The CAMS Rising Stars continued their fine Victorian Formula Ford Championship form last weekend at Melbourne’s Sandown Raceway, with Garry Jacobson making it two wins from two rounds for the Minda Motorsport prepared Spectrums.
The eighteen year old claimed the Race 3 and overall win thanks to a sterling last lap move, capping off a weekend where all three CAMS Rising Stars drivers showed race winning potential.
Jacobson, who now heads the championship table after two rounds, was elated with taking his first Formula Ford race and round win in his debut appearance at Sandown.
“It’s been a fantastic weekend,” said Jacobson, who is also competing in the Aussie Racing Car Series this season. “All three races were really intense - we had some great battles out there, and managed to move forward in every race.”
Having qualified fifth on Saturday, Jacobson finished the weekend with a fourth, third, and first to his name.
“Taking the lead on the last lap of the final was the best feeling,” he continued. “We were slowly catching Cameron (Waters) for the whole race. I knew we had the speed but I just had to concentrate on not making any mistakes and getting the move done cleanly. Even though we built a big gap back to third position, Race 3 is triple-points, so we couldn’t take too big a risk while going for the win.”
Team-mate and opening round winner Matthew Brabham also showed race-winning pace at Sandown – setting the fastest lap in Race 3 – but twice fell victim to last lap incidents on his way to fourth for the round.
Having qualified and finished Race 1 in third position, Sunday morning saw the Queenslander’s weekend take a turn for the worse thanks to a tangle with Matthew Hart on the final lap of Race 2, while the pair battled for third position.
Brabham recovered to finish eighth, and set about producing a storming drive back through to third in the final, before the #83 Spectrum was hit from behind on the very last corner of the race – leaving him to limp home sixth.
“The fact that we’re still second in the championship after two rounds is pretty good considering we couldn’t take a trick here,” noted the sixteen year old afterwards. “The results weren’t exactly what we wanted - to be taken out of Race 3 like that was a bit frustrating.
“Even so, it’s been a good weekend because we’ve managed to get some solid Sandown experience before the National Championship round here in November.
“Garry drove really well in all the races, so it was good to see the team get a win.”
Liam Sager, who had shown impressive speed in his National Championship debut at Winton just a week earlier, also continued his Victorian Championship campaign at Sandown, scoring a best of fifth in Race 2 and ending the weekend ninth overall.
In his first visit to the Melbourne circuit, the sixteen year old qualified an impressive eighth – just one second off of pole position – and battled hard in all three races, despite minor issues.
“It was encouraging that we had such good speed having never been here before,” said Sager after Race 3. “It was a shame that we had a little bit of contact on the opening lap of the final. I was up to second there early on, but the nose cone was damaged and quickly folded under the car. That was a bit frightening to be honest, but we battled on and dragged our way back up from fifteenth to finish ninth. The speed is there and I can’t wait until the next round.”
Meanwhile, Team Principal Bruin Beasley was understandably proud of seeing his squad take another round victory.
“We can’t ask for anymore from our drivers or crew,” he said. “With Matt (Brabham) winning the opening round at Phillip Island, and now Garry (Jacobson) winning here, we’ve shown our cars are good enough to win anywhere, and our drivers are fast and mature enough to get the job done.
“It’s been pleasing to see all three drivers working so well together, as well as with our lead engineer Rick Kemp, in order to make these results possible.”
While the team returns to Sandown in July for Round 3 of the Victorian State Championship, June 18-20 will see the CAMS Rising Stars make the trek to Darwin’s Hidden Valley circuit for Round 4 of the Ford Genuine Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship.
The CAMS Rising Stars are proudly supported by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport, the Australian Sports Commission, Minda Motorsport, Penrite Oils, OAMPS Insurance Brokers, Boylan Traffic Solutions, Relux Slabs, Revolution Racegear, LCF Merchandise and Mark Webber.
ROUND 2 – SANDOWN RACEWAY
Qualifying
3. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011M, 1:15.8368
5. Garry Jacobson, Spectrum 011M, 1:16.2182
8. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011M, 1:16.4605
Race 1
3. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011M
4. Garry Jacobson, Spectrum 011M
14. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011M
Race 2
3. Garry Jacobson, Spectrum 011M
5. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011M
8. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011M
Race 3
1. Garry Jacobson, Spectrum 011M
6. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011M – fastest lap of race (1:15.7405)
9. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011M
Round
1. Garry Jacobson, Spectrum 011M – 95 points
4. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011M – 66 points
9. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011M – 43 points
