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Martin Continues To Impress Overseas In Formula Ford |
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Wednesday, 27 September 2006 |
Australian Formula Ford driver John Martin has continued to raise the eyebrows of many in Europe as his impressive run in the British Formula Ford Championship continues.
Martin had never been around the Silverstone International circuit prior to last Friday's practice.
The Queenslander had been on the National circuit, but this comprises only two corners of the at the famous Silverstone International circuit.
Heavy rain during both of Friday's practice sessions saw Martin, driving the Borland prepared Spectrum, complete only four full laps as to red flag incidents throughout the sessions marred the young gun's progress.
Unable to gain any more on-track experience, Martin headed into qualifying and remarkably held pole for most of the session, only just being pipped with three minutes to go.
Ultimately, he qualified second for race one (0.09 off pole) and third for race two (0.12 off pole), the fastest two qualifying determining the drivers two starting positions.
In a race long duel with Nathan Freke, the series leader, Martin lead for numerous laps but the team under estimated how quickly the track was drying and had a setup for wet conditions, which saw his car working better on cold tyres
As the track dried out, Martin came under increasing pressure from the series leader who used his local knowledge to have a setup suited to the wet but drying conditions
With Freke's tyres coming up to temperature, Martin was unable to hold onto his lead and eventually lost a position but drove to a comfortable second to go with his debut win during his last race.
Race two was again on a very damp but drying track and Martin was off position three.
With the odd numbers of the grid being on the wet side of the track, the Australian consequently dropped to fifth off the line but was quickly up to third and was dicing for second.
Christian Ebbersvik defended aggressively, holding Martin up and allowing the race leader to skip away.
With only one dry line, Martin was forced to make his overtaking attempts on a damp line.
This, in combination with being squeezed off line, saw him spin and make contact with Ebbersvik, putting both out of the race.
Despite the disappointment of the DNF, Martin again showed he has the ability to race against the best young drivers from Europe and again took a significant step forward in his racing career.
With many competitors and team owners in the paddock taking note of the talented Australian, Martin is yet to commit to a drive next season although he expects to announce something in the coming weeks.
Australian team mate Paul Laskazeski's Borland built Kent-powered Formula Ford expected to arrive any day.
Laska, as he is known as, will race the Formula Ford Carnival at Castle Combe on 7-8 October as well as the prestigious Formula Ford Festival on 20-22 October; he will compete in the Kent class at both events, while martin and West Australian Nathan Caratti will compete in the Duratec class where past winners include Formula One ace Mark Webber.
Both Caratti and Laska intend to investigate options whilst there for 2007 and beyond.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 December 2006 )
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