PRESS RELEASE: MARCH 20, 2005

ELLIOTT RUNAWAY WINNER AT FORMULA FORD OPENING ROUND IN ADELAIDE

Fastlane Racing’s Daniel Elliott was a runaway winner at the opening round of the 2005 Ford Racing Australian Formula Ford Championship held in Adelaide as part of the Clipsal 500 program. The 20-year-old West Australian set the fastest qualifying time and went on to dominate the three-race schedule.

RACE 1 (Friday, March 18, 1.40 pm):
Elliott led off the line ahead of Sonic Motorsports David Sieders and CAMS Rising Star Brett Hobson. 2004 Avon Tyres Rookie of the Year Dean Fiore, also driving for Sonic Motorsports, was in fourth position, breathing down the necks of the leading trio.

The battle for the lead between Elliott, Hobson and Sieders continued for most of the race until Hobson passed into the hairpin at the end of Brabham Straight to lead over the line on lap six. Elliott then regained the lead on the same corner on the next lap.

A two-car incident resulted in the race being red-flagged and the results called at the conclusion of lap 7. Elliott was declared the winner ahead of Hobson with Sieders in third and Fiore fourth.

On his way to third place David Sieders set the fastest lap – and lap record - on lap six with a time of 1:29.6461.

RACE 2 (Saturday, March 19, 9.05 am):
Elliott set a new lap record (1:29.0039) on the way to his second victory of the weekend in race two, eventually finishing more than three seconds ahead of his nearest rival. He was pushed once again by Brett Hobson and Dean Fiore who finished second and third respectively.

Borland Racing Development’s Shane Price, after finishing in fifth place in race one moved up one spot to take fourth place in race two.

Laps seven and eight were run under the control of the safety car while a crashed car was removed from the track but as soon as the pace car left the circuit the battle to the line continued.

The pace went up a notch in race two when David Sieder’s race one lap record (1:29.6461) was broken by Hobson (1:29.6019), Fiore (1:29.5879) and fourth-placed Shane Price (1:29.4677).

RACE 3 (Sunday, March 20, 9.05 am):
Daniel Elliott led race three from start to finish, ahead of a tight battle for second place between Shane Price and Brett Hobson. On his way to his third victory of the weekend Elliott again lowered the lap record to 1:28.8959 on lap eight.

Once again, a coming together between two cars further down the field resulted in the safety car leading the way for two laps while the debris was cleared. When racing recommenced Elliott pulled away from the pack, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of Price and Hobson.

2005 FORD RACING FORMULA FORD AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
PROVISIONAL POINTSCORE:
Pos. No. Driver State Vehicle Total
1 36 Daniel ELLIOTT WA Van Diemen RF05 61
2 21 Brett HOBSON* NSW Spectrum 010b 46
3 39 Shane PRICE* VIC Spectrum 010b 38
4 4 Dean FIORE WA Van Diemen RF04 34
5 3 David SIEDERS NSW Van Diemen RF04 30
6 32 Nathan CARATTI* WA Van Diemen RF04 26
7 62 Andrew THOMPSON NSW Spectrum 010 22
8 2 Dan PAPPAS QLD Van Diemen RF02 7
9 7 Jason LIEFTING NZ Spectrum 010b 6
10 8 Anthony PRESTON NSW Spectrum 010 5

The Round Two of the 2005 Ford Racing Formula Ford Championship will be held at Barbagello (WA), May 6-8.