Scottish Formula Renault UK Championship front-runner Susie Stoddart (Oban, Argyll) today made the surprise confirmation she will contest the 2004 season with Norfolk’s Comtec Racing.
In what is a major coup for the Attleborough-based team, Comtec has signed one of Formula Renault UK’s true championship pace-setters to accompany former UK Formula Ford Champion Westley Barber (Saffron Walden, Essex) for a realistic assault on the 2004 championship
Susie, who claimed her first ever podium finish in the category last August at Snetterton, is highly confident she can go on to even greater success this season with the Duckhams-backed team as she aims for nothing less than race wins this year.
“I have spent the winter looking at all my options with teams in Formula Renault UK and feel Comtec offered me the best opportunities to win races this season”, said Susie, “In Jonathan Lewis I have found someone with a determination to win that matches my own.”
Team manager Jonathan Lewis, meanwhile, is confident his pairing of Stoddart and Barber will be one of the very best in the paddock during 2004. He commented: “I’m delighted to welcome Susie to the team. She was number one on all the top teams’ wish lists and we at Comtec feel honoured Susie has put her faith in us for such an important year for her.
“The line-up of Susie and Westley must now start the year as one of the championship’s strongest driver pairings. I ran Paula Cook when she became the first ever woman to get pole position for an international motor race in the old-style Formula Renault UK cars and in Susie I intend to make her the first female race winner in the formula.
Lewis added: “My aim is to give them the best opportunity to race for wins from the start and the decision to run our first year as a two-car team means we can concentrate on Susie and Westley much better and this will help us in our aim to win the championship. We proved in the 2003 Winter Championship we’ll be a force to reckoned with.”
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