 This weekend’s round of the Queensland Racing Drivers Championship at Queensland Raceway will provide a form guide for Round 2 of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship, with 12 national series drivers set to compete.
The event will feature many of the front-runners in this year’s championship including Round 1 podium finishers Chaz Mostert, Nick Foster and Ryan Simpson, while Ash Walsh, Nathan Morcom, Adam Graham, Ben Jurczak, Andre Borell, Geoff Uhrhane and Jon Mills will also compete. National Series rookies Shae Davies and Zac Shonberger will use the event to prepare for their debut.
Round 1 runner-up Foster downplayed reading too much into the weekend, but admitted it would be interesting to see how some teams and drivers performed.
“I think in some ways it will act as a form guide, but in other ways I don’t think we are too worried about the overall result,” Foster said.
“We will be treating the weekend as an extended test session, we won’t be going out there for the win, but I think it will give us some sort of indication of how people have come out of the Grand Prix.”
In 2009 Sonic Motor Racing Services swept the podium at Queensland Raceway with Mitch Evans taking victory and Foster is confident that momentum can continue.
“Sonic really is a top team and that gives you the confidence that you can be competitive anywhere,” he said.
“Obviously they have gone well there in the past and I think it’s going to be no different this year. Because it’s my home circuit, I have done thousands of laps around there and I think if we can find a good set-up then we’ll be in with a good shot.
Mostert, who leads the championship is keen to put an end to Mygales dominance at Queensland Raceway and is confident that 2010 could be the year.
“The new Spectrum is performing really well so far this season and I think it will be no different in Round 2,” Mostert said.
“Mygale and Sonic dominated at the Grand Prix in 2009, but we were able to get the win this year, so we are full of confidence heading to Queensland Raceway.”
Another driver keen to make an impression in Round 2 will be Evans Motorsport pilot Borell. The SimPro Mygale driver will turn 23 years old over the weekend and is after a race win for his birthday. Borell has also recently been selected for the Australian Triathlon team; a huge achievement.
Round 2 of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship will see 22 drivers take to the track, 11 of whom are local Queensland drivers.
Weekend Preview:
Round 2 2010 Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship
City of Ipswich 300, Queensland Raceway, Qld
Friday 29 April – Sunday 2 May
Weekend Schedule: AEST
Friday
8:30-8:50am - Practice 1 (20 minutes)
11:35-11:55am - Practice 2 (20 minutes)
15:45-16:05pm - Practice 3 (20 minutes)
Saturday
10:20-10:40am - Qualifying (20 minutes)
15:10-15:30pm - Race 1 (14 laps)
Sunday
10:50-11:10am - Race 2 (14 laps)
15:00-15:20pm - Race 3 (14 laps)
Australian Formula Ford Championship – after one round
1. Chaz Mostert, 21
2. Nick Foster, 16
3. Ryan Simpson, 14
4. Ash Walsh, 12
5. Nathan Morcom, 10
6. Adam Graham, 8
7. Geoff Uhrhane, 6
8. Andre Borell, 4
9. Jack LeBrocq, 2
10. Garry Jacobson, 1
Formula Ford is the world’s premier junior development motorsport category and has been a prominent fixture within Australia since 1969. Ford has been a proud partner of Formula Ford in Australia since the beginning and will support the category again in 2010 as it continues to grow. The relative parity between local and international makes produces some of the closest and most exciting racing seen on any circuit around Australia.
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