 The three man Sonic Motor Racing Services Formula Ford team of Nick Foster, Geoff Uhrhane and Ryan Simpson had mixed fortunes at the second round of the 2010 Championship but all emerged with encouraging car speed and good preparation for the third round.
“Overall I’m pretty happy with where we were at,” says Sonic Principal Michael Ritter, “we had good car speed throughout the weekend and except for losing an engine (Uhrhane) in the final race we were right on the money. Nick in particular was fantastic.”
Considering his grandfather (Tom Foster) passed away the week prior, Nick’s commitment and determination were inspirational as he won a race, won the round and now leads the Championship by nine points.
“It was a fantastic effort by Nick on all levels,” concedes Ritter, “considering what he and his family had been through in the lead up we couldn’t be happier with what he achieved on the weekend.”
Despite a third row qualifying effort and spin in Race One (he came back to finish just inside the top ten) Foster came good in Race Two and capitalised on the crash between his teammate Ryan Simpson and Adam Graham to score victory.
In his third appearance he started on the front row and simply drove away in the #13 Steeline Mygale.
“Nobody even looked like catching him,” smiled Ritter, “he put in a masterful drive and now leads the Championship.”
Summary:
Q:5, R1: 9, R2: WIN, R3: WIN
For Geoff Uhrhane the weekend was not what many had expected.
“QR is Geoff’s home circuit and he did well at the State round where we tested the weekend prior,” explains Ritter, “so we had every reason to expect he’d be hard to beat. Unfortunately, things just didn’t pan out that way and although he had good car speed early Geoff’s result wasn’t indicative of his potential. He just didn’t seem to have the pace that his team-mates Nick and Ryan did throughout the weekend.”
Strong podium finishes saw Geoff go into the final race of the weekend as top point scorer but remarkably his engine let go in the Hogs Breath Café Mygale.
“It’s extremely rare for something mechanical engine wise like this to go wrong,” admits Ritter, “it knocked Geoff’s weekend around immeasurably and cost him several positions in the Championship chase. It was regrettable all around.”
Despite that disappointment, Mike expects the young Queenslander to be right back on top in two week’s time for Winton and determined to improve on his 8th overall points position.
“Geoff will be pumped up for Winton, you can be sure of that. He’ll be very keen to avenge the lost points from Queensland get back into the hunt for the title,” concedes Ritter.
Summary:
Q: 2, R1: 3, R2: 2, R3 – Engine failure
Ryan Simpson, by his team boss’ admission, had a ‘topsy turvy’ weekend.
Simpson put the Parramatta Smash Repairs Mygale on pole after qualifying and blitzed the field in Race One to score a comfortable victory.
“From what we could see right there Ryan had the pace to clean sheet the event,” concedes Ritter, “we all thought it was game over for his rivals, he looked very good.”
He was good too, gapping the field in Race Two to lead comfortably until a safety car period brought the field back into striking distance and unfortunately Ryan and Adam Graham got together on the final lap with Graham holding on and Simpson crashing out in the Parramatta Smash Repairs Mygale and being awarded a lowly 19th place finish.
For Race Three it was going to be a charge back from the rear and the young Sydneysider did so, racing back to 7th place by the fall of the chequers.
Summary:
Q: POLE, R1: WIN R2: 19, R3: 7
Series Points from a Sonic perspective look like this:
Nick Foster (1st), 58
Ryan Simpson (5th),36
Geoff Uhrhane (8th), 31
The next round of the 2010 Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship is at Winton Motor Raceway on April 14-16, 2010.
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