MOTORSPORT: More star power for S5000 category

The field is filling fast for Australia’s inaugural S5000 race weekend at Sandown Park, with two new drivers set to line up against former Ferrari star Rubens Barrichello.

With the Brazilian set to touch down tomorrow (Tues) in Melbourne, third-generation racer Alex Davison and open-wheeler expert Tim Berryman have committed to the category.

Both will drive for the crack Team BRM outfit, which comes into S5000 with winning credentials in previous wings-and-slicks campaigns.

There are only 14 spaces on the S5000 grid next weekend, as the field is capped by the number of the all-new V8-powered racers which have been completed at Garry Rogers Motorsport.

Davison is now a Supercars co-driving regular alongside his younger brother Will, lining up for Bathurst this year in a Ford Mustang, and admits he is going back to his roots in Formula Ford in 1999 as he slides back into an open-wheeler.

“I really don’t have any expectations. I’ve never raced wings and slicks, but I’m really excited to be competing,” says Davison.

“I’ve been watching the developments of the S5000 category with interest, right from the beginning. There’s been a lot of chat in the industry about it, and it’s an honour to be involved in the first ever event.

“This is the first serious open wheel race that I’ve been in since the 1999 Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch.”

Berryman brings a unique history to S5000, as he has been racing one of the historic Formula 5000 cars which provided the inspiration for S5000’s creator, Chris Lambden.

He has been racing a Lola and also has open-wheeler experience in Formula Ford and Formula 3.

“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,” says Berryman.

“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.”

He will only have his first S5000 experience at the pre-Sandown test at Phillip Island on Wednesday but is keen to get going.

“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 driven it yet, but I think I will get my head around it quickly, hopefully have a clean weekend and be in the mix.”