DOUBLE R CONFIRMS ILYAS AND PADAYACHEE
FOR BRITISH F3 CAMPAIGN
Double R Racing is delighted to announce it will run in both the International and National classes of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series this season after officially confirming 2012 deals with Fahmi Ilyas and Duvashen Padayachee.
Malaysian 20-year-old Ilyas, who made his F3 debut in the British championship last year, switches to Woking-based Double R for his second season in the high-profile category and will race a brand new Mercedes-powered Dallara F312.
Kuala Lumpur-born Ilyas’ maiden season of car racing came in 2009 in Formula BMW Pacific where he concluded the championship fourth overall with three podiums and one victory. He also raced in selected Formula BMW Europe events prior to a full campaign in the series in 2010 where he took two podiums.
Alongside his British F3 challenge last year, Ilyas also contested four races in the European F3 Open with the highlight being a sparkling series debut at Brands Hatch where he stormed to pole position and went on to record a sensational victory.
Australian F3 rookie Padayachee, meanwhile, will race for BRP Composites-supported Double R in the National Class at the wheel of a Mugen-Honda engined Dallara F308. Born in Sydney, the 21-year-old has only been racing single-seaters for a couple of seasons – before which he enjoyed a successful three-year tenure in Australian karting.
Graduating into cars in Formula BMW Pacific in 2010, he took a best result of third place at Guangdong in China. Contesting the JK Racing Asia Series last year, he ended the campaign fourth overall and finished third at the Singapore Grand Prix.
In addition to his JK Racing outings, Padayachee also sampled several other disciplines – racing at Bathurst in a Porsche and embarking on a race-winning outing in the Radical Cup Australia. Earlier this year, the antipodean competed at Bathurst once again and finished third in the invitational class of the 12 Hour endurance race.
“We’re very pleased to have agreed a deal with Fahmi to join Duvashen, it’s good to have a driver in both classes and we’re sure they’re going to make strong progress during the year”, said team principal Anthony ‘Boyo’ Hieatt, “Fahmi’s new car only arrived on Saturday so the boys are working flat out to get everything ready for the official test and Media Day this week. We’re aiming straight away for the top six with him, in qualifying and the races – he’ll be quick.
“Duvashen has made good progress so far in testing with the National Class car, he’s improving well each time he’s on track and will only build on that as he gains more experience. He’s working hard to raise additional sponsorship from back home and with some good performances in the first few races, we’re sure he’ll be able to achieve that.”
Ilyas and Padayachee will both be in action at the annual Cooper Tires British F3 International Series ‘Media Day’ at Silverstone this Wednesday, 21st March. The 2012 championship will then commence at Oulton Park in Cheshire over Easter weekend – Good Friday, 6th April, and Saturday, 7th April.
