 Jack Le Brocq has provided the CAMS Rising Stars team with three excellent results during Round 4 of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship – in a weekend where all four Penrite backed drivers encountered the Hidden Valley circuit for the first time.
With just three previous Formula Ford events to his name, Le Brocq scored points in all three races, taking eighth, ninth, and tenth place finishes across the weekend in his Minda Motorsport prepared Spectrum.
The 17 year old Victorian survived a hairy moment in Race 3, when his nose cone became dislodged while taking evasive action to avoid another driver’s incident. Thankfully the damage to the nose, which had been especially stickered to support the SIDS and Kids Red Nose Day campaign at Hidden Valley, did not prevent Le Brocq from completing an impressive weekend.
"It certainly was hectic out there today,” said Le Brocq after Race 3.
“We had to take some evasive action to miss other people’s accidents and our nose cone got knocked askew. It was loose for a while and I thought we may have been black flagged, but thankfully it worked itself back into place and we were able to keep racing. In the end it provided excellent exposure for the SIDS and Kids Red Nose Day coming up this week!
“Overall I think we had a pretty strong performance this weekend – I’m very happy. As a rookie, anytime I can finish in the top ten in such a competitive field I feel we’ve done a good job. I was pleased that we showed speed and consistency across all three races, especially after we struggled a bit at Winton during the last round.
“The Winton weekend actually helped me learn a lot more about what changes work on these cars, and helped me develop as a driver as well. I took a lot from it, and we were able to translate it into championship points this weekend.”
Saturday morning qualifying had seen Le Brocq and team-mate Garry Jacobson work together to good effect – the two cars drafting each other down the 1.1km main straight on their way to eighth (Jacobson) and ninth (Le Brocq) for the session. Jacobson’s time was good enough to put him just two tenths of a second away from a top five grid position – a remarkable achievement in only his third National Formula Ford meeting.
The Shepparton driver had to fight hard during the races however, scoring 13th and 14th placed finishes in Sunday’s heats after being forced out of Race 1 while running inside the top ten.
“It’s been good to get a lot of laps at this circuit,” said Jacobson – who is competing in a part time national championship schedule this season. “It was great to qualify in the top ten, but obviously our chances of a strong result were hurt by our Race 1 DNF.
“We fought hard for the rest of the weekend and gained good experience drafting and positioning ourselves within the pack. I was hoping to make it back into the points during the final race, but we dropped a few positions while avoiding a spin in front.”
Matthew Brabham and Liam Sager also charged their way up the field in Race 2 after suffering Race 1 DNFs. The pair teamed up with Jacobson, with the trio making up six positions from their grid spots.
Team principal Bruin Beasley ended Round 4 of the championship rapt for standout performer Le Brocq, and pleased with the way his whole team worked together throughout the weekend.
“Jack has really done a tremendous job here at Hidden Valley,” he said. “For someone who has had so little experience in these cars, and who had never been to the circuit before, it was great for him to score a lot of points.
“The way all four of our guys worked together here was highly pleasing. Running all four cars at this round further increased our scope for data sharing between cars, and the on-track team-work showed that all four of our boys have highly developed ‘racing brains’. Seeing that level of race craft coupled with their speed at this age is very encouraging for the future.”
The Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship continues on the streets of Townsville on July 9-11.
The CAMS Rising Stars are proudly supported by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport, the Australian Sports Commission, Minda Motorsport, Penrite Oils, OAMPS Insurance Brokers, Boylan Traffic Solutions, Relux Slabs, Revolution Racegear, LCF Merchandise and Mark Webber.
HIDDEN VALLEY RACEWAY, DARWIN, NT – SUNDAY
Qualifying
8. Garry Jacobson, Spectrum 011c, 1:12.9965
9. Jack Le Brocq, Spectrum 011c, 1:13.1515
13. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011d, 1:13.3428
14. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011b, 1:13.4138
Race 1
8. Jack Le Brocq, Spectrum 011c
DNF. Garry Jacobson, Spectrum 011c
DNF. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011d
DNF. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011b
Race 2
9. Jack Le Brocq, Spectrum 011c
14. Garry Jacobson, Spectrum 011c
15. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011b
16. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011d
Race 3
10. Jack Le Brocq, Spectrum 011c
13. Garry Jacobson, Spectrum 011c
DNF. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011b
DNF. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011d
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