|
Moffat Cashes In At Barbagallo |
|
|
|
|
Saturday, 24 March 2007 |
James Moffat has taken out line honours of the opening race of round two at today's Australian Formula Ford Championship at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia.
Moffat drove his Mygale SJ07 to his first win of the season, capitalising on the coming together of leaders Tim Blanchard and CAMS Rising Star Ashley Walsh who lead until the final lap of race proceedings.
Walsh and Blanchard both started on the front row of the grid and
quickly opened up a considerable gap, locked in a tight battle for
front position leaving the rest of the field to battle for third place.
With Blanchard and Walsh locked in fierce competition for the race one
win, they were unable to avoid contact on the final lap, sending them
both from the track and gifting the win to Moffat who is now only one
point behind Blanchard who retained his series lead.
Qualifying
CAMS Rising Star Ashley Walsh grabbed pole position during qualifying,
though it was not all smooth sailing for the young Queenslander as he
lost control on the final turn of the Barbagallo raceway circuit early
on in the session.
"It was disappointing to make a mistake and end up in the sand, I made
a mistake with my down gearing coming into the final turn and the car
just wasn't the same after that due to all the sand and dirt on the
tyres," explained Walsh.
Walsh's incident caused the first red flag, and a second was needed
when Taz Douglas had his Hitachi Mygale come together with Glen Wood of
Sonic Motor Racing Services causing extensive damage for Douglas.
Douglas was left with a repair job on three corners of his car and a
race against the clock to be ready for race one, with less than two
hours before the first of three races for the weekend.
Kristian Lindbom posted the second fastest time of the session, only to
have his fastest lap taken from him being one of a host of drivers to
be penalised for their crew approaching their cars during the red flag
period.
As a result Lindbom started from fifth on the grid for the opening
race, with rookie Jonathan Grant grabbing third position, his best
result in the series to date.
"It's awesome to start from the second row, the car has been great and
hopefully I can hold on and finish on the podium," said Grant following
qualifying.
Ashley Walsh took the first points on offer for the round, awarded one point for taking pole position for the opening race.
Race 1
CAMS Rising Star Ashley Walsh and Sonic Motor Racing's Tim Blanchard
quickly opened up a large gap on the rest of the field, locked in a
tense battle that brought both their races unstuck when a final lap
incident sent them both from the Barbagallo circuit.
After starting from pole position, CAMS Rising Star Ashley Walsh held
front spot until an impressive move by Blanchard on the final turn of
lap eight saw him occupy front position for the first time in the race.
James Moffat quickly moved his way from sixth to third where he
comfortably sat for much of the opening race proceedings until Walsh's
Spectrum and Blanchard's Mygale came together leaving Moffat to streak
to an opening race win.
"My eyes lit up when I saw the leaders leave the track, we have been
changing the set up a fair bit this weekend and to win my first race of
the year feels great," explained Moffat.
"I had the front springs changed for the race and the focus was to pick
up a couple of positions and stay out of trouble, but it worked to my
advantage and I am over the moon to take the win and start from pole
for race two."
Blanchard was able to recover and get his Jaylec Mygale over the line
for fourth position, earning some valuable championship points while
Walsh wasn't so lucky, limping over the line with damage to his front
right wheel and suspension.
"It's just one of those things that happens in racing, we were both
pushing hard and determined for the win, it's disappointing because we
lead the entire race until the final lap," said Blanchard.
CAMS Rising Star Kristian Lindbom also capitalised on the leader's
incident, taking back second position after a qualifying penalty
dropped him to fifth on the grid.
"It's very pleasing to finish second after the qualifying penalty put
me back to fifth, it keeps me in the top three of the championships
points with two races to go for the weekend.
Race three will be telecast live as part of the Network Seven V8
Supercar coverage tomorrow afternoon, check local guides for details
Sunday 25 March
Race 2 9:15am-9:35am
(12 laps)
Race 3 12:10pm-12:30pm
(12 laps)
Championship Points after race 1
1. Tim Blanchard 67
2. James Moffat 66
3. Kristian Lindbom 54
4. Ashley Walsh 31
5. Glen Wood 30
|
