Walsh relishing Ultimate challenge - EXCLUSIVE.

by Russell Atkins

New team owner Barry Walsh is convinced Ultimate Motorsport can break Dallara's dominance of the British F3 International Series, and win in its debut season in the championship.

The former racing driver - who was twice crowned Junior Irish Champion in the mid-1980s and more recently participated in Formula Palmer Audi in 2006 - founded the squad late last year with the help of former McLaren Formula 1 engineer Simon Armstrong. He admitted it had been something of a whirlwind past few months trying to get everything prepared in time for yesterday's Silverstone launch.

"It's been a huge effort," he confessed to Crash.net. "There wasn't much of a Christmas last year because everybody had to work through it! Everyone in the team has put in a massive amount of hours just to get the car ready and here. The timescale of everything has involved a serious amount of pushing to get it all ready.

"The launch was a very proud moment, and it couldn't have taken place in a more prestigious location than in the BRDC Suite, the Home of British Motorsport."

Though Walsh acknowledges the fact Ultimate will be facing an uphill struggle in its maiden year of competition, he is confident all the people and tools are in place for the job to be done properly, and is setting high expectations. Aside from Armstrong, the outfit has recruited fellow ex-McLaren man Jonny Ostrowski in the role of team manager and experienced and quick F3 ace Esteban Guerrieri as its lead driver.

"It's a huge challenge," he recognised. "Dallara is very established; the other teams are all very established. They know all the data and set-ups, but we are here to fight, not to be just another Dallara team. That would be the easy route and that's not what we are here for.

"We knew we had to get the right people around us. We had a lot of people approach us wanting to come on-board and we have had to be meticulous with those we have chosen. I'm quite happy with the people we have got. The only way we are going to do this is by having experience, and if we can prove ourselves by developing a car and launching a new team it speaks volumes and will stand us in good stead for the future."

One of the biggest unknowns for Ultimate in 2007 is the Mygale chassis it will be running, as the multiple Formula Ford-crowned French manufacturer strives to knock Dallara off its perch. From what he has seen so far, Walsh is optimistic it is far from mission impossible.

"The guys at Mygale are putting in a huge effort to deliver the modifications and development parts that we are trying out all the time," he stated. "If you look at the cars Mygale have produced, they have all been of a very high standard. They have had great success in every formula they have entered into.

"Just looking at this car aero-wise, it's so far advanced compared to the Dallara, which speaks volumes in itself. The quality of their work is superb. We have the right engine in the back too in the Mercedes, which is very strong. We have the right engineers and we feel we can develop the car to challenge Dallara."

Walsh is also overwhelmingly positive about the impact Guerrieri has thus far had on the young organisation, and expects the former F3 Euroseries double race-winner to soon be up-to-speed in his new mount and challenging the upper echelons of the grid. He confirmed the identity of the squad's second driver would be revealed soon.

"Esteban is the whole package," he enthused. "He is motivated, very focussed, very fit and a great development driver too. He gives the engineers the feedback they need to push the car on, and we definitely expect him to be winning races before the season is out.

"Ben Clucas will be driving on Thursday. We have another driver in the frame too, and we will make our final decision out of the two of them within the next fortnight."

As to his overall objectives for the campaign ahead, Walsh is clear there will be no rest for team members as Ultimate aims to defy all preconceived logic and power its way up through the pack. Come the end of the year, he makes no bones, nothing less than victory will suffice.

"Testing has been very good," he affirmed. "We have been the quickest in the wet. We tested before Christmas with Fabio Carbone at Lurcy-Levis and we were quicker than Signature on the same day. We tested at Pembrey too, and though in the dry we didn't get Esteban out on new tyres we had Maro Engel testing for us there as well and what we found was that the springs we were running on the car were too soft, so we are now doing a lot of dyno work to bring it up to where we need to be.

"We have to prove ourselves capable of delivering with a car that is hitherto unknown, and our realistic goal is to get some podiums. Can we win a race? Absolutely. Otherwise we would not be here."