Team Avanti to test Swindon-Ford engine.

The new Swindon-Ford engine is undergoing a development exercise this week, in which Team Avanti will be playing a large role in testing the engine.

The Silverstone based team brought driver Matt Davies a couple of race wins in the 2001 season, and they led the series early in the season on a limited budget.

The Swindon-Ford engine has already been run by Motaworld Racing, at Donington Park and Silverstone. The car was initially a second off the pace, but the tests were encouraging.

Motaworld Racing are a new team to F3 and will be competing in the series for the first time next season. Tom Sisley and Carl Breeze are rumoured to be the drivers - they had success with the team in 2001 winning the UK Formula Renault title. Motaworld Racing have already done a deal to use the Ford engine in 2002, but are currently involved in the Formula Renault Winter series, so have asked Avanti to carry out further testing.

Team Avanti will be carrying out the testing at Pembrey, comparing the engine with one of their existing Opel Spiess-engined cars. The engine will be fitted into an ex-Fortec car and the team are free to use their own set-ups for the tests.

Matt Davies is likely to be the nominated driver for the test, however Avanti could chose another experienced driver who has been linked to the team for next season.