Tom Tweedie, the current leader in the Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship National Class, will return to his racing roots next month in an effort to secure even more on-track experience and time behind the wheel – and it may turn out to be a handy precursor to the next F3 round to boot.

Tweedie, 20, has dominated in the F3 National Class this year driving his Battery World / Tizzana Vineyards / TEAM TOM Dallara but will return to the ranks of Formula Ford on July 4-5 at Eastern Creek Raceway.

This event comes just two weeks before Australia’s fastest category returns to Eastern Creek for their fifth round of 2009, giving Tweedie an additional chance to scout out the track conditions prior to the critical F3 round.

Tweedie will drive a classic 1986 Van Diemen at the NSW State Championship event, the same model car that dominated the international Formula Ford ranks in the late 1980s.

The Hunters Hill (Sydney) racer served the formative years of his racing career in the ranks of the NSW Formula ford Championship, finishing fourth in 2007 and second the following season in what were two highly successful seasons.

Though he will drive a significantly older model car than many of his rivals, Tweedie said that he was confident of giving the front runners a significant shake-up at Eastern Creek.

“My driving has gone to a new level this year thanks to my experiences in the F3 Australian Drivers Championship, so even though I’ll be in an older car I think I can mix it up with the front runners,” Tweedie said.

“The plan is to give the new guys in the New South Wales series a bit of a hurry up despite running the older car. It should be a good fun weekend and a good opportunity to get my eye in at Eastern Creek, despite the fact it’s a completely different car to the Formula 3.

“The weekend will be all about me getting seat time and to have some fun,” Tweedie added.

“The car was sitting there in the workshop so we thought we may as well bring it out and have a run. I’ve had some great races in Formula Ford so I hope for some of the same when we go to Eastern Creek.

“Battery World (Ryde) have been a great support to my career this year we can make a budget to run this Formula Ford State Round and hopefully more later in the year”

Tom would like to thank all members of "team tom" together with Battery World (Ryde) (02) 9807 8582 Tizzana Vineyards (02) 4579 1150 and his crew Richie, Nathan .... And his Dad, of course!

For more information head to www.tomtweedie.com – join the TEAM TOM supporters club for great rewards!

-ENDS-