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Formula Ford Title Down To One Point As Scott Wins Race One PDF Print E-mail
Saturday, 09 December 2006
Joshua Scott took a comfortable race one victory today at Phillip IslandA sensational opening race to the championship deciding final round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship has seen series leader Tim Slade have his lead narrowed to just one point by John Martin as Joshua Scott ran away with victory.

Scott in a Borland Spectrum 011 got a strong start off pole and held the lead into turn one with Martin, also in a Borland Spectrum and Slade, in the Sonic/Dexion Van Diemen RF04 slotting in behind.


John Martin (24) and Tim Slade (3) on the openeing lap in race one at Phillip Island todayAshley Walsh sat in fourth while, just behind, Nathan Caratti's horror year continued when he was turned around on the opening lap and subsequently retired.

Walsh was keen to show he was not going to let the two title challengers have it all their own way as he used the tow to advantage down the long pit straight to move from fourth to second first time down the main straight.

Martin proceeded to battle for second with Walsh as Slade looked on in fourth avoiding the two in front.

Meanwhile, Scott was comfortably out in front and driving as if intent on making a statement for next season.

Behind the front four, an equally thrilling battle saw Dale Wood, Paul Laskazeski, Tim Blanchard, Todd Fiore and Kristian Lindbom have a five way battle, which became four when Laskazeski overshot the hairpin at turn four on lap seven.

The four then turned to three when Lindbom and Blanchard battled on the same corner the next lap, Lindbom faring worse and ended up off the racing line and off the track into an early retirement.

Up front, Scott continued unchallenged in front, while behind him Slade joined in the battle, making it between the top three drivers in the championship and setting a new lap record along the way of 1:39.9870.

With a strong tow down the straight being achieved each lap, the three drivers battled for positions heading into turn one and through turn two, with millimetres often separating the three.

Daniel Cotton was forced to retire mid-race and Blanchard had made his way up to fifth in front of Wood and Fiore in the closing laps.

The final lap board came out and Slade made his move down the straight, passing Martin for third place around the outside of turn one to set up the inside line into turn two. Scott still held a comfortable lead in front of Walsh who was still locked in the three way battle.

As the top four made their way around the back straight and into the turn 10 hairpin, Slade still held off Martin for third and looked set to increase his championship lead before Martin made his way in front of Slade heading onto the main straight.

Scott took the race win in the Kubota Spectrum ahead of Walsh in the VIP Petfoods Van Diemen RF06 but behind them the championship was almost turned on its head as the two leaders touched wheels on 100 per cent throttle in a race to the chequered flag.

Slade pulled out from behind Martin, touching the left rear of the Spectrum before holding his nerve to attempt to out drag his rival to the flag.

"It was a close race and we got pretty close on the final straight but it was a great race and our car got better the longer the race went on," Tim Slade said.

However, Martin held on to take a thrilling and crucial third place by just 0.0075 seconds over Slade and crucially cut the championship lead to just one point.

"We had a great battle which didn't allow us to challenge Josh who cleared out and then three of us were all faster in different sections so it was a tough race, but we closed the gap to just a point and will head into tomorrow with a better set up as well," John Martin said.

Blanchard held on to take a strong fifth place ahead of Wood and Fiore.

Up front, Scott took his second race victory for the year and his first from pole position, making a strong claim for 2007 favouritism along the way but much of the focus tomorrow will centre around the two-way battle for the championship and with a solitary point separating them every single corner will become even more crucial for the two young stars than ever.

"I got a great start and held off the pack into turn one and while they had a pretty tough battle behind me I pulled a bit of a gap that I was able to hold through the race so we're thrilled," Josh Scott said.

The final two championship deciding races will be on tomorrow at Phillip Island at 9.30am and 2.10pm.

2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship Schedule Round Eight, Phillip Island, VIC

Sunday 12 November

0930-0950         Race Two
1410-1430         Race Three

Entry list

No Driver Sponsor Vehicle Colour
3 Tim Slade Dexion Van Diemen RF04 Blue/White
4 Todd Fiore Russell Landscaping Van Diemen RF04 Blue/White
5 Tim Blanchard Jayair/Sanden Van Diemen RF04 Blue/White
8 Kristian Lindbom CAMS Rising Star Spectrum 011 Red/Wh/Blue
13 James Bergmuller JB Motorsport Van Diemen RF06 Red
15 Grant Doulman Doulman Industries Racing Spirit WL06 Blue
24 John Martin CAMS Rising Star Spectrum 011 Red/Wh/Blue
25 Daniel Cotton Team Showdown Spectrum 011 Black
32 Nathan Caratti Firepower/Fastlane Racing Van Diemen RF04 White/Blue
37 Tony LeMessurier Escalate Management Van Diemen RF06 Red
41 Brad Lowe Anglo Australian Motorsport Spirit WL06 Red/White
42 Samantha Reid Oakley/Chicane/Toshiba Mobile Computers Van Diemen RF03 Red/Black
45 Ashley Walsh VIP Petfoods/Infants Friend/GJ Walsh & Co Van Diemen RF06 Black/Orange
46 Dale Wood Preston Motors Mygale SJ06 Yellow
71 Paul Laskazeski CAMS Rising Star Spectrum 011 Red/Wh/Blue
89 Joshua Scott Kubota Australia Spectrum 011 Orange/White
 
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