Nick Percat has taken his third round win for the season in the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin.

In a repeat of race two, Percat was beaten off the line by Sonic teammate Mitch Evans who briefly led the 12-lap race before Percat used the long Hidden Valley straight to slipstream himself back into the lead.

“Three from three … can’t do much better than that!” Percat exclaimed.

“Apart from my dodgy starts I’m happy with the way things turned out. Credit to Mitch too – he really had some pace this weekend and pushed me pretty hard,” he added.

“Hopefully I can carry this form onto Sandown (round five) next month and redeem my performance there last year.”

Evans did his best to hang on to the tail of Percat, but his efforts were in vain as his teammate stretched his lead to over two seconds by the final lap.

“I’m happy with second for the round but I think I probably could have looked after my tyres more for a better showing in this final race.” Evans said.

“Keeping up with Nick is hard work and for my first time here I’m happy with the result … a few more laps around here and I would be less prone to some of the mistakes I made which all part of the learning curve I guess.”

Ryan Simpson was able to hang onto third place after a great battle with Borland Racing’s Scott Pye and Team BRM’s Richie Stanaway. The trio pushed each other for the duration of the race and were joined by Synergy Racing’s Chaz Mostert who also hustled for a place on the podium.

“ Again I made a meal of the start … the clutch was slipping off the line and I just got bogged down. A shame because I think I had the pace to run with Nick and Mitch which was reflected in the lap times,” Simpson said.

“After the start I got caught up with Scott and Richie which provided for some good racing but I would have preferred to be fighting for the lead. I’m looking forward to Sandown now knowing I can run at the front and hopefully will be able to go one or two better.”

The next round of the Championship will be round five at Sandown International Raceway in Victoria on July 31 – August 2.

Source: Australian Formula Ford Media Release

Austraian Formula Ford Championship leader Nick Percat has topped the time sheets in today’s Formula Ford practice sessions at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway.

Percat posted a convincing seven tenths of a second lead over his nearest rival, Chaz Mostert. 

“I’m surprised we managed to quicker this afternoon,” Percat said.

“There’s obviously a lot more heat around this afternoon and I would have thought our tyres would have suffered as a result but they held out,” he added.

“I’m really happy with the setup I’m running at the moment so I don’t think we’ll do much in the way of changes between now and qualifying … I’ll just rely on some fresh rubber for more speed tomorrow.”

Looking for answers to explain the time gap to Percat, second fastest Chaz Mostert was left scratching his head after today’s sessions.

“I feel like I’m pushing it to the limit but the times just aren’t reflecting that,” a dejected Mostert said.

“Six tenths (the gap to Percat) is a lot of time to make up … I’m really not sure where we’re losing the time at the moment but am confident we can make some positive changes before tomorrow’s qualifying session.”

Third quickest today was young New Zealander Richie Stanaway.

Stanaway, fresh from his maiden Australian Championship race win at Symmons Plains is relishing the technical Darwin circuit.

“Obviously I’d like to be a bit quicker but it’s such a great track to drive you can easily forget you’re out there to do a job!” he said.

“I’m still learning the track as it’s my first time here and there’s a few improvements we can make to our suspension settings before tomorrow so I’m sure I can go quicker as the weekend goes on … Tasmania was a real confidence booster for the team so now we just have to find the speed we enjoyed there and I’m sure we can repeat that performance.”

Percat’s Sonic Racing teammates Mitch Evans and Geoff Uhrhane rounded out the top five in today’s practice and will no doubt be sneaking a look at their comrade’s data tonight to see if there’s a way they can haul in the championship leader in tomorrow’s qualifying.

Qualifying for the fourth round of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship takes place tomorrow morning at 9.25am, and is followed by race one at 1.20pm. Races two and three will be held on Sunday at 9.45am and 12.45pm respectively.

Races one and two will be televised live from Darwin on the Seven Network around Australia. Check your local guides for details.

Source: Formula Ford Association Media Release