineyards and the Team Tom Membership.
For more information head
to www.tomtweedie.com
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