Armstrong: We're going to upset some people.

by Russell Atkins

Ultimate Motorsport will cause more than a few stirs in its maiden season of competition in 2007 - that is the opinion of team principal Simon Armstrong, as the Northamptonshire-based outfit bids to tear up the British F3 rulebook in its debut campaign.

The squad has been formed over the past few months, and its origins come from a chance playground meeting between the wives of Armstrong and team owner Barry Walsh. The latter had the money, the former the expertise, and together they formed a vision that they hope will end years of Dallara dominance in F3.

"It's was the culmination of quite a few months' hard work," former McLaren Formula 1 engineer Armstrong told Crash.net. "There has been a lot of midnight oil and a lot of stress, but some fun too. We always like to keep a good attitude and have a bit of fun while we are doing it all."

Though Ultimate is a very young organisation, it certainly does not lack for experience, not only in the shape of Armstrong but also in team manager and fellow McLaren refugee Jonny Ostrowski as well as a number of other key staff. This, Armstrong believes, will stand the squad in good stead over the forthcoming months, and the early signs have certainly been encouraging.

"We obviously are a young team," he acknowledged, "but in the depth we have and the experience of our members we are equipped to take on the challenges that will be presented to us.

"Everything is gelling together very well. Our test at Pembrey recently was the first time we went to a circuit under our own steam with our own cars. Arguably we were not as ready as we would have liked to have been, but we were delighted to have done what we did and came away with a list of things to do for the next one.

"The cars have performed as they should. They responded well to the changes, and in the variable conditions at Pembrey although the overall chart put us 12th and 13th out of 30-odd cars, we were running as high as the top six in the dry and top four in the wet, so we think we've got a good baseline."

The most radical aspect of Ultimate's bold venture is that of running with the Mygale chassis, especially given the fact Dallara has ruled the F3 roost for so long while a host of pretenders have tried and failed to even make an imprint. Armstrong, though, is convinced the multiple Formula Ford-winning French marque is the one to stop the rot.

"Mygale has taken a very logical process to understand how Dallara works and does what it does," he explained, "and they have sought to improve on that in every area. To that end they have recruited and got involved some very expert people, particularly on the aerodynamic side. They are comfortable they have got the match of Dallara, and we are comfortable they are there or thereabouts. The next thing now for us is to operate it all as a team to take it onto the next level."

On the driving front, while seasoned F3 ace and Euroseries race-winner Esteban Guerrieri was unveiled along with the car at the team's Silverstone launch, so far no team-mate has been announced to line up alongside the Argentinian. Armstrong denies this is a cause for concern, and is confident that come the start of the campaign at Oulton Park on 9 April, Ultimate will have two drivers capable challenging towards the upper echelons of the grid.

"What Esteban has brought is the experience of a front-running team in the Euroseries," he stated. "He has a very controlled approach to development driving; he doesn't try to overdo it. He drives at a 95 per cent rate and gives us good quality feedback. I think he is happy with how things are going, and we are very happy with him.

"Our second driver is actually a moving target. We felt we were close a month ago, but since then things have happened and changed. I would like to think after the Snetterton test this week we will be 95 per cent of the way to finalising it."

And as to his overall aims for the season ahead, Armstrong was clear - Ultimate is emphatically not in it merely to make up the numbers.

"We aspire to win," he asserted. "Our expectations are that we will upset a few people in the F3 paddock."