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Formula Ford Set To Thrive in 2007 |
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Friday, 09 February 2007 |
With less than a month before the beginning of the 2007 Australian Formula Ford Championship at South Australia's Clipsal 500, a close look at some timely additions to the 2007 series indicate it is set for yet another successful season.
2006 served as a re-launching phase for Formula Ford, with the arrival of the Ford Fiesta 1600cc engine to replace the outdated Kent improving both the racing and affordability of the category, which was ultimately the intended goal for 2006.
"While at first glance, the changeover to the Fiesta would have seemed
expensive, teams were starting to reap the rewards during the season
with maintenance costs being considerably less compared to the Kent
engines", said Category Manager Margaret Hardy.
The successful change to the Ford Fiesta engine allowed for some fiery
encounters at the front of the field in 2006, with lap records
consistently being smashed and the championship still up for grabs
leading into the final round.
2007 sees a change in wheels to 6" front and 7" rear control
Performance Wheels, sure to put a further dent in lap records set in
2006 where wheel size was only 5 ½ " all round.
A field of no less than 26 has been assembled for the season opener
next month, the largest since the swap to the Fiesta engines and a
testament to the improvements made.
As a launching pad for a young generation of drivers striving to get a
foot in the door, Formula Ford serves as the breeding ground and feeder
category to the categories these young drivers aspire to compete in,
particularly the V8 Supercar Championship.
Countless members of the current V8 field have raced with Formula Ford,
including last years champ Rick Kelly, his brother Todd, Craig Lowndes
and Garth Tander to name a few, not to mention Australia's only current
F1 driver Mark Webber.
John Martin and Tim Slade fought out the 2006 title to the death, with
the crown being decided at the final round at Philip Island.
Martin eventually took out the title and will move on to British
Formula 3 Championship this year while Slade has moved onto the V8
Fujitsu development series with Dexion, again proving the value of a
Formula Ford apprenticeship in making the next step.
This the likes of Tim Blanchard and Ashley Walsh, both top five
finishers last year, will assume favouritism alongside young gun Joshua
Scott who broke through for his second win of the season in race one of
the final round last year.
However, with such high numbers set to race in an extremely competitive
field it's going to take a season of consistent driving to challenge
for the 2007 series crown set to be televised to a national audience.
In a major boost for Formula Ford, the arrival of a television package
that will see each round of the Championship show-cased on channel
seven in '07 will be instrumental in pushing the category to the next
level.
The new television package with Network Seven adds the obvious
advantage for increased exposure for the series and its young talent,
something that has clearly been active in raising championship numbers
coupled with the successful introduction of the Fiesta.
The stage is set for Formula Ford to continue to grow in stature and
provide the best possible experience and tutoring to the next group of
Australia's premier drivers.
Round one of the 2007 Australian Formula Ford Championship kicks off at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide 1-4 March.
Formula Ford Round One Schedule
Thursday 1 March
11:45am - 12:05 pm Practice 1
4:40pm- 5:00pm Practice 2
Friday 2 March
9:05am- 9:25am Qualifying session 1
Saturday 3 March
9:05am- 9:25am Race 1
12:55pm- 1:15pm Race 2
Sunday 4 March
9:50am- 10:05am Race 3
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