Minda Motorsport

Le Brocq impressed with sixth in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2, before a post-race penalty for a driving infringement dropped him from seventh to 15th in Race 3. Despite the ruling, Le Brocq finished the round seventh overall on points, splitting championship contenders Geoff Uhrhane and Nick Foster in the process.

“It’s been a fantastic weekend for us,” said Le Brocq at the conclusion of the event. “I felt like I made a really positive step forward with my driving last time out at Hidden Valley, and to be able to come here and back it up two weeks later is a really good sign.

“Qualifying looked a bit touch and go there for a while, because we knew we had the speed but we didn’t get to show it before the red flag came out. Thankfully I was able to put in a good time right near the end of the session, and from that point I was confident that the weekend would be a good one.

“Battling with Ashley Walsh in Race 1 was a great experience. He is a top quality driver, and has a lot of wins on the board, so to be racing with him just five rounds into my Formula Ford career was very satisfying.

“I didn’t expect to be scoring a top five result quite this early on, but we’ve worked hard and the Minda Motorsport guys have done a great job as always. The changes we made to the car on Saturday night were really positive.

“I was a little bit surprised about the penalty after the last race. It was deemed that I didn’t give enough racing room, which is always a tough call, but we’ll just accept it and move on. We’ve moved to within 10 points of the lead in the Rookie of the Year standings, so we’ll head to the final three rounds with that as our target.”

Like Le Brocq, Sager also set up a strong weekend by qualifying inside the top ten. The Moranbah native made his street circuit debut in Townsville, and described scoring points in Race 1 as merely a “bonus” after achieving his main goal for the weekend – to learn the circuit in preparation for a full National Championship assault in 2011.

“We came here with the aim of completing every racing lap available, and we certainly achieved that,” he said.

“The ninth place result in Race 1 was a bit of a bonus really, because we were really focussing on remaining incident free throughout the weekend and just learning as much as possible.

“The last lap shuffle in Race 2 cost us a chance of more points there, and unfortunately we lost third gear off the start in Race 3, which really prevented us from doing much more than completing the laps and finishing the race.

“Overall though, these National rounds are just a great experience at this stage in my career. It’s a really competitive field, and everyone is constantly stepping up to another level.”

After qualifying in 16th position, Brabham showed solid progression across the opening two races, moving up to 13th by the end of Race 1, before scoring points with 10th in Race 2. Unfortunately, a spirited dice in the final saw Brabham’s race end on lap nine, when a rival misjudged the exit of the final corner and made contact with the Penrite Spectrum.

“It’s a bit frustrating to be honest,” said Brabham afterwards. “We made a really positive start on Friday, ended up eighth in both practice sessions and were looking to repeat that in qualifying. The red flag in that session certainly didn’t help our cause.

“We managed to make progress in the first two races and get back to the top ten, where I think we should have been all along. The fact we got crashed out again in the final was really disappointing, but at least we came away from the round having learnt another circuit and having gained more experience of how to set the car up for this type of track.”
At the conclusion of the weekend, team principal Bruin Beasley was pleased to see all of his drivers score points on a circuit that they’d not seen prior to the event.

“It was once again a pleasure to work with these three young drivers, who continue to show all the attributes required to make successful racing car drivers,” he said.

“The way they analysed their track-walk with Cameron McConville (V8 Supercar driver and Formula Ford Driving Standards Observer) on Thursday before the event began was a real sign of the high level of effort being put in.

“It was another outstanding weekend for Jack, who is now in contention for the Rookie of the Year title. For a driver to come into this category and run in the top five after only five rounds – it’s very impressive.”

The Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship now takes a break until October 22-26, when the Gold Coast’s Surfers Paradise street circuit plays host to Round 6.

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.


TOWNSVILLE, QLD – SUNDAY

Qualifying
8. Jack Le Brocq, Spectrum 011c, 1:18.3702
9. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011b, 1:18.4678
16. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011d, 1:18.9921

Race 1
6. Jack Le Brocq, Spectrum 011c
9. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011b
13. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011d

Race 2
5. Jack Le Brocq, Spectrum 011c
10. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011d
13. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011b

Race 3
14. Liam Sager, Spectrum 011b
15. Jack Le Brocq, Spectrum 011c
DNF. Matthew Brabham, Spectrum 011d