A bumper field of 32 cars head to Sandown Raceway for round four of the 2018 Australian Formula Ford Championship. This weekend also marks round two of the Australian FF1600 Championship for Kent-powered vehicles, with the national competitors also joined by state racers campaigning in the Victorian Formula Ford Series.
Hunter McElrea is currently leading the Formula Ford standings, 17 points clear of Sonic team-mate Hamish Ribarits. A further 60 points separate Ribarits and Queenslander Cameron Shields in third. The BF Racing driver will sit out this round due to conflicting racing commitments, meaning the battle for the top three in the championship and a ticket to the 2018 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout is well and truly alive heading into the business end of the season.
The battle for third place in the championship remains hotly contested, with seven drivers currently separated by only 19 points. Shields is leading Zac Soutar, Courtney Prince, Nathan Herne, Angelo Mouzouris, Lachlan Mineeff and Bart Horsten.
In the FF1600 field, Queenslanders Tim Hamilton and Dylan Fahey are currently separated by five points. New South Welshman Robert Rowe sits in third, 13 points behind the duo, ready to take advantage of any mistakes and take the lead of the FF1600 Championship. Neither Hamilton, Fahey nor Rowe have visited the iconic Victorian circuit previously, and reigning Victorian champion and current state series leader Brendan Jones is hoping to use his track knowledge to challenge for race victories this weekend.
On-track action for the Formula Ford field kicks off with practice on Friday, followed by qualifying and three races across the weekend at Sandown Raceway.
Weekend schedule
Friday, 20th July
FP1 – 9:20am
FP2 – 11:20am
FP3 – 1:20pm
FP4 – 3:40pm
Saturday, 21st July
Qualifying – 9:40am
Race 1 – 1:33pm
Sunday, 22nd July
Race 2 – 9:23am
Race 3 – 1:24pm
Formula Ford entry list:
#2 Hunter McElrea – Sonic Motor Racing Services
#3 Courtney Prince – Sonic Motor Racing Services
#4 Angelo Mouzouris – Sonic Motor Racing Services
#5 Hamish Ribarits – Sonic Motor Racing Services
#6 Paul Zsidy – Borland Racing Developments
#8 James Dean – Junior Racing Developments
#10 Zac Soutar
#12 Bart Horsten – Fastlane Racing
#14 Matthew Holmes – Junior Racing Developments
#19 Spencer Ackermann
#24 Lachlan Mineeff – CHE Racing Team
#29 Nathan Herne – BF Racing
#35 Jake Donaldson – Synergy Motorsport
#36 Cody Burcher – Borland Racing Developments
#47 Thomas Sargent – CHE Racing Team
#57 Jackson Burton – Borland Racing Developments
#66 Benjamin D’Alia – Borland Racing Developments
#68 Blaine Grills – Borland Racing Developments
#88 Harrison Goodman – BF Racing
#97 Liam McLellan – Synergy Motorsport
#98 Conor Nicholson
Formula Ford 1600 entry list:
#1 Brendan Jones – Borland Racing Developments
#7 Robert Rowe
#9 Byron Thomas
#17 Peter Fitzgerald
#18 Dylan Fahey
#28 John Blanchard
#42 Harrison Blanchard
#70 Phillip Marrinon
#80 Jason Liddell
#87 Tim Hamilton
#99 John Connelly
2018 Australian Formula Ford Championship pointscore:
Hunter McElrea – 164 pts
Hamish Ribarits – 147 pts
Cameron Shields – 84 pts
Zac Soutar – 83 pts
Courtney Prince – 82 pts
Nathan Herne – 79 pts
Angelo Mouzouris – 73 pts
Lachlan Mineeff – 70 pts
Bart Horsten – 65 pts
Liam McLellan – 59 pts
2018 Australian FF1600 Championship pointscore:
Tim Hamilton – 56 pts
Dylan Fahey – 51 pts
Robert Rowe – 38 pts
Jimmy Bailey – 30 pts
Jason Liddell – 20 pts
