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
Continue reading...
Nick Percat continued his dominance of the Australian Formula Ford Championship when he took out race one of round two at Winton Motor Raceway three hours north east of Melbourne this afternoon.
Percat came home ahead of Chaz Mostert and Sonic Racing teammate Geoff Uhrhane.
After being challenged in the early stages of the race by Queenslander Mostert, Percat pulled away in the last laps to an unassailable lead to take his fourth race win for the season.
"That pretty much went to plan," Percat said.
"I was a bit shaky off the start but had the inside line on Chaz so I managed pull through that ok ... once I found some space I just concentrated on looking after my tyres for tomorrow's races."
Percat also posted the race's fastest lap with a 1min26.39secs.
Spectrum pilot Mostert will be searching for some more speed tomorrow if he is again to challenge Percat for line honours.
"I was giving it a good go out there today but unfortunately the car just wasn't in it," Mostert said.
"My tyres held out until about half way through and then they just went off really quickly and I was fighting massive understeer for the rest of the race".
Scott Pye and Mitch Evans rounded out the top five after defending their qualifying positions.
In a race devoid of any of the carnage that marred round one's race at the Australian Grand Prix, all 21 entries will again line up to do battle for races two and three tomorrow.
SOURCE: Australian Formula Ford Media Release
Continue reading...
Friday, June 19, 2009
0 Comments