2009 Australian F3 Championship Thread

PenguinPunch · 19 Mar 2009, 01:38 (Ref:2418865)

First Practice has just finished. Nice sunny weather

Sadly only 6 cars have completed a competitive time this morning. But things should be better for Qualifying.

Joey Foster 1st
Tim Maccrow 2nd
Mat Sofi 3rd

Chris Gilmour was a fine 5th in his old 02 Dallara. And 1.5 seconds off the fastest time.

All times here: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/re...3/2009.ADEL.P5

Richard Craill · 19 Mar 2009, 04:37 (Ref:2418905)

Ben crighton hit the wall at turn 11 and took off a RF corner. Will be back out for Q1. Wakeman had an electrical problem and that has also been fixed.

Small but racy field - top four or five are going to be very good fun to watch and Gilmour and Tweedie should be pretty close as well.

Mak · 19 Mar 2009, 05:36 (Ref:2418921)

Joey pole. Pity Clucas could'nt get another run this year, would be great to see the 2 of them battling it out again as they did in Brit FF.

PenguinPunch · 19 Mar 2009, 05:40 (Ref:2418922)

Qualifying has just finished. Still warm and sunny

Joey Foster on pole from Macrow then Sofi (same order as practice).

Looks like there could be some fun racing. Hopefully not many crashes or mechanical failures.

The top 9 is covered by 7.69 seconds.

Times here: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/re...3/2009.ADEL.Q4

**gomick** · 19 Mar 2009, 08:02 (Ref:2418983)

Half a second between the top 3 - hopefully an exciting race between them awaits us in race 1 with plenty of slipstreaming. Be good if Radisich can join the top 3 too

lauder · 19 Mar 2009, 14:30 (Ref:2419312)

The grid might be small, but it is good that the timing is so fast, quality racing to look forward to. IT ONLY TAKE TWO CARS TO HAVE A RACE. Well done Joey Tim and Mat.

PenguinPunch · 19 Mar 2009, 23:06 (Ref:2419810)

Qualifying 2 has just finished.

Joey Foster was fastest again. 6 tenths faster than Macrow then Sofi (.7 tenths behind).

Looks like it could be a close battle for 2nd between Macrow and Sofi.

The standout effort to me is Tom Tweedie in his old 2003 Dallara - he qualfied it on the second row! Just 1.4 seconds off pole.

With the top eight covered by 4.5 seconds, it looks like there'll be some fun racing tomorrow and sunday!

Times here: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/re...3/2009.ADEL.Q5

**GTRMagic** · 19 Mar 2009, 23:10 (Ref:2419816)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mak

Joey pole. Pity Clucas could'nt get another run this year, would be great to see the 2 of them battling it out again as they did in Brit FF.

I would have preferred to have seen Bruno Senna come down and blow the field away... again... make Mr Brawn take notice perhaps

PenguinPunch · 20 Mar 2009, 05:52 (Ref:2419947)

Some cools pics from the Clipsal 500

The Red Bull Ralt? hehe

The Stig?

03 Dallara of Chris Gilmour

The new Clucas/Winslow?

Love the race tape of the bonnet. Fixes everything

It was a massive crowd at the circuit today. I would expect it to be a new attendance record. Amazing considering the economic crisis.

Mak · 20 Mar 2009, 08:08 (Ref:2419995)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

I would have preferred to have seen Bruno Senna come down and blow the field away... again... make Mr Brawn take notice perhaps

Maybe all previous winners!

**gomick** · 20 Mar 2009, 21:43 (Ref:2420524)

Good looking car that "Red Kangaroo"

- good pics PenguinPunch

Richard Craill · 20 Mar 2009, 21:45 (Ref:2420527)

Quote:

Originally Posted by PenguinPunch

Qualifying 2 has just finished.

Joey Foster was fastest again. 6 tenths faster than Macrow then Sofi (.7 tenths behind).

Looks like it could be a close battle for 2nd between Macrow and Sofi.

The standout effort to me is Tom Tweedie in his old 2003 Dallara - he qualfied it on the second row! Just 1.4 seconds off pole.

With the top eight covered by 4.5 seconds, it looks like there'll be some fun racing tomorrow and sunday!

Times here: http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/re...3/2009.ADEL.Q5

Tim Macrow said he was struggling with setup yesterday on a very greesy track. I fully expect him to run with Foster, however, so it should be a great dice. Sofi, Radisich and Crighton, Gilmour and the very impressive Tweedie could also go with them so it could be a fantastic stoush.

Having said that Foster's pole lap yesterday was one of the most spectacular I have witnessed in five years of calling / working on F3 racing. F3 cars don't usually like being driven sideways as it kills precious momentum - but yesterday it worked. Spectacular.

Oh yes: It's Amazing, even with a small grid, how good these cars sound on a street circuit. LOUD.

Thanks everyone for their positive comments. Great to see the support for Wings 'n Slicks in Oz. It's a hard slog but we're working on it!

Quote:

Good looking car that "Red Kangaroo" - good pics PenguinPunch

Photos are from www.formula3.com.au taken by our uberphotographer Dirk Klynsmith.

**bella** · 20 Mar 2009, 22:32 (Ref:2420575)

thanks for the updates, richard

to penguinpunch and all, whenever you post pictures please be sure to credit them with the source at least, if not the photographer's name. thanks

Richard Craill · 21 Mar 2009, 03:00 (Ref:2420672)

R1 run and won. Macrow led first seven but was off at Turn 10 and into the gravel (For unknown reasons at this point in time), leaving Foster to cruise to a BRM 1-2 with Radisich in tow.

Mega drive from Tom Tweedie - held of Sofi all race in a good dice to get 3rd outright and the National win.

More soon...

Scott Moyse · 21 Mar 2009, 05:32 (Ref:2420694)

so i assume that Tim nailed the start then to get past joey? nice to see Radisich getting a bit more pacey was looking average up until then

Richard Craill · 21 Mar 2009, 10:25 (Ref:2420823)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Moyse

so i assume that Tim nailed the start then to get past joey? nice to see Radisich getting a bit more pacey was looking average up until then

You assume correctly. Tim made a very good start.

As the report posted on the website shows, Tim was pressing on and just dropped a wheel of at turn eleven and whacked the thing against a wall. It's actually done a fair bit of damage and cracked the engine mounts that bolt onto the bulkhead - meaning a full engine change. Fortunately BRM have come to the rescue and have supplied an engine and complete rear end so Tim will be on the grid.

It's awesome that even though it is likely that Tim and Joey will be two of the main contenders this year, the support for the category runs deep enough for the gesture to be made to ensure Tim can take up his P2 on the grid for race two tomorrow.

The #25 car was certainly flying so it's great to see Scud moving up the grid and turning into real contenders.

Cracking race today. Was shaping up to be a real dogfight (more than it already was) so R2 should be just as good.

strider · 21 Mar 2009, 17:15 (Ref:2421182)

It was a shame Tim crashed out as Joey's fastest lap was half a second faster and the closing laps of the race would have been very interesting.

strider · 21 Mar 2009, 23:55 (Ref:2421623)

Joey Foster has won Race 2 from Tim Macrow and Matt Sofi. Full results here.

Scott Moyse · 22 Mar 2009, 00:03 (Ref:2421627)

Quote:

Originally Posted by strider

Joey Foster has won Race 2 from Tim Macrow and Matt Sofi. Full results here.

Fosters should be stepping up to the plate here and sponsoring Joey, ideal scenario, a foster sponsored by fosters in australia in a blue car! Assume the lap times are so slow cos of the tyres going off? or has something happened to the track?

Scott Moyse · 22 Mar 2009, 00:13 (Ref:2421636)

oh and i wish i could see some footage of these races from somewhere and specifically joey's Q2 pole lap. sounded amazing.

kerrmanningjarv · 22 Mar 2009, 00:15 (Ref:2421638)

http://www.f3.gpworld-online.com/viewpage.php?page_id=8

Main Class

1. Joey Foster (GBR) 44
2. Mathew Radisich (NZL) 25
3. Mathew Sofi (AUS) 24
4. Ben Crighton (NZL) 18
5. Tim Macrow (AUS) 15
6. Ray Chamberlain (AUS) 14

National A Class

1. Tom Tweedie (AUS) 43
2. Chris Gilmour (AUS) 31
3. Jesse Wakeman (AUS) 24
4. Graeme Holmes (AUS) 20

National B Class
No cars entered

This is what my rushed mental maths worked out as the points standings after round 1.

PenguinPunch · 22 Mar 2009, 01:07 (Ref:2421684)

Not the greatest racing today. Was a bit spread out...

Looks like we're in for a total Foster domination. He won todays race by about 7 seconds!

But still can't complain too much, atleast we had cars on the grid. 10 in total and 6 of them being 05/06/07 spec cars.

Bring on Wakefield Park!

Richard Craill · 22 Mar 2009, 01:53 (Ref:2421726)

Quote:

Originally Posted by PenguinPunch

Looks like we're in for a total Foster domination. He won todays race by about 7 seconds!

But still can't complain too much, atleast we had cars on the grid. 10 in total and 6 of them being 05/06/07 spec cars.

Bring on Wakefield Park!

Don't get too excited about the Total foster domination yet... Keep in mind Macrow was driving what was basically a completely different car than yesterday's. The different rear end made the car behave very differently from yesterdays race so it was a learning process - plus the motovation to not whack someone else's engine and gearbox....

WP should be very competitive, and we hope the Goddard / Hanawa combination will sort their dramas and return.

Those points calculations look pretty right to me. First 'perfect' weekend for a driver since Aaron Caratti did it at Phillip Island in August, 2005!!

lauder · 22 Mar 2009, 20:45 (Ref:2422202)

Scott Moyse, I like the idea of Fosters backing Foster. But.... is it not a beer in UK and made there? And has more popular than Kylie!

Scott Moyse · 23 Mar 2009, 08:15 (Ref:2422489)

Quote:

Originally Posted by lauder

Scott Moyse, I like the idea of Fosters backing Foster. But.... is it not a beer in UK and made there? And has more popular than Kylie!

pretty sure its available in ozzie too although not terribly popular with the ozzies. I believe they used to sponsor the ozzie F1 race for a number of years all the way back when it was in adelaide and at the very beginning od the melbourne event as well. may be wrong though. Either way they televise V8's in UK so would be good

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