Motorsport: Hartley confident ahead of season opener

Brendon Hartley begins his European Formula Three campaign at the Hockenheim track in Germany this weekend.

Jet-set New Zealand driver Brendon Hartley is bubbling with confidence as he prepares to line up for the first round of the European Formula Three series in Germany this weekend.

Hartley, who was at the Spanish grand prix in Barcelona last weekend as reserve driver for the Red Bull and Toro Rosso Formula One teams, begins his Formula Three campaign at the Hockenheim track after posting the fourth-fastest times in testing at the Valencia track in March.

Since the tests with the Carlin Motorsport team for the Formula Three championship, the Palmerston North 19-year-old has gained his international super licence allowing his sponsors to name him their reserve Formula One driver.

He has also contested two rounds of the 3.5 litre V6 Renault world series although that has not been memorable stint as he sits in 16th place with just three points, trailing fellow New Zealander Chris van der Drift who is sixth with 16 points.

"We've made some really positive progress in testing so I'm feeling quite confident about the season," said Hartley who was the fastest driver in a Dallara chassis and two-litre Volkswagen engine combination over the two-day test.

"I was fourth for the whole test which is reasonably encouraging, but we still need to find a bit more time.

"Both Volkswagen and the team are working really hard to improve ahead of the first race, and I've been really impressed with the package they've put together.

"We won't see exactly where we are compared to the other teams until the first race, but I'm feeling confident.

"I've also got the same engineer as last year so it's really good to be able to have that established relationship as we head into a new season."

The famed Hockeheim circuit held no fears for him.

"I raced at Hockenheim last year, so at least I have experience on the circuit in a Formula Three car.

"We've definitely made a lot of progress since then so it will be interesting to see how we compare to the other teams."

Hartley finished third in the British Formula Three series last year and grabbed a third at the prestigious year-ending Macau grand prix.

Team principal Trevor Carlin said: "We weren't happy as a team with our performance in 2008 and have been working very hard over the winter to improve and close the gap to the front running teams.

"Pre-season testing has been very encouraging and we feel we've made some big improvements.

"Brendon and (teammate) Jake (Rozensweig) have been very quick in testing and are working together well to help the team move forwards."

Hartley expected his main opposition to come from the German Dallara-Mercedes cars run by the ART team, whose drivers have won the last five championships, and Mucke Motorsport.

The championship returns to Hockenheim for the 10th and final round in October.

- NZPA