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Slade Leads The Way In Formula Ford Homecoming |
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Friday, 15 September 2006 |
Tim Slade came back to his home track for the first time in the national Formula Ford championship in style today, setting the fastest time in practice at Mallala Raceway for round six of the Australian Formula Ford Championship.
Close behind him was the CAMS Rising Star duo of John Martin and Paul Laskazeski, with Martin fastest in the slower second practice session.
The three drivers all set their fastest laps in session one this morning, while behind them Nathan Caratti, Ashley Walsh, Todd Fiore, Tim Blanchard and Grant Doulman filled positions four-eight with their fastest times coming in the afternoon session.
Amazingly, thirteen drivers were all within one-second of the fastest lap, highlighting the competitiveness of the county's premier development category.
Local girl Samantha Reid showed she would be a contender on the weekend setting the sixth fastest time in the morning's session before a fuel pump problem limited her chance to progress later in the day and finished 12th, less than a second off the pace.
The first practice session saw Slade, who grew up in McLaren Vale (South Australia), set the fastest time of the session with a 1:11.3181, at what has been his home track for much of his life, late in the session on the tenth lap.
"I feel confident at this track.I worked on the brake bias early on and later in the session I found the setting I was after and put down a pretty good time," Tim Slade said.
"The track started to go off as the temperature rose but the Dexion/Sonic Van Diemen is going well and I'm looking forward to the weekend."
Behind Slade were the two CAMS Rising Star drivers, John Martin, current championship leader, and Paul Laskazeski both driving the Borland Spectrum 011.
The two teammate's swapped positions early in the session before Martin set a 1:11.3541 just 0.0360 seconds behind Slade to be second fastest ahead of Laska in third with a 1:11.4474 (0.1293 behind Slade).
Fourth and also in a Spectrum was Brad Lowe in the black Lowe Earthmoving Formula Ford who set a time of 1:12.1590 ahead of Ashley Walsh, the second fastest Van Diemen, with a 1:12 1926.
A strong session from South Australian Samantha Reid saw her placed sixth with a 1:12.2599, despite being plagued by mechanical problems, which restricted her time on the track.
Like Slade, the Mallala round is also the home round for Samantha Reid, the only female driver in the series and also the one female to be selected in the CAMS Women's Driver Development Program for the last three years running.
As the only female in what is widely regarded as the county's premier development category, Reid is aiming to become the first woman to win the national title.
"We had some problems with the car in the first session which was disappointing as we felt there was a fair bit more speed in it," Samantha Reid said after the first session.
As the track temperature rose, the Fiesta powered Formula Ford's set out on their second practice session.
Martin set the pace in front of Laskazeski and Slade, although the three were faster in the morning session where Slade topped the sheets.
Behind them, things heated up as Caratti and Walsh, both in Van Diemens broke into the one-minute 11-second barrier to be fourth and fifth for the day with best times of 1:11.7875 and 1:11.9530 respectively.
Sonic teammate's Fiore (1:12.1020) and Blanchard (1:12.1244) improved their positions to sixth and seventh while Dale Wood and Joel Spychala also improved their times in the afternoon.
Team BRM, with brothers John and Kain Magro behind the wheel for the first time in the national series, showed solid pace in a learning weekend for the brothers with John setting a 1:12.3892 for 13th fastest and Kain a 1:13.3213 for 17th.
Round six of the Australian Formula Ford Championship will continue tomorrow with qualifying before all three races will be run on Sunday.
2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship Schedule - Mallala
| Saturday 16 September |
| 1320-1340 |
Qualifying |
| Sunday 17 September |
| 0900 |
Race One - 12 Laps |
| 1120 |
Race Two - 12 Laps |
| 1400 |
Race Three - 12 Laps |
2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship Entry list
| No |
Driver |
Sponsor |
Vehicle |
Colour |
| 3 |
Tim Slade |
Sonic Motor Racing Services |
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 |
| 11 |
Joel Spychala |
Mid Coast Ford |
Spirit WL06 |
White/Blue |
| 13 |
James Bergmuller |
JB Motorsport |
Van Diemen RF06 |
Red |
| 15 |
Grant Doulman |
Doulman Automotive |
Spirit WL06 |
Blue |
| 16 |
Sam Sewell |
VIP Petfoods/Freestone and Kumnick Solicitors |
Van Diemen RF06 |
Black/Yellow |
| 20 |
John Magro |
Team BRM |
Van Diemen RF06 |
Blue |
| 21 |
Kain Magro |
Team BRM |
Van Diemen RF06 |
Blue |
| 24 |
John Martin |
CAMS Rising Star |
Spectrum 011 |
Red/Wh/Blue |
| 32 |
Nathan Caratti |
Firepower/Fastlane Racing |
Van Diemen RF04 |
White/Blue |
| 37 |
Tony LeMessurier |
Escalate Management |
Van Diemen RF06 |
Red |
| 41 |
Brad Lowe |
Lowe Earthmoving |
Spectrum 011 |
Black |
| 42 |
Samantha Reid |
Toshiba Mobile Computers/Chicane/Oakley |
Van Diemen RF03 |
Red |
| 45 |
Ashley Walsh |
VIP Petfoods |
Van Diemen RF06 |
Black/Red |
| 46 |
Dale Wood |
Signpoint |
Mygale SJ06 |
Yellow |
| 71 |
Paul Laskazeski |
CAMS Rising Star |
Spectrum 011 |
Red/Wh/Blue |
| 89 |
Joshua Scott |
Kubota Australia |
Spectrum 011 |
Blue/Orange |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 14 December 2006 )
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