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Pole Leads To Strong Sandown Showing For Asher Johnston |
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Monday, 24 July 2006 |
South Australian driver Asher Johnston posted career best Formula Ford 1600 results during the third round of the 2006 Victorian State Racing Championships at Sandown Raceway at the weekend.
In what was only his fifth-ever race meeting driving a Formula Ford, the defending Victorian Formula Vee State series champion showed consistent race-winning pace all weekend long to lift him up the order in the championship and confirm his status as one of the series’ leading competitors.
The weekend started brilliantly when 19-year-old Johnston scored his first ever Formula Ford pole position Saturday morning.
The #18 G-Force Mygale SJ04 topped an extremely competitive 25-car field, Johnston scoring pole – ahead of Series leader Taz Douglas and CAMS Rising Star driver Paul
Pittam - by over a tenth of a second, a fair margin considering the top
eight were covered by less than half a second.
Johnston held second in the early stages of the first race – an 8-lap encounter held Saturday afternoon.
After a race long battle with Kristian Lindbom and Cade Southall, the
South Australian was able to maintain his position in the final laps to
record his best ever Formula Ford race finish.
Sunday morning’s first event, a shorter, six-lap sprint, was held in
drying conditions. After dropping to fifth off the line and sixth on
the third lap, Johnston charged home in the #18 entry to record another
podium result (3rd) and also set the fastest lap of the race on the
final tour.
With the final race offering double points a strong finish is key for
competitors shooting for the championship, however things didn’t go
quite to plan for Johnston despite having one of the fastest cars on
the circuit.
A slow getaway saw him drop to 7th on the opening lap, however the
tight confines of the Formula Ford mid pack saw the #18 car caught up
in another competitor’s accident and restricted to a disappointing 9th
at the end of the race.
The combined results saw Johnston notch 6th overall for the round and
move him to 7th in the championship, with three of the five scheduled
rounds completed.
“It’s a bit disappointing but you have to take the good with the bad,” Johnston said after the meeting.
“Setting pole position was the best feeling. Seeing the looks on the
guys faces when I came in made all the frustration of the last few
rounds worthwhile.
“Sunday Morning’s race was on a drying track and we set the fastest lap
of the race. It’s just a shame that the final ended the way that it did
because with the way the point system works it really hurt us.
“I just got caught up in someone else’s accident and had no where to go
– it’s amazing how quickly a great weekend can turn pear shaped with
one bad start!” he said.
Despite the end of the weekend not being up to the teams expectations, Johnston said that plenty had been learnt for the future.
“We have learnt so much,” he enthused. “And now we have proven again
that we can run at the front consistently over the weekend and also in
changeable conditions.
“The car was just awesome from the first practice session on Friday and
I can’t wait to get back to Sandown for the next round of the
championship because we have a really good setup for the Mygale there.
“I can’t thank the Asher Johnston Racing / G-Force Mygale crew enough
for their help – Greg (Woodrow, G-Force Racing owner) and Dad, Frank
and Kevin worked meticulously all weekend and made sure that the car
was fast and reliable in each and every race.
“Thanks go out to my sponsors CARTEK, Duplex IT, Wayne Richards Auto
and Race Torque Media for their continued support and I can’t wait for
the next round to try and break through for that first Formula Ford
win!” he enthused.
The next round of the championship will be held on September 9 – 10 at Sandown.
For more information about Asher Johnston please visit www.asherjohnston.com.au
Championship Points – Victorian State Formula Ford 1600cc Championship
| Pos. |
Driver |
Points |
| 1 |
Taz Douglas |
286 |
| 2 |
Kristian Lindbom |
232 |
| 3 |
Cade Southall |
223 |
| 4 |
Glen Wood |
197 |
| 5 |
Paul Pittam |
187 |
| 6 |
Simon leech |
174 |
| 7 |
Asher Johnston |
159 |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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