Expectations are high after Richards performances last season. Richard commented “I am very happy to be rejoining TOM’S for the 2012 season. With the experience gained last year and with proper preparation I believe we can be at the front fighting for victories and the championship. I also believe the engineering capability of the team will be a massive attribute in getting the most out of the new car and I am very much looking forward to the first round at Suzuka in April!”

S. Koumi from TOM’S added “We are very pleased to have him continuously this year in Tom’s F3 squad. Although it was difficult year for him last year but we believe he has learnt a lot and enjoyed building his experience in various aspects. We are looking forward to his further progress and establishing himself as a professional racing driver during coming season.”

Established in 1974, TOM’S Co. Ltd. specialises in the tuning of Toyota engines and other touring car components, competition parts as well as in the development and sale of semi-Toyota genuine parts. TOM’S is also the appointed works racing team of Toyota Motor Corporation and has a record which includes 14 Japanese F3 titles and 5 Macau Grand Prix Victories.

The Macau Grand Prix in November marked the last race of the 2011 season for Richard. However preparation for the 2012 season began almost immediately afterward with a 2 day test at the Valencia Ricardo Tormo circuit in Spain in the middle of December. The Spanish Moto GP circuit is a great place to test during the winter months due to the mild temperatures compared to circuits in the UK and Japan at that time of year.

Richard was doing the test with Carlin motorsport, the team Richard contested the 2011 Grand Prix De Pau with in May. Richard missed the first 2 days of the test  but performed very well on his first day in a car which was very different to his usual Japanese spec car. Once he got into the rhythm of the circuit.Richard was very fast on older tyres  He had some work to do on the new tyres though as the British Championship spec Cooper tyres require a very different technique to the Japanese Yokohama tyres Richard is used to.

There were fewer drivers on day 2 so this was  a perfect opportunity for Richard to work on the technique required with the new Cooper tyres.and he was much quicker than he had been on day 1.

Richard felt that this was a very useful test. He  made significant improvements as he became familiar with the tyre , the car and the circuit. All of this experience will be useful going into next year.

Thursday started in difficult conditions as heavy rain greeted the drivers for practice. Richard did well to stay out of crashes in a session disrupted by many red flags and accidents to learn the 28 corner 6.2 km long street circuit. The rain stayed until Friday when qualifying took place. Richard unfortunately had some bad luck with a car crashing in front of him on his timed lap and with the road blocked Richard had no choice but to hit the other driver, damaging the car too much to continue. This meant that Richard would start in 24^th place for the 10 lap qualifying race.

The qualifying race which would determine the grid for Sundays main race was run over 10 laps on Saturday afternoon. Richard made a great start to vault up into the top 20 instantly. Unfortunately an incident occurred with another driver early on and Richard was forced out of the race and would therefore start the main race from 25^th.

After a dramatic start to the 58^th Macau Grand Prix with a car stalling on the grid Richard made up a few positions before the safety car was brought out for the first time. From there he made his way up into the top 10 finishing in an eventual 9^th place from 25^th on the grid after 15 laps of racing.

The main aim of learning the track for next year was accomplished with a good result to follow and Richard will be back next year with the aim of winning. A big thank you goes out to TOM’S and Richards personal sponsor for the weekend, In Sense.

Held at the Sportsland Sugo Circuit in Japan, Richard was the only driver who had not raced at the narrow and technical track before. He still managed to learn the track quickly and qualified in 3rd and 4th in the two qualifying sessions.

In Race 1, he worked his way to 2nd in the first lap and remained there until the last four laps of the race when he made a small mistake. He put a wheel wrong onto the grass and that mistake caused him to drop back to 7th place, which was where he finished eventually.

In Race 2 which was a longer race, Richard again worked his way up to second and this time, stayed there to the end to take his second podium finish of the season.

The third race was not so lucky as Richard had to use a set of used tyres for the race, as his new set was damaged during qualifying. This affected the car’s handling and having started in 5th, Richard only managed to retain that position.

Under Team TOM’S Petronas, Richard has made massive progress this year with two podium finishes and many near-misses at the podium.

This weekend concludes the end of the Japanese F3 season and Richard is now testing for his next race in Macau!

Richard Bradley of Team TOM’S Petronas was doing very well, coming in P2 in the first practice session on Friday, despite being on old tyres.

The weather steadily worsened with an impending typhoon and Saturday’s qualifying and race were cancelled first.

Keeping fingers crossed for Sunday’s race, it was eventually cancelled along with timed qualifying as the weather was simply too horrible for any driving.

It was frustrating as Richard was very fast in practice and it would have been exciting to see how the weekend would have turned out!

The next round will be held the same weekend as the Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, what a shame Richard would have to miss F1 right here in Singapore where he lives…

Returning this season for Rounds 10 and 11 of the Japanese Formula 3 championship, Richard was happy to be back at Okayama despite not having had any F3 testing there.

During the testing session on Friday, both Richard and his Team TOM’S Petronas team-mate were about a second off the race leaders’ pace.

Making some major set-up changes overnight, the car was much better on Saturday and Richard qualified in fourth for the first race.

Unfortunately, the initially damp track started to dry up. Running the car on slicks, Richard went off on the first lap and that was the end of his race.

The second race on Sunday was held in dry conditions and Richard finished 4th. It looks like podium finishes are not far off now!

Richard is looking forward to the next race in Suzuka – which also marks the season finale – and will be missing the 2011 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix as both race events fall on the same weekend!

Invited to the F1 in Schools Singapore Technology Challenge on 27 July 2011 at NP Convention Centre, Richard shared his experience being in Formula 3 and also presented his insights on motorsports and what it entails.

Richard also had a little challenge against Raymond Cheong, general manager of the Singapore Motor Sports Association.

Richard is grateful for this opportunity to share his expertise and experience in motorsports to the participating students of F1 in Schools. Congratulations to all winners and keep the passion up!

Proud to be wearing his Team TOM’S Petronas suit, Richard was happy for a chance to meet young fans.

Consistently one of the fastest on the grid, Richard qualified in fourth place but Race 1 turned out to be a nightmare for everyone. Shortly after the start of the race, the skies opened and poured hard on the drivers.

The lightning storm made it almost impossible to even drive in a straight line but Richard managed to get up to third place. Then the race was red-flagged due to the horrible weather conditions.

The race was restarted behind the safety car and only ran for a few laps before the end of the race. Richard unfortunately dropped to fourth place just after the safety car start and did not have enough time left to gain back third place, finishing just 0.3 seconds behind the third-placed finisher.

The weather for Race 2 on Sunday was a complete change from the day before, with the scorching sun beating down on the drivers. Confident of a podium finish, Richard was ready for a long race in the significantly hotter weather.

A decision was made to lower the tyre pressure and instead of helping, the car’s handling was affected. As a result, Richard had to struggle with the car for most of the race before making a mistake and spinning out of fifth position just before the end.

At the end of the weekend, Richard returned home with the consolation that his performance is improving steadily as he gets more time in the car. Till the next race!

Qualifying was a pity as Richard probably went out too early and the track got faster as the session wore on, with later  timings getting faster. Richard eventually qualified in fifth and fourth for the two races respectively.

In Race One on Saturday, the gearbox return spring on Richard’s car unfortunately broke on the out lap. Not able to fix it on the grid, Richard had to go on with the race plagued by gear selection issues.

Expecting the problem to cause a huge disadvantage to his race, Richard instead surprised the team with his performance as he coped with the problem very well.

Finishing in fourth place, Richard was consistently one of the quickest cars of the race. At one point he was up to third place but his gears got stuck in fourth and he lost the place.

Back into Race Two on Sunday, Richard and the team were confident of a good result. Indeed, Richard had a fantastic start and overtook his team-mate for third place. Then a huge incident occurred on the track and another driver crashed into Richard, bringing a premature end to his race.

Nonetheless, Richard was fast all weekend, making great progress and keeping the general mood positive even after the race. Pleased with his progress, the team is now focused on the next race.