Brisbane teenage Hayden Cooper has his eyes firmly set on an outright Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship assault next year after winning the 2012/13 Forpark Australia Scholarship.
Awarded by a panel of industry members based on a variety of parameters including driving talent, engineering ability and media skills, the scholarship yields $50,000 worth of funding towards an outright class drive for the following season.
The 17-year-old Cooper was a natural choice for the scholarship prize having won this years’ Forpark Australia F3 National class.
Cooper’s season ended with a victory in Race 2 of Phillip Island’s final round at the weekend, where a wily tyre choice and a mature drive netted a stunning 50 second victory.
“To know that enough people think highly enough of me and my season is an amazing feeling and one that’s going to take a while to sink in,” said Cooper of the scholarship award.
” It has been a great year; It took a while to feel comfortable in the car but I’ve learned so much and grown more as driver this year than ever before.
“I can’t say enough about the effort my family and Brett Francis and the BF Racing team have put into the season. It’s mainly thanks to them that we have achieved what we did.
“We are finding budget for next season but this will be a massive help – it is a massive thing for someone without massive funding like me and my family and will be huge help in attracting further support so we can win a championship.
“Forpark Australia are fantastic supporters of Formula 3 and I want to thank them for their support and for making this possible.”
James Winslow took out the 2012 F3ADC from reigning championship Chris Gilmour, with last year’s inaugural Forpark Australia Scholarship winner, Steel Guiliana, third.
