Mygale News March 2013

GREEN FLAG FOR 2013

March 2013

Aus Formula Ford seasons kick off - we tell you who to keep your eye on in 2013

Nick Foster and Team BRM join forces with Mygale for 2013 F3 ADC assault

Mygale seals fifth consecutive NZ F

Munro receives the Morrie Smith Memorial Trophy from NZ Motor racing legend Ken Smith

The fact that he has won the 2013 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship in his rookie season is just sinking in for sixteen year old Christchurch driver James Munro.

battling back from a non finish at the second round in January. He followed that up with a good win in the second race of the round on Sunday afternoon which extended his lead to 13 points.

Munro went into the final round of the championship at the Taupo Motorsport Park this weekend 3 points behind series leader Brendon Leitch of Invercargill and emerged with two wins and a second placing to become the New Zealand Formula Ford Champion.

That meant Munro just needed to finish second behind Leitch in the final race which he managed to do. “Brendon tried to back me up to try and push me behind Tom (Alexander) and Michael (Collins) to help his cause, but despite being forced off the track once I hung on,” said Munro.

Second place behind Leitch gave Munro the title by a five point margin.

Munro dedicated his title win to fellow Christchurch driver Stan Redmond who succumbed to injuries suffered in a crash at Teretonga last month. “Stan was a great member of the racing fraternity and a really nice guy. Dad knew him well and I had a few conversations with him. It is such a shame we lost him,” said the new champion.

Munro sealed the championship by taking his Mygale, run by Neale Motorsport, to pole position on Saturday before winning the opening race on Saturday afternoon after a torrid dice with Leitch. The win gave the Christs College student his first taste of the championship lead after

March 2013

Munro is one of the few who have won the championship in his rookie year. “I’m absolutely rapt. It will take a long time to sink in,” he said.

It was a great season for the young driver with three round wins, victory in ten of the fifteen races and pole position in qualifying at all bar one round.

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Formula Ford Championship

New Zealand FF Championship winner James Munro dominated the 2012/13 season aboard his Mygale

March 2013

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Mygale announce Foster and Team Mygale has unveiled its Formula 3 program for 2013, partnering with Team BRM to run ‘Young Gun’ Nick Foster in one of the French manufacturer’s 2011 model chassis.

The former Formula Ford and Carrera Cup hotshot will compete in the full series driving the factory-owned Mygale M11 chassis, identical to the one that was a dominant force in Italian F3 in 2012, which will be prepared by the Championship

March 2013

winning Adelaide-based team.

While Foster concedes that 2013 will be a development year for the Mygale chassis he says that the car should prove competitive out of the box.

“The year will definitely be a development year and we will be working very closely with, and receive full factory support from, Mygale in France.

“My belief is that the Mygale will be competitive almost straight away however my goal is to assist Mygale in developing the F3 to work on both the Khumo Tyre and on our Australian circuits.

“I will be competing for Team BRM so the team synergy will be there from the start of the season having spent the end of 2011 and 2012 working with the team.

“I am definitely looking forward to

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m BRM for 2013 F3 program stepping back into an open-wheeler and am looking forward to the challenge.

“I worked with Mygale in Formula Ford and have a close relationship with both the Head Office in France and Mygale Australia, which will shorten the development process.”

Mygale boss Greg Woodrow was pleased to be able to announce that Team BRM and Foster would be involved with the 2013 Formula 3 program.

“We’re really happy that Team BRM and Nick have come on-board with us for Formula 3 in 2013.

“We had a toe in the water exercise with an older car in 2012 but we’re stepping it up a notch this year.

pushing for podiums and maybe a win in the latter half of the season.”

The 2013 Formula 3 Australian Driver’s Championship commences at Bathurst over the Easter weekend.

“We have no real expectations for the early part of the year but with the support of the factory in France and some continued development we’d hope to be

Team BRM and Nick Foster will tackle the F3 Australian Drivers Championship in a sister car to the Mygale M11 that dominated Italian F3 in 2012 driven by Ricardo Agostini

March 2013

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2013 Australian Formula Ford seas

2012 Australian champion Jack LeBrocq in action at Bathurst

The 2013 Australian Formula Ford Championship is set to kick off at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains raceway with an increased field likely to tackle the series in 2013.

While the quality of racing was never in question throughout 2012 there was a drop off in competitor numbers as the state level runners were in the development phase of their careers. With the majority of the state level competitors now in their second year of competition expect a number of them to drop in to the national Championship rounds at their home events.

Some others have stepped up and have committed to the National series full-time, like Anton DePasquale with Sonic Motor Racing Services and Jayden Wallis at

March 2013

Minda Motorsport.

Wallis will be joined at Minda by incumbent driver Macauley Jones and a pair of drivers yet to be named. The Minda outfit runs the CAMS Rising Star program and the makeup of this ‘team within a team’ is also still yet to be announced.

Sonic will enter the series with the last round winner from 2012 Anton DePasquale and the improving Simon Hodge. Hodge debuted for Sonic at Phillip Island late last year and signed on for the 2013 Championship. Luke Marquis will also step up to a full National series program after promising results in the Victorian Series in 2012.

Christian Morina in his second Formula Ford season while Evans Motorsport Group have Chelsea Angelo and Liam McAdam joined by debutant Thomas Randle for 2013.

Expect these drivers, along with Hamish Hardeman and Queenslander Jordan Lloyd at BF Racing to fill out the national grid as the season progresses.

It all spells a year of rejuvenation for the Australian Formula Ford Championship with a core group of around 12 - 15 cars joined by a number of state level competitors to make grids of somewhere around the 20 mark.

The Victorian Series looks set for another stellar year with Sonic again running

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sons kick off The Australian Championship kicks off at Symmons Plains the week following Easter and the long straights of the Northern Tasmanian circuit always make for great Formula Ford competition.

It’s a track that looks simple but horsepower and braking capacity are stretched to the maximum and the section past the pit area is a challenge with an undulating roller-coaster ride into a tight turn one.

It all looks like being a big season in Australian Formula Ford and we wish all of our Mygale teams a safe and succesful campaign throughout 2013.

Sonic duo DePasquale (21) and Hodge (41) should be among the leading contenders for the 2013 AFFC.

March 2013

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Winning debut for new Mygale Formula Ford chassis

Driven by rookie driver Thomas Randle the Evans Motorsport Group run SJ13a won the final race of the weekend – a feat made all the more remarkable considering it was Randle’s first meeting in a Formula Ford after stepping up in 2013 following a stellar karting career.

The 2013 model Mygale is an evolution

of the chassis that was initially introduced back in 2006. Constant work by the Mygale factory has seen the chassis stay ahead of the game in terms of development, with the 2013 model car stiffer and lighter than any previous Mygale chassis and also more comfortable for the driver due to a redesigned steering column and modifications to the pedal set-up.

Mygale structural analysis shows the chassis some 10 percent stiffer than the previous model, while tipping the scales one kilogram lighter, a result that the manufacturer says is the best compromise between torsional rigidity and weight.

2012 saw Mygale cars take victory in Formula Ford championships in Australia, New Zealand, Britain, USA and Benelux while also taking victory at the British Formula Ford Festival.

So far three SJ13a chassis are confirmed for Australian competition with Randle, Macauley Jones and Anton DePasquale all stepping up to the latest model car for their 2013 campaigns.

pic: David Clifford/R40 Media

The Mygale SJ13a, latest evolution of the French manufacturers allconquering Formula Ford chassis, has debuted in winning fashion during Round One of the Victorian Formula Ford Championship.

Rookie FF driver Thomas Randle took the new Mygale SJ13a to victory in his very first race meeting

March 2013

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Arrow Rewards winner makes Formula Ford race debut Cramer tested with Minda Motorsport on the Friday before the meeting then his race debut with the Championship winning team on the weekend.

The Bendigo youngster impressed team owners and Mygale boss Greg Woodrow with his attitude and continued improvement during the Arrow Rewards program last December and continued that progression throughout the weekend Todd Hazelwood shone Vic FF After a long wait forduring his the prize, Cramer Champs final round at Phillip Island was itching to get back behind the wheel again.

“I learnt so much at the Arrow Rewards days and it was great getting back into the Formula Ford and getting some more miles,” said Cramer.

“All the teams have been really great to work with and it was a pleasure working with the guys at Minda Motorsport.

“They’re the Championship winning team from last year and I couldn’ tthink of anybody better to make your race debut with.”

Myagle boss Greg Woodrow said that although Cramer entered the meeting as a rookie with only one day of experience behind him he coped well with the stresses of Formula Ford competition.

“Tyler did an outstanding job during our Arrow rewards program,” said Woodrow.

“So we knew he’d perform well and do what was expected of him which was to get some more experience and finish each race.

“He’s a very impressive young driver and a very level-headed guy so we knew hed acquit himself well.”

Cramer perofrmed well over the course of the weekend and pushed in and around the top 10 in what was a highly competitive field.

Details of the 2013 Arrow Rewards program are due to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Bendigo racer Tyler Cramer in action during the opening round of the Victorian FF Championship

March 2013

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pic: David Clifford/R40 Media

2012 Arrow Rewards program winner Tyler Cramer made his Formula Ford debut during Round One of the Victorian Formula Ford Championship at Winton recently.

New-look British FF Championship Following several difficult seasons, the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain is hoping 2013 will deliver an upturn in fortunes.

The series, which ran as few as a dozen entries last year as it struggled for relevance, recently announced a return to the TOCA package, supporting the BTCC. It represented only one move in what has been a winter of change for Formula Ford. Most significantly, the series has ditched its long celebrated no-wings-andthreaded-tyres premise for slicks and a light aero configuration.

March 2013

In a nod back to the Formula Ford 2000 category of old, the revisions to the technical regulations came from the teams, manufacturers and competitors, while recent developments of the 1.6 litre EcoBoost engines have ensured the power unit will run just shy of 200bhp

having signed up so far. Feedback from the test proved to be positive with both new car racers and several returning drivers heaping praise upon the 1.6 litre turbocharged machines.

At the rear of the car, the gearbox has also been upgraded to manage a six-speed sequential shift for the first time in the series’ history. It has been reconfigured to match the units currently in use by FIAregulated Formula 3 championships.

Amongst those who tested at the Northamptonshire / Buckinghamshire circuit was reigning Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion, Jake Dennis who noted that the updated car was “very different to the cars I am used to (…). Nevertheless, I think the wings are a big improvement and it’s really nice to drive, and great fun.”

In a recent sample session at Silverstone, twenty-two drivers tested the latest EcoBoost chassis, with two entrants

So far, American pilot Camren Kaminsky has signed to drive for reigning champions JTR, while James Abbott

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p takes shape has confirmed a place with new Formula Ford squad Radical, who will be preparing their own cars. Nick Tandy’s JTR team are looking to eventually field three full-season candidates, while BARC Formula Renault team SWB Motorsport are pursuing two drivers.

Formula Ford’s move back to the TOCA package is the first time since Formula Renault UK’s 2011 collapse that a singleseater category will appear as a regular support slot for the BTCC. Technology The technical revisions to the new Formula Ford engine and chassis incorporate feedback from drivers, teams and manufacturers.

The 1.6-litre EcoBoost turbocharged power unit will have its electronics remapped to develop in excess of 200 PS and be paired to a Formula 3 specification six-speed sequential gearbox. Front and rear aerodynamic wings have been added to the chassis and, together with slick tyres, provide young drivers with the most technically advanced junior single-seater racing car in the world – and an unrivalled learning experience.

Sophisticated on-board data logging and track mapping are integrated into the car’s electronics to give race engineers the ability to assess and analyse the car’s performance data.

The new-look British Formula Ford 200 features wings and slicks as well as sequential gearbox and a turbo powerplant

March 2013

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The 2013 Mygale Formula Ford further evolution of a winner When you have a winning product you don’t want to go out and change your game plan, and so it is with the next evolution of Mygale’s all-conquering Formula Ford chassis.

The new Mygale, named the SJ13a, is a further evolution of the chassis that started way back in 2006. The continual development means that the SJ13a, while looking visually similar to it’s predeccessors is a far cry from the car of previous years.

For the 2013 season Mygale have made some major gains in order to improve the performance of the chassis, including structural analysis to find the best compromise between torsional rigidity and weight.

At the end of their research, Mygale have obtained a chassis about 10% stiffer and 1Kg lighter than the 2012 model.

With the 2012 car some drivers had difficulty with left foot braking, so Mygale have modified the steering column to allow for easier left foot braking. The

chassis has been modified to move the position of the steering column and they added a joint to keep the same steering rack position.

The size of the clutch and brake pedal rests has also been modified to have better accessibility for left foot braking.

To modify the car’s handling depending of the type of circuit the factory has also added adjustable Ackerman which allow for a choice between 3 different positions.

Re-engineered steering column allows for easier left foot braking and better knee/ leg clearance.

pic: David Clifford/R40 Media

The new Mygale 2013 Formula Ford chassis. Stiffer, lighter and more user friendly for drivers and engineers.

March 2013

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Your new contact for Mygale spares

Former series Champion returns to British Formula Ford

Mygale has appointed Justin Sarton as their spare parts representative for Australia.

2011 British FF Champion Scott Malvern will return to the field in 2013

Scott Malvern is to return to the series in which he made his racing name, the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, to make a second assault on the title.

The 2011 champion has rejoined his old team, Jamun Racing, in a lastminute deal.

Malvern was Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship runner-up in 2010 and won the title with Mygale and Jamun the following season thanks to 18 race wins (13 of them consecutive) from 24 starts. Last season he won the BARC Formula Renault club championship title with Cullen Motorsport. He’s twice been a finalist in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award and was voted British Club Driver

of the Year 2012 by Autosport readers.

Malvern’s addition takes the Jamun Formula Ford squad to four for the coming season. The team’s other Mygales will be raced by Argentine hotshots Juan Rosso and Nico Maranzana, and by Luke Williams, another driver who, like Malvern, is returning to Formula Ford after several seasons in the championship.

Williams was a race winner in Formula Ford in 2012.

The opening rounds of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain are just two weekends away at Brands Hatch (30/31 March), where the series will take up its new slot as a BTCC support event in front of ITV4’s live cameras.

8 Trade Place Vermont, VIC 3133 Phone: (03) 9873 1722

Sarton will take charge of all Mygale spare parts issues for its Formula Ford and Formula Three customers Australia-wide.

Justin’s motor racing CV is long and varied and includes experience in circuit racing, speedway and Karting as both a driver and crew member/car builder.

Justin will attend most meetings looking after trackside service in the Mygale Spare Parts truck, so please introduce yourself if you haven’t previously met him.

Justin can be contacted at Mygale HQ on 03 9580 4882, on mobile 0428 593 251 or via spareparts@mygale.com.au

Facsimilie: (03) 9874 2200 Email toper@toperformance.com.au

Australia’s Melbourne-based factory distributor of the world’s leading shock asorbers March 2013

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Evans continues international rise Former Sonic Motor Racing Services Mygale Formula Ford driver Mitch Evans was the fastest rookie driver and broke into the top 10 on the third and final day of GP2 testing at the Jerez circuit in Southern Spain reecntly.

Evans covered 170 laps of the 4.4km circuit during the six hours of track time allowed each day and on Thursday was faster than Arden International teammate Johnny Cecotto Jnr in both the morning and afternoon runs for the first time.

The 18-year-old Aucklander, who was the youngest of 24 driver taking part in the pre-season testing, finished three days of wet and dry running with the eighth fastest time in the last session.

“The team were happy with our performance and I’m getting on well with Chris Gorne who was the engineer with the New Zealand A1GP team. He’s great to work with and I’m already feeling confidence within the team.

“We made good progress over the three days,” Evans said. “I’m starting to feel more comfortable with the GP2 car and in a position where I know I can go faster.

There’s more potential yet - I just need more time in the car.”

The 2012 GP3 champion has quickly adapted to the dramatic increase in power in GP2. Last season’s turbocharged 2.0-litre GP3 engine produced 280hp; in contrast to the 612hp of the 40-litre V8 Renault in the Dallara GP2 chassis.

“At the end, we were just a couple of tenths off being second fastest, so that was a very positive outcome. All and guys around me were experienced GP2 drivers, so it is good to be mixing it with them already. And I know there is more time to come from me.”

Next week Evans will be at the Barcelona circuit for the second and final pre season GP2 testing before the opening races of the 11-round GP2 season at the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix on March 23-24.

Evans had his introduction to GP2 at the 4.6km Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona last November, when he was also fastest rookie and set the eighth fastest time.

“I will continue to gain confidence at Barcelona,” Evans said. “It’s all good so far, really tough but we are working hard as a team and I’m pretty happy at the way my European season has started.

“After the off-season, it is a bit of a shock to the system to be driving again, particularly when you do a full race run on day two. These cars are more physical to drive. You run a lot of castor at the front end, so the steering is heavy and, when you are running without a stop for an hour, you really feel it in the high speed corners.

“I expect I will adapt to it quickly because I’ve prepared well with all my training for the new season.”

Mitch Evans continues his rapid rise up the motorsport ladder with a season in the GP2 series in 2013

March 2013

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2013 Australian Formula Ford Championship RD 1

April 5 - 7

Symmons Plains

V8 Supercars

RD 2

July 5 - 7

Townsville

V8 Supercars

RD 3

July 27 - 28

QLD Raceway

V8 Supercars

RD 4

August 23 - 25

Winton

V8 Supercars

RD 5

October 25 - 27

Gold Coast

V8 Supercars

RD 6

November 23 - 24

Phillip Island

V8 Supercars

RD 7

December 6 - 8

Homebush

V8 Supercars

2013 Australian Formula 3 Championship RD 1

March 29- 31

Bathurst

Bathurst Motor Festival

RD 2

April 5 - 7

Symmons Plains

V8 Supercars

RD 3

June 14 -15

Hidden Valley

V8 Supercars

RD 4

July 12 - 14

Sydney M/Sport Park

Aus 6 hour

RD 5

August 2 - 4

QLD Raceway

Shannons Nationals

RD 6

September 20 - 22

Phillip Island

Shannons Nationals

2013 Victorian Formula Ford Championship RD 1

March 9 - 10

Winton

VMRC

RD 2

April 6 - 7

Phillip Island

VSCRC

RD 3

May 18 - 19

Sandown

VSCRC

RD 4

July 20 - 21

Sandown

VSCRC

RD 5

October 26 - 27

Phillip Island

VSCRC

Mygale Australia P.O. Box 3189 Mentone East, Vic 3194 Phone: +61 (0)3 9580 4882 e-Mail: enquiries@gforcemotorsport.com.au Content, Design & Photography Mark Cooper Graphic & Media Services - 0408 138 590

March 2013

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ENGINEERED TO WIN!

“Mygale and Sonic Motor Racing Services gave me the right equpment to win in the Australian Formula Ford Championship. If you’re just starting out you really need to be in a Mygale” Cameron Waters, 2011 Australian FF Champion & V8 Supercar driver

Mygale Australia, 21 Citrus St Braeside VIC 3195 p: 61 3 9580 4882 e:enquiries@mygale.com.au www.mygale.com.au

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