As the inaugural S5000 race at Sandown Raceway closes in, another two drivers in Tim Berryman and Ricky Capo have confirmed their spots in the field, taking the total drivers to 11.
Berryman takes the final seat in BRM’s three car assault and joining former Formula 1 star Rubens Barrichello and the recently announced Alex Davison.
Having a solid history in open wheel racing, Berryman has raced in Formula Ford, Formula 3 and Radicals around the world – his highlights being the 2014 Radical Australia Cup title and competing in the Radical Masters Euro Series.
Now racing in Historic meetings around the country behind the wheel of his old Formula 5000-spec Lola, the 42-year-old was looking forward to being part of the new category.
“I’ve done a lot of racing in open wheelers and big horsepower prototypes, so I feel like I will be ready to take on S5000,” Berryman explained.
“I’m very excited by the whole category. I’m over the moon to be involved in the first event at Sandown. I’ll be in the same garage and the same team as Rubens Barrichello, so it will a real ‘pinch yourself’ moment.
“For me, it’s the perfect race car. High horsepower, wings and slicks, paddle shift and above all else, very safe. There’s nothing else like it anywhere in the world and I feel the fans are going to get behind it.
“I don’t really have any expectations for results. I just want to learn the car as quickly as I can. I haven’t not driven it yet, but I think I will get my head around it quickly, hopefully have a clean weekend and be in the mix.”
The younger Capo – will enter the historic event privately, having his experienced family and friends looking after the Garry Rogers Motorsport prepared car.
Like Berryman, Capo has a wealth of open-wheel racing experience with Australian Formula 3, European LMP3 victories and a class win at the 4 hours of Monza in 2017.
With the support of Modena Engineering and Valvoline, this weekend won’t be the first time the 23-year-old is in the S5000 car, with the rising star recently enjoying two tests at Phillip Island and Sydney Motorsport Park.
“I got to do a few more laps at Sydney Motorsport Park and really started to become more comfortable and confident in the car,” Capo said.
“I was happy with the pace, and got to experiment with a few set-up changes and driving styles.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to pick up where we left off at Phillip Island on Wednesday, and then head into Sandown and get serious.
“I really like the cars. They are something similar to what I’ve driven before. They are really fun. It has so much power and lots of downforce. Now, we’ll all be fine tuning the set-up to make the car go better and I can only imagine that they will only go faster and faster.
“It’s also been good to develop a relationship with GRM. They have been really good to me over the journey so far and I’m looking forward to building on that in the coming months.”
The new category will make its official debut as part of the Shannons Nationals’ sixth round of 2019 and tickets are now available with 10 per cent of all sales going to charity partner Very Special Kids.
Fans unable to attend the round can watch via SBS or on the live stream on thenationals.com.au.
The carsales TCR Australia Series forms part of the Shannons Nationals visit to Sandown Raceway and takes place on 20-22 September.
