Photo: Alan Giltrap
Yesterday was my first ever meeting racing Formula Ford. Thankfully the weather was absolutely perfect – although a bit chilly at 6:45 in the morning! Brett had a laugh when I arrived at that time as Driver’s Brief wasn’t until 10am! Having said that, it was great to be there early, chat to my Race Engineer Adrian and to calmly get myself ready for the day.
First up was Qualifying. This went pretty well, though there were a few dramas out on the track! One of the cars was leaking oil which made things incredibly slippery, and a number of cars had spins but managed to rejoin. I went as hard as I could, and couldn’t believe it when at the end of it I found out that I had Qualified P2 on the front row out of the 14 cars – only a couple of tenths off pole!
Heat 1 was my first ever standing start in a race, as in karts all are rolling starts. As the lights went off to go I got too much wheel spin, and as a result dropped a few places into turn 1. We all made it through however, and I had good pace finishing in P4 and only 7 hundredths off setting the fastest lap.
Photo: Stuart Howe
Heat 2 there was an incident over the back of the track in the first lap, which happened just in front of me, and I was just able to avoid. Following this I came over the hill in 3rd place when the safety car was brought out whilst they cleared the track. When the race was ready to resume, there was only 2 laps to go for a sprint finish. At the restart I managed to make up a place at turn 1 and then the leader and I pulled a nice gap where I finished in 2nd.
For the final 10 lap race I started in 2nd place on points for the day, just a few points behind Tayla Dicker. Early in the race I was in 4th place with the top 4 running very close around the last corner. Unfortunately Tayla and the driver leading at the time had a touch of wheels sending them both into the walls down the main straight in front of Oliver Baxter and I. Thankfully both of them were all OK, and Oliver and I managed to avoid the incident. Once again this brought out the Safety car, but we were left with a 5 lap race to the finish.
Photo: Alan Giltrap
At the restart, Declan O’Brien got a good exit out of the final corner behind me, but I managed to defend down the straight and hang on through turn 1. From there Oliver Baxter and I pulled a nice gap once again where we finished in that order. 2nd in the last race gave me the win on points for the event!
Thank you to all who support me, and of course my sponsors Grand Toyota Wangara, Impressions the Home Builder, Rvend, Online Logistics Solutions, Signarama Joondalup, Focused Recruitment, Fullworks Firesafe, Kingsway Community Bank Branch and Genesis Joondalup Gate. I would also like to thank Brett Lupton, Fastlane Racing, and Peter Major for all the work they have put into helping me learn to drive the Formula Ford, and Adrian Fogliani for working with me on the day.