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Formula Ford Continues To Grow As Series Heads To Oran Park |
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Thursday, 03 August 2006 |
| Attachment 16785 |
| The Mygale chassis makes a welcome comeback to the national championship at Oran Park |
| Attachment 16786 |
| Slade leads the tight field to win round three and re-ignite his title chances |
The Australian Formula Ford Championship heads to Oran Park with a new championship leader, miraculously repaired cars, new drivers, new chassis and a television deal secured.
Fresh from the announcement that all rounds of the 2007 national championship will be telecast on the Seven Network, as part of V8 Supercar Australia's newly announced television package, the nation's best young drivers head to Oran Park ready to get down to what they do best, racing.
Joining the championship for round four of the national championship year is the Mygale chassis, best known for winning the 2000 National Championship with Luke Youlden, which for the rest of the season will be driven by Dale Wood who opted to switch chassis' and run a family based operation for the remainder of the year.
It has been a long haul to get the Mygale cars back to National level since Youlden's triumph in 2000, but the team has been rebuilding over the past few years, winning the Victorian State Championship in 2003, 2nd in NSW in 2004 ( Greg Woodrow ) and 3rd in NSW in 2005 ( Dale Wood ).
Oran Park will be something of a baptism of fire for the Wood team, as they have had no testing in the car with the Fiesta engine plant, but look forward to making an impact as the year progresses.
Another new face at Oran Park in a Spirit WL06 with Anglo Australian Motorsport is Luke Wood, who makes his debut in the national category at the track he rates as the most challenging in the country.
"We aim to race the full season next year and it is a great chance to get some experience in the new Fiesta engined cars, particularly at a track I think is very challenging for drivers," Luke Wood said.
"This is such a competitive category it is a great opportunity to see where we are at and what needs to be done to be up the front next year."
Luke will have additional knowledge of many of his competitors, having raced many of this year's national series drivers last year in the NSW series where he finished 6th in the championship.
Local driver Joel Spychala will be looking to climb back up the championship table at his home event after his spectacular roll at Queensland Raceway in the last round almost wrote off his Spirit WL06.
"We have only just got the parts from England to get the car back together but we will have the car ready for Oran Park and will try to get some last minute testing in next week to make sure everything is fine," Joel Spychala said.
"The car was pretty damaged and we've had to replace a lot of parts many of which we had to get from England, but the actual Spirit chassis was okay so that meant we had the chance to get back for this round."
Meanwhile new championship leader Todd Fiore and last round winner Tim Slade from Sonic Motorsport Services aim to continue where they left off at Queensland Raceway where the team had a highly successful round.
Fiore heads to Oran Park as leader for the first time this year while Slade has well and truly put himself back into the title chase after an impressive round three victory.
Currently second in the series, John Martin will be keen to take back the championship lead he has held since round one he departs for England immediately after the Oran Park round to compete in rounds of the British Formula Ford Championship where he will be flying the Aussie flag.
Martin will head back to Australia to continue to challenge for the national title.
One to watch at Oran Park is youngster Joshua Scott, from Newcastle, who at just 16 years-old impressed many with his second place finish at Queensland, which included his first race win in the category.
The Formula Ford series will hit the track at Oran Park at 8.30am and 11.00am, Friday 21 July for two twenty minute practice sessions before qualifying and three races over the weekend 22-23 July.
2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship Schedule
| Date |
Time |
Session |
| Friday 21 July |
0830-0850 |
Practice |
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1100-1120 |
Practice |
| Saturday 22 July |
1025-1045 |
Qualifying |
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1440-1455 |
Race One (12-laps) |
| Sunday 23 July |
1035-1050 |
Race Two (12-minutes) |
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1645-1700 |
Race Three (20-minutes) |
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 |
| 17 |
Luke Wood |
Spirit/Anglo Australian Motorsport |
Spirit WL06 |
Red/White |
| 23 |
Tristan Hughes |
BTW/jagmag |
Van Diemen RF04 |
Red/White |
| 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 |
| 4 |
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 |
TBA |
CAMS Rising Star |
Spectrum 011 |
Red/Wh/Blue |
| 89 |
Joshua Scott |
Kubota Australia |
Spectrum 011 |
Blue/Orange |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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