Seventeen year-old Victorian Angelo Mouzouris now leads the Australian Formula Ford Championship after he won Race 3 and clean swept the round at the Winton Supersprint.
A clean start saw Mouzouris lead into Turn 1 ahead of Liam McLellan. McLellan held second early before dropping back through the field to finish in 11th.
Starting sixth after a post-race time penalty in Race 2, Callum Hedge charged back through to second before the safety car was called with three laps remaining to recover Hank Perkins after he spun at Turn 9.
Mouzouris fended off Hedge in a last-lap dash after the safety car to win by only one tenth of a second ahead of his Sonic Motor Racing Services team mate, with privateer Spectrum driver Cody Donald impressing in third.
“It was definitely an up and down weekend coming from pole and having two very average races,” said Hedge. “I managed to salvage some points in the last race coming from sixth up to second so all-in-all a pretty good weekend and happy to end up second overall.
“I’ve finished second at every round this year so far so we’ll definitely be aiming for the top step at The Bend.”
With a clean sweep, Angelo Mouzouris scored his maiden Australian Formula Ford Championship round victory ahead of Hedge and Donald.
In the process, Mouzouris jumped from fourth to now lead the championship on 131 by nine points from Callum Hedge on 122 and Tom Sargent on 117.
Race 2
Mouzouris has claimed back to back wins at the Winton Supersprint after the top three across the line in Race 2 were handed post-race time penalties for breaching safety car restart procedures.
Synergy Motorsport’s Liam Mclellan starred off the line, charging from fourth to first by the first corner. Victorian State Series racer Ben D’Alia unfortunately couldn’t get off the line after an impressive fifth place in Race 1 yesterday, with the safety car brought out to retrieve him.
The race resumed on Lap 3 as McLellan controlled the field on the restart. From second, CHE Racing Team’s Tom Sargent Motorsport passed McLellan heading towards the control line, while Callum Hedge and Jay Hanson Motorsport overlapped the leader.
While Hedge took the chequered flag from Sargent and Hanson, Sargent received a 15 second penalty as a result of the pass, while Hedge and Hanson were penalised 10 seconds for the overlap.
This promoted Sonic Motor Racing Services’ Mouzouris to the win ahead of the Spectrums of McLellan, Cody Donald, Cody Burcher and Jake Donaldson, as all three Synergy Motorsport entries finished inside the top five alongside the privateer Donald entry.
Race 1
Mouzouris has scored his maiden Australian Formula Ford Championship race win in Race 1 at the Winton Supersprint.
Starting second, the Victorian teenager driving for Sonic Motor Racing Services got the lead off the start after pole-sitter Callum Hedge crept forward before the lights went out and fell back to third before the first corner. The New Zealander was penalised five seconds for the jump start and was relegated back to seventh after crossing the line in second.
Series leader Tom Sargent recovered strongly from his struggles in Qualifying to charge from 11th to second.
Formula Ford rookie Jay Hanson scored his first top three result in third, while Liam McLellan impressed in his charge from the back of the grid to fourth, while Victorian state series racer Ben D’Alia also starred inside the top five on his return to national level.
Mouzouris built a three-second gap over Hedge before the safety car was called with one lap remaining to retrieve Zac Soutar and Jake Donaldson after they touched at Turn 9. After a full stewards hearing, Soutar was penalised five championship points which have been wholly suspended until the end of the 2019 season.
An investigation was also made into Callum Hedge’s safety car restart procedure, though no breach was found.
Courtney Prince was handed a five second penalty for a dangerous reentry at Turn 10 on Lap 3.
Mouzouris took the chequered flag 1.5 seconds ahead of Sargent, with Hanson a further two seconds behind.
Round 4 of the 2019 Australian Formula Ford Championship will be held at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia, featuring at the Australian Motor Racing Series event on June 21-23.
2019 Australian Formula Ford Championship
Rounds 3/7
1st – Angelo Mouzouris, 131
2nd – Callum Hedge, 122
3rd – Tom Sargent, 117
4th – Zac Soutar, 104
5th – Cody Burcher, 92
6th – Jay Hanson, 82
7th – Lachlan Mineeff, 77
=8th – Courtney Prince, 72
=8th – Cody Donald, 72
=10th – Liam McLellan, 68
=10th – Jake Donaldson, 68
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