Asian Motor Sports

The nephew of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna, Bruno, headlines a competitive 25-car Australian Formula 3 field set to contest the Dodo F3 support races at the 2006 FORMULA 1 â„¢ Fosters Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend.

With the 2006 championship series just one round old, the record field has entered for the non-points scoring event at Albert Park with a host of drivers ready to try and impress the Formula 1 elite watching from pit lane.

Current point’s leader Ben Clucas will step aside for the meeting, fellow international ace Bruno Senna taking over the Englishman’s Team BRM / John Deere-supported Dallara F304 for a one off appearance on Australian shores.

Senna comes to Australia with a season of British F3 under his belt and will prove a strong benchmark for the local competition to target.

Incidentally, Senna’s British Formula 3 Championship team boss will be present this weekend, the Brazilian’s Double-R Racing outfit listing McLaren superstar Kimi Raikkonen as an owner.

Senna’s trip to Australia will be the ideal preparation for his second British F3 season when he returns to run with the Raikkonen-Robertson team in the competitive British arena.

A host of local talent will be aiming to unseat the Brazilian driver, however, a number of drivers taking some home ground advantage into the meeting as the Formula 3 teams and drivers hit Victoria for the first time in 2006.

21-year-old Michael Trimble will be one such contender, the Astuti Motorsport driver one of the key championship protagonists this season with his Melbourne based team.

Trimble, who missed last year’s AGP event in what was his inaugural F3 season, will line up in a Renault-powered F304 Dallara this weekend and will be hoping that the brand’s recent Formula 1 form rubs off on the Astuti Motorsport team this weekend.

“It wasn’t good to miss last year’s event so I’m really looking forward to getting out there this year,