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Points For Magro And Strong Performance From Pittam As Team BRM Shows Pace In Perth |
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Monday, 26 March 2007 |
Team BRMs drivers have bounced back from a touch initiation to full-time racing in the Australian Formula Ford Championship by scoring a horde of championship points at Barbagello Raceway in Western Australia at the weekend.
Team drivers John Magro and Paul Pittam both showed improved pace throughout the weekend and it was only some misfortune that was out of his control that left Pittam out of the points at the demanding circuit outside of Perth.
Queenslander John Magro, however, avoided any carnage and put together
a strong performance all weekend long that saw him leave Perth with 16
championship points – classified 8th overall at the end of the weekend.
Both drivers qualified inside the top ten in what was a strong rebound
from the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, where the team was left with no
points and damaged cars.
Qualifying was particularly strong for both Team BRM drivers, Gawler
driver Paul Pittam placing his LJ Hooker Gawler / Doyle’s on the bay
Van Diemen RFO6 into a storming 7th place on the grid, less than a
second from pole.
John Magro took his similar #20 MFC Van Diemen to a career-best 10th
place in qualifying just one tenth of a second away from his team-mate.
Magro converted his qualifying performance into a top six finish in
race one, working his way through the field as the race progressed,
passing the similar Van Diemen of Jonathan Grant on the final lap to
end the race in sixth place.
Pittam, too, made a strong start and was running seventh for the first
five laps of the race until he was forced to take avoiding action from
another competitor and forced out wide at turn one.
The resulting loss of time dropped the LJ Hooker car down too a disappointing 11th position.
Magro finished seventh in the second race, held Sunday morning, to add
to his points score whilst Pittam was again a victim of something
happening that was out of his control – the gear linkage braking on his
car before he could complete one racing lap.
In the third and final race, held in front of a live TV audience, John
Magro was involved in a four car battle for the minor positions inside
the top ten, brining the #20 car home in ninth place to cap off a
weekend that saw him score points in each of the three races.
Pittam cut his way though from the back of the field to finish in 12th
place – highlighting the competitive nature of the championship and the
difficulty in overtaking at the tight and slippery Barbagello circuit.
The strong weekend for John Magro sees him jump to 11th in the championship, less than 30 points outside the top eight.
And whilst Pittam has yet to score this season, his strong pace in qualifying bodes well for the remainder of the season.
“It’s just been another unlucky weekend,” Pittam said.
“We’re struggling a bit with a lack of testing time in the car because the car just wasn’t quite there at the weekend.
”It was nice to qualify inside the top ten but you always want to be
higher and closer to the leaders. We’ll keep working away at it and
bounce back for the next round.
“It’s tough to be 50 points behind after two rounds of the championship
but all we can do now is improve the car and try to win some races in
the remaining rounds of the series.” He said.
Whilst it was disappointment for Pittam, John Magro was pleased to have scored a solid haul of championship points in the West.
“It was a good weekend; I had a lot of fun,” The 21-year-old said.
“The first race was a bit hectic and some of the field were doing crazy
things, but in the other races the other drivers gave good racing room
and it was really good to get in and amongst it.
“It was a good track and lots of fun to drive on.
“(the results) have given me a lot more confidence - even though I was
just a little bit off the pace meaning I had to drive at 10 / 10ths all
the time. But now I’ve got some championship points I’d like to keep
them coming and keep on improving.” He said.
The next round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship will be held at Winton Motor Raceway in Victoria on May 18 – 20.
For more information about Team BRM head to the team’s all new website at www.teambrm.com.au
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