F3
AUSF3: Oran Park: Samy Reid weekend summary
Samy Reid turns giant-killer in F3 finale' Samy Reid turned into a giant-killer at the weekend's final round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship after taking on and beating people in newer machinery - in just her second F3 ...
Edited: Jul 2, 2009, 5:33 PM
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Samy Reid turns giant-killer in F3 finale'
Samy Reid turned into a giant-killer at the weekend's final round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship after taking on and beating people in newer machinery - in just her second F3 start.
Reid, 20, was again driving a '96-spec Trophy Class Dallara for Scud Racing and posted eye-opening performances in both qualifying and the races that upset many much more experienced drivers in later model cars.
She mixed it with the leading cars in the National Class (for 2001-spec cars), including getting tantalisingly close to the National Class champion in wet conditions during qualifying.
With a performance that opened the eyes of the paddock to her capabilities, Reid qualified her car under half a second behind Chris Barry's National Class championship-winning Dallara in a difficult wet / dry qualifying session Saturday morning.
It was only a last-minute lap from Barry that elevated him above Reid in a performance that saw her out qualify all of the other National and Trophy class cars.
Earlier in the weekend she was just two-hundredths behind Barry in a torrentially wet session on Friday morning.
In the dry second session she qualified on pole for the Trophy class and again just a few tenths behind the National Class cars.
After only limited racing laps in her F3 debut in September, Samy finished both races on Sunday at Oran Park and was once again able to lift her performances to new heights.
In race one -- after setting her best lap of the weekend -- she won her first Trophy class battle and finished second of all the Trophy / National cars -- despite suffering a broken rear wing just a few laps from home.
A race-long duel that gave her close-quarters wings-and-slicks racing experience with veteran Rod Anderson gave her second in class for race two and gave every indication that should she be given the opportunity, Samantha Reid will be a name to watch in F3 circles in the near future.
Reid said that it was a good opportunity to show her stuff with a strong performance at the demanding Sydney track.
"Oran Park is a technically challenging circuit, one of the toughest in Australia, but we had a successful test at Winton leading up to the race and I was confident of a result in the '96 car," she explained.
"The test gave me a chance to get more confidence in the car and develop my knowledge of its setup. It was also great to have the F3 champion Tim Macrow in the team to give me some tips and feedback.
"I felt a lot more comfortable in the car and was able to go better because of it." She said.
Reid put that added experience to the test in the first race after a rear wing suddenly failed with a few laps remaining.
"Towards the end of the race the car suddenly felt like it had lost all of its' rear grip," She explained.
"I was struggling to keep the car on track and had some moments through (the high speed) turn one. I didn't know what was happening on track but when I got back to parc ferme' after the race it all made sense.
"It felt like I was travelling at F3 speed with the grip of a Formula Ford -- so it certainly tested all the skills I've learnt in both categories!" she said.
Despite the dramas Reid set her second fastest lap of the race on the final tour, broken wing and all.
"The chance to compete in the final two rounds of the 2007 championship has been a great opportunity to prepare myself for the future," Reid added.
"My aim is to race in the National Class next season. The prizes on offer from Opes Prime (The champion will receive the offer of a fully funded championship class drive in 2009) are fantastic and the racing I have done this year in F3 has been invaluable preparation."
-credit: samanthareid.com.au
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