September 6, 2006

Martin Masters Soggy Sandown

Continuing the form that netted him a sensational international debut victory at Brands Hatch just over a week ago, CAMS Rising Star John Martin has extended his championship lead and claimed victory in the Australian Formula Ford Championship round at last weekend’s Sandown 500. Martin piloted the Bosch Authorised Automotive Repair Network Spectrum 011 to 1st place in race 1, but he was unfortunately sidelined in race 2 after contact with a fellow competitor, forcing him to start from the rear of the grid in the rain soaked final race. In the drive of the season to date, Martin stormed into the lead by half way around lap 3, setting the fastest lap of the race by more than a second on his way to a resounding victory. ‘It’s great to get a bit more of a lead in the championship and another round win this weekend,’ said Martin. ‘I love this place in the wet; the Spectrum is just awesome around here!’

In his strongest performance this season, Brad Lowe narrowly missed joining Martin on the podium. A 4th in race 1 followed by a strong 2nd in race 2 had the Lowe Earthmoving Spectrum 011 driver poised for a round win. Lowe was comfortably in 4th in the final race and set to be equal on points with Martin for the round, but a safety car bunched the field up for a one lap dash to the line. The leaders made a break on the restart, leaving Lowe to provide a windbreak for his competitors up the back straight and being relegated to 7th on the process. Proving just how competitive the Australian Formula Ford Championship is, Lowe ended the weekend just 6 points shy of Martin, but was in 4th place for the round. This strong performance has moved him inside the top 10 in the championship pointscore. ‘I’m both happy and disappointed,’ explained Lowe after the final race. ‘The car felt great all weekend and we finally had a round where it wasn’t us getting caught up in the incidents. I’m very pleased to get my best result, but I know how close a podium finish or even the round win was!’

Joshua Scott put in yet another strong performance in the Kubota Australia / Kentan Machinery backed Spectrum 011. The 16 year old CAMS Rising Star crossed the line 3rd in races 1 and 2; but was deemed by the stewards of the meeting to have contributed to an incident during race 2 and handed a 30 second penalty. This saw him start from 12th in the final race and drive superbly to finish 4th. Scott’s race 3 performance is all the more impressive in that there were only 4 racing laps prior to an extended safety car period and a single lap dash to finish. His results were sufficient to earn him 6th overall for the round and move him up to 7th in the championship standings.

The trio will have little time to catch their breath, as the Ford Australian Formula Ford Championship heads to the next round at South Australia’s Mallala Raceway in only two weeks. Martin will be intent on building on his championship lead, whilst Scott and Lowe will be doing their utmost to reel him in!