Astuti Motorsport Media Release

A productive test day has provided the perfect preparation for Astuti Motorsport and Michael Trimble, in the build up to Round 4 of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star at Mallala Raceway this weekend.

Currently sitting second in the series standings, Trimble took to the Adelaide circuit yesterday, Wednesday, in an official series test day ahead of the weekends racing, which kicks off with practice tomorrow.

Throughout the course of the day, Trimble completed over 80 laps in the King Springs Renault-Sodemo Dallara F304, fine-tuning the setup and gaining valuable data for the weekend ahead.

“The test went really well,” enthused Trimble. “We kept improving all day and we were really strong by the end of it.

“Brakes are very important at Mallala, it will definitely be the biggest braking circuit we have on the calendar and power down out of the slow corners is very important, so they were among the aspects we paid close attention to.

“Out of the truck the car was reasonably good and we just kept fine-tuning it right up until the last session. By the end of the end of the day we had it pretty much on rails.”

The Melbournian has finished each race of the 2006 Championship on the podium, including a win in Race 2 at Symmons Plains. Currently 28 points behind Championship points leader Ben Clucas, Trimble knows a strong result this weekend - round four of eight - will be crucial in the race for the 50th Australian Drivers Championship

“Basically, this is a do or die weekend for us,” he said. “The way the championship is at the moment, we really need to have a strong result this weekend or it’s going to be very difficult to recover.

“We’ll be giving 110% and putting everything in to it. The test has given us a lot of momentum to take into the weekend, so things are looking good at the moment.”

In other Astuti Motorsport news, the team have purchased a second Renault-Sodemo Dallara F304, which is currently on it’s way to Australia and expected to arrive in mid-July.

“The car is the sister chassis to Michael’s current car,” said Astuti Motorsport team owner Sam Astuti. “It has only done a couple of races in Italian F3 since it was built, so it will be another very quick and well looked after car.

“We’d like to have someone in the car for the remainder of the year when it arrives. Ideally, we’ll find a fast driver with a suitable budget to do the rest of the season and have two cars up at the front of the field.”

Astuti Motorsport is also pleased to unveil their new website, www.astutimotorsport.com.

“Richard Craill from Race Torque Media has done a great job with the site,” said Astuti.

“There is some more content to be added in the immediate future, and it will be a great way for people to find out all about our team, about Michael and keep up to date with our progress on the track.”

For more information about Astuti Motorsport, head to the all-new www.astutimotorsport.com.

Astuti Motorsport thanks the support of Kings Springs, PWR Performance Products, Elf, Alcon and Revolution Racewear.

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Media Resources (click for high-res, please credit Astuti Motorsport) ::

A productive test day has provided the perfect preparation for Astuti Motorsport's Michael Trimble, in the build up to Round 4 of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship for the CAMS Gold Star at Mallala Raceway this weekend.

Astuti Motorsport's Michael Trimble has finished each race of the 2006 Championship on the podium, and currently sits second in the series standings.