You’ve no doubt gathered that we have a new partner in the shape of McLaren-Mercedes, who will be supplying our engine and transmission system among other things. I firmly believe that this partnership is a major step in the right direction, towards midfield.
Even if I feel that the lack of test days means we’ll probably need a few races before we get fully up to speed, I am confident that we’ll put in a good performance and improve on last year.

I recovered well over the winter and began my preparations early. Now I’m feeling fit and well prepared for the new season – which is set to bring quite a few changes. All in all, I am happy with these changes. I think they’ll help me to develop even further. Giancarlo Fisichella remains my team mate and I’m very glad about that. He’s a brilliant racing driver with a lot of experience and a really nice guy into the bargain. He pushes me and challenges me, which helps me dig deep for my best possible performance. This year I’d like to make things difficult for him and beat him by a clear margin. That is my goal.

The atmosphere within the team is very good. Everyone is highly motivated and itching for success. Torro Rosso showed us last year that it is possible. A small team with a relatively low budget managed to outperform many of its bigger rivals. That must be our goal too.

Before I arrived in Australia I made a stopover in India – a PR appointment for our boss, Vijay Mallya. Now I’m in Melbourne, counting the hours until we finally get out on the track and see how things stand. After the tests there’ll be lots of issues to discuss and many differences of opinion.

Is Brawn GP really that strong and have McLaren-Mercedes been experimenting in testing or are they really in trouble? How are things looking for Alonso and Renault and how will Kimi perform this year? So many questions – the answers to which will be revealed during the first few races and throughout the course of the season. I’m sure it will turn out to be an exciting one. I’m looking forward to it and hope for your support. After Melbourne I’ll report back with my initial impressions. Until then I wish you all an exciting start to the F1 season.

Yours, Adrian

Originally the final was supposed to be for the last 10 but the competitors in 10th, 11th and 12th place had the same scores so the organisers decided to increase the final to the last 12.

So I’m keeping everything crossed for tomorrow in the hope that I win the scholarship and race in the Mini Challenge!

Update

I only finished 3rd overall in the Mini Scholarship, which on reflection is not bad out of 100+ men. But it will have a huge knock on effect for racing this year unless we win the lottery or find a sponsor.

But for anyone to follow their dream there are always up’s and down’s so I’ve just got to keep my goals in mind and try to find a sponsor.

Congratulations to Joey Powis and his family on winning the scholarship on the 3rd try. To finish 2nd last year to Rob Boston must have been heart breaking.

Also congratulations to Mantvydas Sileika for coming 2nd.

Marc and Lisa at Double 6 racing should be congratulated for running a well organised scholarship and also thanks to Micky, Phil and Colin for their instructing.

I guess things can only get better from now on.

Yours Abbie

Things have been pretty quiet on the racing front for 2009. The only interesting piece of information is that i have entered the competition to win a supported drive in the Clio Scholarship this year.

I’ve managed to get to the semi-finals (the last 24 from 100+ entered). The semi-final is on the 25th February and the final (the last 10 drivers) the following day.

Unfortunately due to the current economic climate a lower number of people have entered the scholarship, this has meant that the prize has been changed to a drive in the Mini Challenge.

So wish me luck and I’ll try my best to win!

Abbie

The Italia Cup opening rounds were my first event of the year and in race two I took second place which was a great result after the disappointment of an oil pump problem in race one. This showed immediately that the pace was there which set me up well for the opening Eurocup rounds the following month.

With more than 48 cars entered for the ultra-competitive series which attracts the cream of young up and coming drivers, the first rounds at Spa started well and I was consistently the quickest of the team and regularly in the top six in testing. Despite being forced out of the races, I think I’d established myself as a front runner, and when the next rounds of the Italia Cup came up, I was able to repeat the performance with two top six finishes to move into fifth in the series.

A fortnight later, I took a double podium at Brno which put me third in the standings and another fourth and fifth place in the next rounds at Spa narrowly missing out on another podium finish.

When the Eurocup resumed after a lengthy break, with my only ‘home’ event, at Silverstone, I had high hopes of a return to the podium. Unfortunately we had some problems during qualifying as the team had made some significant changes to the car and a shortage of time didn’t allow me to recoup the disadvantage. But I steadily improved by more than seven tenths and was able to pick up my first points in only my second outing.

I struggled with mechanical upset in the next rounds in Hungary but bounced back to form in the next rounds of the Italia Cup at Misano with sixth place, again out-performing all of my team-mates. In the next rounds at Le Mans I was hit by another driver in the first race and when the team repaired the car, they found the chassis to be cracked.

Of course there’s no way of knowing whether it was in that accident or had been as the result of an earlier problem, but with a new chassis prior to our return to the Italia Cup, I regained the form of earlier in the season and was able to put the car on the front row and pick up my first Formula Renault victory. This put me back into third in the battle for the title and in contention for the runner-up spot.

The penultimate rounds of the Eurocup had 54 cars entered but right from the start, I was regularly posting the quickest time in my group but sadly I wasn’t able to get the results due a suspension problem. In the final rounds of the Italia Cup I really pushed hard to try and get the runner-up spot but a fuel system problem and then a broken driveshaft ended those hopes and pushed me back to fourth.

Despite that, I was happy with my Italia Cup season and I think I showed pace right the way through the year so was looking forward to the final round of the Eurocup in Barcelona. Things started well with a fifth place start for the opening race and going into the first corner I was lying second and battling for the lead before the leader braked early and I ran into the back of him, my race over.

But racing against the best in Europe was a great experience and in race two, my laps times were only a few tenths off the race winner and eventual champion.

My final race of the year was with the team with which I’ll contest this year’s Eurocup and North European Cup, Motopark Racing Academy. The team is reigning champion in both championships and in the race, at Estoril, I took third place and fastest lap which certainly bodes well for this year.

Since the end of the racing season we’ve undergone many successful tests including four days at Valencia and Barcelona and been consistently the quickest. I’ve already established a good relationship with everyone in the team and I’m really looking forward to getting the season underway.

I’m sure there will be a lot of older, more experienced drivers out there and the competition will be fierce. But, with the technical knowledge of Motopark and the team’s experience in both Eurocup and North European Cup, and the improvements I know I’ve made in my first year, I’m confident of immediately being up at the front and bidding for championship glory.

Yours Adrian

Well a new year and a new season. I’m looking forward to this season even though it is going to be a difficult one!

I have already done one kart race this year, which was in the Winter 100 in the KZ2 gearbox class. That took place at Shenington Kart Track. I had a reasonable weekend there finishing 2nd, taking fastest lap in two of the heats.

Onto the Formula Renault side of things, I was out testing yesterday at Brands Hatch. That was again a good and progressive day, learning a lot from the team (Manor Competition). The testing ban is not far away now (end of February), so I will be getting more testing in before then.

Alice
=]

To be with ART Grad Prix and in the F3 Euroseries is a big step in my career and I’m very excited to be
with the best team!

It will be my very first year in the series, it’s a tough one and there are a lot of talents out there.
I always want to be first but you have to be realistic and my aim will be to try to learn as much as I can,
to try to win races and hopefully to be the best rookie of the year.

My team-mates will be Jules Bianchi (France), Adrien Tambay (France) and Esteban Manuel Gutierrez (Mexico).

Best regards,
Valtteri

Yours Frank

First tests of the autumn were driven in October at Hockenheim, Germany
and I got a lot of touch to the car at rainy and cold Hockenheimring.
The tests were driven with the German Mücke Sport team.
The team was very satisfied to the test day.

The next tests were driven in early November in France at the Magny-Cours
track with a French team, ART-Grand Prix and their car.
I was driving at the Magny-Cours for the first time and already
at the forenoon I was slightly faster than the other driver.
We tested during a rain.
In the afternoon we got to test almost an hour in dry circumstances!

The ART team tests continued November 20 th in Dijon, France.
The track was once again, new for me and I found myself being a bit slower
than Bianchi and Vietori testing together with me at forenoon.
During the afternoon, Dijon curves began to fall into place
and I was 0,2 sec faster than my team mates.
The team was happy about the day because it was the first Formula 3 test
driven on dry track and I beat drivers that have driven the Euroseries
for one season already.

The next tests were 26 th -27 th November in Le Mans, France.
On the spot there was, among others, England’s Formula Renault 2.0
Champion Adam Christodolou. During the first test driven on dry track I was
a second faster than the other guys. I drove with new tires 0,2 sec
under the past summer’s Euroseries pole position time.
Second test day was driven on dry track in the morning and
I improved my best time with 0,6 sec and was over a second faster
than the others. Afternoon’s tests were driven in drizzle and
I was 3 seconds faster than the others.
The team was once again quite satisfied with the day.

I was in full flow and good speed in Nogaro, France tests
on 4th-5th December.
The first day was driven in rain, and on the second test day
we got to drive few hours on dry.
The order was: Bianchi, Bottas, Hartley, Tampay, Mäki…

The tests continued on December 9th in Albacete, Spain.
I was the fasted driver of the rainy day. The following day,
I was one of the fastest drivers of the session driven with old tires.
Unhappily I had a braking mistake at the end of the test session and
it ended in driving off the track. The reparation took that much time that
I didn’t have any time to use the new tire set.
The team was however happy with the test day, driven on dry track.

The Formula 3 is a great car to drive. It has good wings and both
the aerodynamics and brakes are better than in the Formula Renault car.
ART-Grand Prix team has won several European Championships in recent years -
and lately last season – so it’s my number one choise when choosing a team for
the season 2009…

Best regards,
Valtteri

When the season began in Melbourne we were all full of expectation and hoped to pick up points along the way. Now with just one race to go we remain without a single point, which is very disappointing.

Although I’ve had a lot of bad luck this year with technical problems and with Kimi in Monaco, we didn’t perform well enough in 2008 to get among the points. Monaco was the exception.

The truth of the matter is that throughout the year we simply weren’t strong or fast enough in qualifying. Our race pace always tended to pick up which meant we were able to battle with other teams on occasions. But then the technical gremlins kicked in which prevented us from getting better results. Still, there’s no point in looking back, and we hope to take a step forward in 2009.

That’s what I’m counting on and I will be preparing very early and intensively for 2009. After the last race in Sao Paulo I plan to take a few days off to relax. I’ll look forward to not having any deadline stress or obligations. But knowing me, it won’t be long before I’m back in the driving seat. Another series of tests begin in November.

First of all however I need to do a good job in the last race in Brazil and get the best out of the car. Who knows, maybe I’ll have some of the luck there that’s been escaping me all season. Or at least I might avoid the bad luck. I hope Lewis Hamilton manages to finish it off in Brazil and become World Champion. He’s been the strongest driver in the best car over the season and I think he deserves to win it.

It looks like Giancarlo Fisichella my team mate will stay with us, which would be good news. I enjoy working with him and I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s greatly experienced and is still pretty damn fast.

I’d like to thank you once again for all your support and hope that you will continue to spur me along next year.

Till then, take care

Yours, Adrian

It all started in late 2007 with the first test drives. Once I drove the car there was a great desire to get the seat and race with this car. When I was informed I would get the drive, I was absolutely over the moon. Six months earlier I would have never dreamt of driving in DTM and having Ralf Schumacher as my team mate during my first year.

The Mücke Motorsport team made my transition as smooth as possible and ensured everything was prepared perfectly. I knew that it would be really competitive in DTM, but I must say I never thought it was going to be that competitive just within the 2007 cars, let alone the rest of the grid. At the first race in Hockenheim, it was unbelievable how many people were there, on the grand stands, in the paddock or even on the grid. There is so much going on around you that it was a real challenge to keep my focus on driving the car.

After the first race there wasn’t much time for relaxing, as the 2nd race in Oschersleben was only a week later. I was lying in 10th place and top Mercedes 2007 car, when 10 laps before the end Tom Kristensen spun off the track, and took me out in the process. Even though I had a DNF it was great for me to see that I was able to show a good performance this early in the season. My summary of the weekend: the performance was very encouraging; the unfortunate end of the race was not my fault. Since Oschersleben I knew: I could drive into the top 10. A great feeling!

In Mugello, the upwards trend continued. For the first time I made it into the 2nd segment of Qualifying. In the race I was lying in 9th place for a very long time before 2 new cars managed to pass me during the last laps. Still the race was great for me as I finished top 2007 Mercedes and was fighting with Bruno Spengler for a long time in the new 2008 Mercedes. Also I managed to keep Gary Paffet behind me during the entire weekend which was great for me. It was a very positive weekend, which further encouraged my motivation.

The 4th race of the season at the Lausitzring was further encouraging. In Qualifying, once again I managed to beat Paffet, even though the Eurospeedway in this configuration was completely new to me. At the end I finished 11th again and had a nice fight with Gary Paffett in the process. My résumé for the first 3rd of the season was positive as I was steadily improving.

The second part of my season review will focus on the middle of the season. Until then I wish you all a nice build up to Christmas.

Your Maro.