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Fiore Takes Series Lead And Young Gun Takes First Race Win |
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Sunday, 23 July 2006 |
An action packed weekend in the Australian Formula Ford Championship has seen Tim Slade take out victory with two race wins and a second, while team mate Todd Fiore took the championship lead a third for the round and young gun Joshua Scott had his first race victory and round podium with a second.
"It's great to come away with the round win and the two race wins, although it would have been good to win all three.but we've really put ourselves back in contention for the championship and we'll hopefully have a similar round at Oran Park," Tim Slade said.
Todd Fiore, who claimed the championship lead was also looking forward to the round ahead.
"We have the championship lead now so everyone will be chasing us, but it is great to be there.things have gone well since the last round and I can't wait to try and extend it at the next round," Todd Fiore said today.
Earlier this morning in race two the crowd were brought to their feet when Joel Spychala rolled in his Mid Coast Ford Spirit WL06 on the exit of turn four on the second lap while attempting to pass Tim Blanchard and was left upside down.
Spychala walked away unharmed from the spectacular roll after his vehicle was put upright by officials but the vehicle was extensively damaged.
"I got a great run out of turn three and made a move on the guys in front of me but as I got around Blanchard we had a slight touch and obviously I went off and the rest is history," Joel Spychala said after being cleared by the track medical officials.
"It was just one of those racing incidents that happen. The car has quite a lot of damage so we will have to work hard and try and get it ready for the next round at Oran Park."
With the safety car out, drivers took the time to cool down from an action packed opening two laps which saw multiple battles throughout the field, particularly for third-fifth with Ashley Walsh, Scott and Blanchard, while Slade and Fiore cleared out at the front.
On the restart, it was again the two Sonic drivers Slade and Fiore in their Van Diemen RF04's, who, in a copy of race one yesterday cleared out in first and second.
Slade proved why he is considered a serious championship contender with another commanding performance to take the second race ahead of Fiore.
Local driver Walsh held third spot before running wide on turn three to allow Blanchard, also from Sonic, resume his battle with Scott for third place.
The two drivers pushed each other and traded positions for a number of laps, but it was Scott in the Kubota Tractors Spectrum 011 who managed to pull a slight gap on Blanchard who was himself coming under increasing pressure from John Martin.
Martin, on the last lap, found his way around Blanchard on the first turn of the final lap and held on to take fourth, while Blanchard followed closely for fifth.
The third and final race started with Slade again on pole next to Fiore with Scott and Martin in third and fourth.
The top four quickly pulled out a gap on the field and Walsh led the next pack of drivers in fifth.
Fiore showed he had the speed to go with Slade in the final race and continued to apply the pressure as Scott and Martin were ready to pounce on any opening.
A strong move on Fiore from Scott into the final turn gave him second spot and immediately had a shot at Slade at turn three, while a spin form Sewell at turn three sent him to the back of the pack.
Scott took the lead in a carbon copy move from the previous lap and Martin found a way around Fiore to take third.
With half the race run, Scott held the lead from Slade and Martin, while Walsh closed in on Fiore, who was struggling with shifting gears, for fourth and had too much pace down the back straight.
As the top three continued to pull away, Scott made his way to the finish to take the final race and his first race win in the championship at the tender age of just 16.
"That was awesome, we didn't expect to be pushing for race wins so early in the championship, but I'll definitely take it!" an ecstatic Joshua Scott said.
Fiore now leads the championship ahead of Martin by just one point, while Slade jumped to third ahead of Caratti and Blanchard.
Round four of the Australian Formula Ford Championship is on at Oran Park, 11-13 August.
Round Three - Queensland Raceway - Final points
| Pos. |
Driver |
Points |
| 1 |
Tim Slade |
56 |
| 2 |
Joshua Scott |
48 |
| 3 |
Todd Fiore |
43 |
| 4 |
John Martin |
34 |
| 5 |
Tim Blanchard |
28 |
| 6 |
Ashley Walsh |
28 |
| 7 |
Sam Sewell |
8 |
| 8 |
Brad Lowe |
7 |
| =8 |
Nathan Caratti |
7 |
| 10 |
Dale Wood |
6 |
| 11 |
Joel Spychala |
4 |
| 12 |
Daniel Cotton |
2 |
| 13 |
Tristan Hughes |
2 |
| 14 |
Grant Doulman |
1 |
2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship points table (After three of eight rounds)
| Driver Name |
Team Name |
Chassis |
Points |
| Todd Fiore * |
Russell Landscaping |
Van Diemen RF0 |
125 |
| John Martin * |
CAMS Rising Star |
Spectrum 011 |
124 |
| Tim Slade |
Discount Renovators Warehouse |
Van Diemen RF04 |
108 |
| Nathan Caratti |
Firepower Group |
Van Diemen RF04 |
79 |
| Tim Blanchard * |
Jayair |
Van Diemen RF04 |
70 |
| Ashley Walsh * |
VIP Petfoods |
Van Diemen RF06 |
61 |
| Joshua Scott * |
Kubota Australia |
Spectrum 011 |
50 |
| Paul Laskazeski * |
CAMS Rising star |
Spectrum 011 |
47 |
| Ben Clucas * |
Team BRM |
Van Diemen RF06 |
30 |
| Brad Lowe * |
Lowe Earthmoving |
Spectrum 011 |
29 |
| John Mostyn * |
Interpak |
Spectrum 011 |
24 |
| Joel Spychala |
Mid Coast Ford |
Spirit WL06 |
20 |
| Dale Wood * |
Fastlane Racing |
Van Diemen RF05 |
20 |
| Sam Sewell * |
VIP Petfoods/Freestone and Kumnick Solicitors |
Van Diemen RF06 |
16 |
| Mark McNally |
Nomad Consolidated Pty Ltd |
Van Diemen RF05 |
10 |
| Tristan Hughes |
JagMag |
Van Diemen RF04 |
10 |
| Grant Doulman |
Doulman Industries Racing |
Spirit WL06 |
10 |
| Daniel Cotton |
Team Showdown |
Spectrum 011 |
4 |
| Samantha Reid * |
Toshiba Mobile Computers |
Van Diemen RF03 |
3 |
* denotes Rookie
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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