AUSF3: Adelaide: Tim Macrow preview

THE CHAMP IS BACK: TIM MACROW RETURNS TO CONTEST '09 TITLE WITH SCUD RACING

THE LIST OF DRIVERS to have won more than one Australian Drivers Championship is a short and very illustrious one.

Mark Skaife, Paul Stokell, Simon Wills and John Bowe are amongst just eleven drivers to have won the premier open wheel award in Australia on Multiple occasions.

And only one driver - Paul Stephenson - has ever won two Australian Formula 3 titles.

This year Victorian Tim Macrow will attempt to win his second Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship and place himself amongst immortal company after today confirming that he will contest the 2009 championship with Scud Racing, the team that assisted his successful quest for the title two years ago.

After assisting the team with a brief shakedown of its F307 Dallara - Mercedes, Macrow is set to drive for the team full time this year in an effort to give team owner and long-time Formula 3 supporter Bill Maddocks a championship title in the top class.

The now 26-year old driver from Melbourne's South-Eastern Suburbs has one of the most formidable results sheets of any driver to have raced in the Australian Formula 3 Championship - and this year he will be the most experienced championship class driver on the grid.

In 50 championship race starts he has finished on the podium on 27 occasions - second on the all-time list - and has won seven races.

He finished fourth in his first full championship attack in 2005 (despite missing two rounds) and finished second the year after before delivering one of the most thrilling title wins in series history in 2007: Macrow forced to come from fourth on the grid to win the title in the final race of the season.

Last year, in the absence of funds to race elsewhere, he kept his eye in by racing on three occasions in the F3 National Class, winning four of the six races he started and scoring enough points to finish a surprising third in the class title race.

"I'm excited to be driving again," Macrow enthused today.

"I'm very appreciative of Bill Maddocks and the Scud Racing team for giving me this opportunity. It has been a long time out of the seat and I've been itching to get back into some regular racing, so this is a fantastic opportunity and one I can't wait to be part of.

"The team showed last year that they can be consistent front runners and it was only some bad luck that cost them a race win. Bill and his team have been great supporters of mine and helped my championship campaign in 2007 so hopefully this year we will be able to challenge for regular race wins and ultimately the championship."

Macrow will this year be reunited with his championship-winning Mechanic / Engineer Garry Sturdy and regular engineer Barry Jones who will also assist the Scud campaign this year. And even though he has huge amounts of F3 experience - this weeks' Clipsal 500 will be Macrow's first start on the famed circuit.

"I can't wait to race there," He said. "It's an awesome track and one everyone wants to race at so I can't wait. I've got an excellent relationship with Garry Sturdy and Barry Jones will be around this year as well, so to be able to work with both of them, Terry Stott and Bill is very exciting and a comfortable team situation that should see us work well together."

First practice gets underway just after 11AM on Thursday morning to kick off the 2009 Formula 3 Australian Drivers championship.

-credit: formula3.com.au