Former British Formula 3 Champion Prepared to Challenge for the Championship

CAMBRIDGE, U.K. — January 9, 2002 — Today Mario Haberfeld, the 1998 British Formula 3 champion announced his contract signing with the Belgium based Team Astromega for the 2002 International Formula 3000 Championship.  “I am extremely excited and pleased to be preparing my challenge for this year’s championship with Team Astromega.  I have watched this team in action over the past few years and I have always been impressed with their professionalism and competence.  I believe that Team Astromega provides me with the best possible platform from which to compete this year.”

Team Astromega is based just outside of Brussels, Belgium in the town of  Heist-op-den-Burg.  The team is owned by the Van Hool family which also owns and operates the world famous Van Hool Truck and Bus Company, which is located nearby.  Team principal Mikke Van Hool said “We are pleased to have Mario join Team Astromega.  He was our first choice for a driver for this year’s championship and we are pleased that we were able to attract such a talent.  We believe that the combination of our experience, technical expertise and skilled drivers will give us a real chance to be on the podium consistently.”

Mario brings long-time friend, mentor and engineer, Andy Miller, to the team as his personal race engineer.  Andy has a broad portfolio of experience in motor sport including major roles in
Formula One and Formula 3.  Team Manager, Sam Boyle said “I couldn’t be happier with the way our team is coming together for the upcoming championship.  The lessons that we have learned over the past few years, as well as the talents of Mario and Andy really give us a tangible advantage over the other teams on the grid.  I eagerly await the start of this year’s championship.”

Mario anticipates bringing several of his past sponsors to the team as well as some new commercial backing that he and his manager, Mark Hope, have been putting together over the winter.  The plan is for a mixture of both Brazilian and European sponsors to back the team, with a broad range of commercial programmes in place to give the sponsors a marketing property which will assist them in achieving their business objectives.