Promising Round One Opener for Anglo Australian Motorsport

Six times consecutive NSW Formula Ford Championship winning team Anglo Australian Motorsport has started the team’s 2013 Championship campaign with some promising results walking away from round one at Sydney Motorsport Park leading the point scores in both the Formula Ford 1600 Championship and the Formula Ford Fiesta Championship.

A Saturday morning track configuration change to the 3.93km Grand Prix circuit meant the four drivers had to throw out Friday’s practice knowledge and learn the different configuration in the first qualifying session on Saturday morning.

2012 part time competitor Chris Anthony makes the move from the 1600 championship into the Fiesta championship for the 2013 season steering a Mygale SJ09. Impressing in the first qualifying session Anthony set the fastest time on the very wet circuit, qualifying two was a faster outing knocking two seconds off his earlier time qualifying in fourth position.

Race one saw Anthony battle through from fourth proving his talent battling for first position with the 2011 and 2012 Fiesta champion securing the lead and taking out his first win for the season. The final two races of the weekend enjoyed a drier track with Anthony further improving his speed finishing up in second position setting the second fastest time of the race under the previous lap record. Race three showed more speed and consistency improving again on his race two times and finishing with another second position.

Happy with the weekend’s achievements and loving the new car Anthony had nothing but praise for his team “It’s been a big transition from the Kent car to the Fiesta and there’s room for improvement but I’m settling in and Anglo has really worked hard to get me ready to run and I am happy with my performance so far. I have some tough competition in Trent and David so I had to quickly learn the ropes and I was lucky to be in the mix right from the start. I’m stoked with my first race win and the consistency throughout the weekend. Thank you to all of the local businesses who have backed me and for their support, Mitre Ten and Better Home Living and a massive thank you to Anglo Australian Motorsport and my family for their encouragement and support”.

Past historic competitor Cameron Walters makes the move into the Formula Ford 1600 championship this year running a Harrigan Ford sponsored Mygale SJ07a as part of the 2013 Anglo line up. Qualifying seventh on the grid for race one Walters battled through the field making it up to fifth position before a safety car hampered his hopes of progressing any further through the field. Race two allowed the part time pilot to fly past his competition moving up to first position for the 1600 cars for his first podium finish of the weekend. The results continued to come in race three with Walters securing his fastest lap time for the weekend and another first position in the trophy race capping off an almost perfect first round.

With his decision to step into a newer machine proving fruitful Walters was impressed with his round one results “it’s been a good weekend, this is my second race meeting with Anglo after Bathurst and the weekend didn’t start out great in the wet, the Mygale is so different to the historic so it took some time but once the conditions cleared up I got into it and continued to improve in the car and it showed. There is still room for improvement but I am happy with the results. Thank you to Anglo Australian Motorsport for a great weekend, Walters Racing and my sponsors Harrigan Ford and Autopro for their support and thank you to the 1600 championship and its organisers”.

Rookie Matt Bode joined the championship winning team after forays in Karts and Formula Vee. Stepping into a Van Diemen RF90 after three days of testing Bode took to learning the car and track in less than perfect conditions on Saturday morning qualifying in eleventh position. Adapting to the car and circuit Bode pushed through the for an eighth position finish behind safety car conditions in race one. Race two showed some promising results improving on his lap time by over seven seconds from race one, the return of some newer and faster machines in race two saw Bode cross the line in eleventh position. Race three was a consistent outing for the Queenslander until a late race spin cost him time leaving him with a ninth place finish for the final race of the weekend.

After his first race meeting in Formula Ford Bode had some choice words for the weekend “Tough and fun. I learnt a lot and am happy with the progress I made this weekend. Thank you to Anglo for helping me come into the weekend prepared as best as could be and we will come back next round even better prepared”.

Rounding out the driver line up for the weekend was another rookie in Kane Coleman who enjoyed a successful first outing. Qualifying the Van Diemen RF91 in fourth position ahead of some of the categories seasoned competitors Coleman was in a good position ahead of race one. Capitalising on his second row starting position Coleman pushed through the top three cars to finish with first in the 1600 cars in his first Formula Ford race. Race two saw Coleman battling for position with team mate Walters with the two displaying some nice clean racing for a second place finish for Coleman. Race three had Coleman in a close race long battle with another competitor keeping his cool and holding his ground Coleman was able to outshine his competition and secure another second position in the trophy race.

An impressive debut round for the rookie Coleman was satisfied with his achievements “we had a great weekend and it’s been a steep learning curve, thank you to mum and dad and everyone at Anglo Motorsport for all of their efforts over the weekend”.

After a successful first round for the 2013 season Anglo Australian Motorsport will return to Sydney Motorsport Park June 22nd and 23rd with round one competitors Chris Anthony, Cameron Walters, Matt Bode and Kane Coleman and new addition Daniel Holihan set to make his debut for round two of the NSW Formula Ford Championship.