AUSSIE FORMULA FORD GETS NZ TV DEAL

The Australian Formula Ford Championship has secured a deal that will see the series broadcast on New Zealand free to air channel TV3. TV3 will broadcast rounds two through to seven of the championship beginning on Sunday July 18 with the combined Round 2 and 3 show. The deal comes on the back of an increased presence of New Zealand drivers in the Championship, with no fewer than four Kiwis competing over the past two years. “We’re incredibly pleased to be able to announce that the Australian Formula Ford Championship will be broadcast in New Zealand thanks to TV3,” Margaret Hardy, Category Manager said.

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A CAMS RISING STAR

The Confederation of Australian Motorsport has opened nominations for the 2011 CAMS Rising Star Program. Once again, Australia’s brightest young stars will be able to nominate themselves to be considered for the 2011 Program. Those selected to participate in the Program will compete in either state or national level Formula Ford. The self nomination approach has been chosen to encourage young talented drivers to be proactive in their pursuit of a national or international motor racing career. Graduates of the CAMS Rising Star Program include Scott Pye, John Martin, Ashley Walsh and Daniel Erickson. Scott Pye is currently competing in the British Formula Ford Championship as part of the AMSF International Rising Star Program. The CAMS Rising Star Program aims to identify and fast-track the development of young Australian drivers from the junior ranks to national and international competition through clearly defined and supported pathways.

In Pit Lane Videocast 055

EVANS’ PERFECT WEEKEND

Mitch Evans, the 15 year old New Zealand whiz-kid, stamped his authority on Queensland Raceway today when he won the third and final race of round six of the Australian Formula Ford Championship. Sitting on pole, Evans once again launched a perfect start to maintain the lead into turn one and from there on lead the race to become the youngest driver in Australian Formula Ford history to taste the success of a national championship round win. “I’m stoked with how this weekend has turned out,” Evans said. “From first practice the car was fast, so it was just up to me to learn the track as quickly as possible ... everything just fell into place – I wish every round was like this,” he added. “Becoming the youngest driver to take out a round was the icing on the cake ... if you told me I’d be a round winner at the start of the year I would have thought you were joking.”

NO SPLIT IN F1, MOSLEY GONE! IT’S GOOD NEWS WEEK!

The great Formula One breakaway crisis is apparently over with FIA President Max (hurts so good) Mosley finally falling on his sword and doing what he should have done this time last year. Mosley announced to the World Motorsport Council meeting in Paris today that he would not be standing for re-election. Mosley told reporters after the meeting that there will be no split. "We have agreed to a reduction of costs," he said. "There will be one F1 championship in 2010 but the objective is still to get back to the spending levels of the early nineties within two years." It is believed that Mosley's position became untenable after meeting with long time supporter Bernie Ecclestone and [FOTA] chairman Luca di Montezemolo. It is believed that Ecclestone warned Mosley that if he did not stand aside then Ecclestone would join with FOTA in staging an alternative World Championship. The new agreement means that the teams must call off the breakaway series and sign up to a new Concorde Agreement until 2012. A unified Formula One, and we get rid of Mosley. all in all a job well done. I think Champagne is called for.

PERCAT TOPS THE TOP END

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

PERCAT TOPS TOP END FORMULA FORD CLASH

  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  

BRABHAM RETURNS TO AUSSIE RACETRACKS

  The most famous name in Australian Motorsport will return to the nation's racetracks, as Matthew Brabham contests a limited Formula Ford campaign in the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championship. Brabham, son of Le Mans 24 hour winner Geoff, will race with the support of Melbourne's Kangan-Batman TAFE and their Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE). Speaking at a launch held at the ACE, Matthew told the assembled crowd that despite the remarkable achievements of his famous Grandfather, Father and Uncles, his inspiration to race came from his Mother. “As I grew up I watched my Mother competing in Jet Ski races in America, it was there I got into the whole racing bug.” he said. Despite carrying such a famous name, the 15 year old says he is feeling no extra pressure to perform. “I'm just the same as everybody else, I've been racing karts for seven years, just trying it out and to get into the whole atmosphere of what my family's been doing for so long.” he said. Matthew's Father Geoff said that he hadn't encouraged his son to follow in the family footsteps but he was happy to give his son his full support. I tried to get a tennis racquet in to his hand, I tried everything I possibly could” he said jokingly. “ But my wife was racing Jet Skis when he was like three or four years old so that didn't help either. We tried very hard to get him interested in something else but unfortunately we failed miserably.” With so many racers in the family Matthew has no shortage of career advice, although he's admitted that he may not necessarily listen to all of it. “My Granddad (3 times World F1 Champion Sir Jack)  gives me Grandfather type advice, he says just go for it, my Dad is a bit more professional talking about marketing, presenting yourself and also racecraft, but it's very hard to relay over information and tips from other generations... road racing has changed so much from when my Grandfather was doing it.” Matthew tested the new car at Winton the following morning and could make his debut at the next round of the Victorian State Series at Sandown on July 18 and 19.  

BRABHAM FAMILY NOT A PART OF GRAND PRIX COMEBACK

The Brabham family have distanced themselves from an attempt by an organisation calling itself Brabham Grand Prix Ltd. to bring the iconic name back to F1. In a statement issued last night the Brabham family expressed their surprise at the news that an entry has been submitted for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship by Formtech with the intention of operating as Brabham Grand Prix Limited. "The family would like to make it clear that they are in no way involved with Brabham Grand Prix Limited and received no consultation regarding the company’s plans to resurrect their historic name in Formula One." the statement said.  The family is taking legal advice and will take necessary steps to protect their name, reputation and its goodwill. The new Brabham Grand Prix team is led by by German entrepreneur Franz Hilmer, owner of Formtech GmbH, a machine tool business based in Germany. Australian Mark Preston, formerly the technical director of Super Aguri will be technical director. Preston was previously with Super Aguri and the new team says it will operate out of that teams former home, the Leafield Technical Centre. The announcement of the possible return of the Brabham name to F1 came only an hour before the announcement in Melbourne that 15 year old Matthew Brabham, son of Le Mans winner Geoff and the Grandson of three time World Champion Sir Jack, would soon make his Australian circuit racing debut in the Victorian Formula Ford Championship.   

PERCAT POWERS ON AT WINTON

  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