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Martin Shines In Wet To Claim Formula Ford Victory |
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Sunday, 03 September 2006 |
A brilliant 14th to first in race three today in the wet has given CAMS Rising Star driver John Martin the round victory at Sandown Raceway today.
Locked on 40 points with Mygale's Dale Wood, the race three victory gave Martin the round win over a consistent Wood and race two winner Ashley Walsh in the VIP Petfoods Van Diemen RF06.
In wet and slippery conditions, the field got away to a relatively clean start and it was Tim Slade in the Sonic Van Diemen RF04 who made the first move, jumping from fourth to first in the first lap.
Fellow CAMS Rising Star Josh Scott was finding his way through the field to climb to sixth after lap one from 12th on the grid in an eventful opening lap.
But the big mover was John Martin who started in the lower than usual 14th position due to the race two incident that forced him to retire.
Martin made an impressive ten positions in the first lap and by lap three had remarkably claimed the lead off Wood.
Wood however wouldn't let up and momentarily found a way around Martin down the back straight but as the two went side by side through the fast turn six but Martin held the lead into turn seven.
However much of the action was at the tight turn two where many drivers ran wide in the slippery conditions and Doulman had a spectacular spin but was able to continue in the race.
A safety car was brought out after James Bergmuller collected the wall and was stuck on the track allowing the field to bunch up.
Martin held the lead in front of Wood, Slade, Brad Lowe having his strongest round for the year, Josh Scott and Ashley Walsh.
Racing resumed with only one lap to go with three drivers locked on 40 points, Martin in the lead, Wood right behind him and Lowe in fourth.
Martin held his nerve on the restart and held on to take the victory in front of Wood and Lowe lost track position on the restart to finish seventh in the round, dropping him to fourth for the round.
Slade finished a strong third ahead of Scott, Walsh and Taz Douglas in his first national round.
"I'm real excited to get the round win after all the problems in race two where we scored no points," John Martin said after the champagne spray.
"The track was really slippery and I made up heaps of positions early and to come from the back of the field to win is really satisfying and a great way to continue our form overseas."Wood in the Mygale was thrilled to again have another strong result for the category's latest chassis in the championship.
"I drove a little conservatively at times because we really need to make sure we get some consistent, strong results and I knew the car had really good speed and to come away with the equal points and second in our second round is really rewarding," Dale Wood said.
"My team has been fantastic and my brother has done a great job on the car; it hasn't missed a beat since I got in it at Oran Park."
Martin, as a result of his round win, has extended his championship lead over Tim Slade, who finished fifth for the round, to 39 points with Martin on 216 points and Slade on 177.
Todd Fiore holds on to his third position on 141 points while Walsh has jumped to fourth with 119 points and Wood's recent run of results has him fifth on 112 points.
Round five of the 2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship is at Mallala Raceway, South Australia in two weeks time on 15-17 September.
Round Five results and points
| Pos. |
Driver |
Car |
Points |
| 1 |
John Martin |
Spectrum 011 |
40 |
| 2 |
Dale Wood |
Mygale MJ05 |
40 |
| 3 |
Ashley Walsh |
Van Diemen RF06 |
38 |
| 4 |
Brad Lowe |
Spectrum 011 |
34 |
| 5 |
Tim Slade |
Van Diemen RF04 |
27 |
| 6 |
Josh Scott |
Spectrum 011 |
26 |
| 7 |
Tim Blanchard |
Van Diemen RF04 |
20 |
| 8 |
Grant Doulman |
Spirit WL06 |
16 |
| 9 |
Taz Douglas |
Van Diemen RF06 |
14 |
| 10 |
Todd Fiore |
Van Diemenr RF04 |
8 |
2006 Drivers Championship - After 5 of 8 rounds
| Driver Name |
Team Name |
Chassis |
Points |
| John Martin * |
CAMS Rising Star |
Spectrum 011 |
216 |
| Tim Slade |
Discount Renovators Warehouse |
Van Diemen RF04 |
177 |
| Todd Fiore * |
Russell Landscaping |
Van Diemen RF04 |
141 |
| Ashley Walsh * |
VIP Petfoods |
Van Diemen RF06 |
119 |
| Dale Wood * |
Sign Point |
Van Diemen RF05/Mygale SJ06 |
112 |
| Nathan Caratti |
Firepower Group |
Van Diemen RF04 |
104 |
| Joshua Scott * |
Kubota Australia |
Spectrum 011 |
96 |
| Tim Blanchard * |
Jayair |
Van Diemen RF04 |
94 |
| Brad Lowe * |
Lowe Earthmoving |
Spectrum 011 |
75 |
| Joel Spychala |
Mid Coast Ford |
Spirit WL06 |
58 |
| Paul Laskazeski * |
CAMS Rising star |
Spectrum 011 |
47 |
| Grant Doulman |
Doulman Industries Racing |
Spirit WL06 |
31 |
| Ben Clucas * |
Team BRM |
Van Diemen RF06 |
30 |
| John Mostyn * |
Interpak |
Spectrum 011 |
24 |
| Sam Sewell * |
VIP Petfoods/Freestone and Kumnick Solicitors |
Van Diemen RF06 |
22 |
| Taz Douglas * |
Caterpillar Used Equipment |
Van Diemen RF05 |
14 |
| Mark McNally |
Nomad Consolidated Pty Ltd |
Van Diemen RF05 |
10 |
| Tristan Hughes |
JagMag |
Van Diemen RF04 |
10 |
| Samantha Reid * |
Toshiba Mobile Computers |
Van Diemen RF03 |
6 |
| James Bergmuller |
JB Racing |
Van Diemen RF06 |
5 |
| Tony LeMessurier |
Escalate Management |
Van Diemen RF06 |
4 |
| Daniel Cotton |
Team Showdown |
Spectrum 011 |
4 |
| Luke Wood |
Anglo Australian Motorsport |
Spirit WL06 |
1 |
* denotes Rookie
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 January 2007 )
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