AUSTRALIAN FORMULA FORD, 2005

PRESS RELEASE: MAY 9, 2005

ELLIOTT’S TRIFECTA AT BARBAGALLO

Daniel Elliott, driving a Fastlane Racing Van Diemen RF05 dominated Round 2 of the 2005 Ford Racing Australian Formula Ford Championship at Barbagallo Raceway outside Perth last weekend. The 20-year-old West Australian claimed his second pole position of the season, and added three race wins to his championship tally. After also clean-sweeping round one in Adelaide, Elliott now leads the championship on a perfect score of 122 points, ahead of his nearest rival Victorian Shane Price (Caltex Havoline Spectrum 010b) on 62 points.

QUALIFYING

In a convincing display of home track knowledge Elliott claimed his second pole position for the season leading both practice sessions and securing pole with a combined time of 1:00.5968.
Elliott was well pleased with the way round two of the Australian championship was going for him. “It’s good to be on pole again. Everything’s run smoothly all weekend for us. We’ve been changing the car set-up a little bit here and there to adapt to changes in the track and that’s about all we’ve had to do really,” he said.
Joining Elliott on the front row was fellow West Australian, Nathan Caratti, driving a Fastlane Racing Van Diemen RF04. Caratti’s time of 1:00.7241 enabled him to keep Elliott firmly in his sights. “I’ll try to get the jump to the first corner and I reckon I can stay with him,” he said.
Kiwi Jason Liefting, driving a Project Motor Sports Spectrum 010b, took third spot on the grid with a combined time of 1:00.8587. Liefting had been enjoying the build-up to the weekend’s racing, feeling that he’d had the best preparation in a long time. “In qualifying I was hoping for the front row. It didn’t happen, unfortunately, but we’re close enough,” he said.
Liefting found himself surrounded by West Aussies on the grid with Dean Fiore (Alberts Car Stereo Van Diemen RF04) and Mark McNally (Nomad Racing/Fastlane Van Diemen RF05) filling fourth and fifth spots with 1:00.8932 and 1:00.9285 respectively.
In the sixty-one second bracket came a swag of drivers including Andrew Thompson (NSW) driving a Latitude Development Group Spectrum 010 (1:01.0538), Victorian Lee Holdsworth (TTM Group Spectrum 010 – 1:01.0698), Queenslander Shannon O’Brien (O’Brien Motorsports Van Diemen RF03 – 1:01.0744), Joel Spychala from New South Wales (Mid Coast Ford Van Diemen RF05 – 1:01.2385), and David Sieders from New South Wales (Van Diemen RF04 – 1:01.2931), rounding out the top ten grid positions.
A total of 22 drivers - including a total of 12 local WA drivers - lined up on the grid for Race 1 on Saturday afternoon.

RACE 1 – 12 Laps (Saturday, May 7, 4.05 pm): ELLIOTT EXERTS HIS DOMINANCE

When the lights turned green Daniel Elliott led off the line with Nathan Caratti, Dean Fiore and Jason Liefting in hot pursuit, followed closely by a tight-knit group of drivers. Unfortunately, as the leading cars headed up the hill into Shannons Sweeper Caratti’s car suffered a sudden loss of engine power. Fiore, travelling close behind, was unable to avoid contact with Caratti’s car. The ensuing chain reaction saw a total of five cars damaged and unable to continue, including both Caratti and Fiore.
The race continued under Safety Car conditions for two laps while the debris was cleared and when racing resumed Elliott stamped his authority on the circuit by breaking away from the pursuing pack, increasing his lead on every lap to take the win by five seconds.
“I was able to get a good gap from second place after the restart and worked at keeping my times consistent the whole way through the race,” said Elliott.
Second place went to West Australian Mark McNally who was able to avoid contact with Caratti and Fiore on lap one. “I was very lucky to make it through when the crash happened. It was right in front of me and fortunately the cars separated and I made it through,” he said.
After the restart McNally battled for position with Jason Liefting. By lap seven he had slotted in to second place and Liefting was left to protect third place from Shannon O’Brien. The pair kept close company until O’Brien eventually prevailed, slotting into third place ahead of Liefting in fourth.
Liefting was then shadowed by Victorian driver Shane Price (Caltex Havoline Spectrum 010b), with the drivers eventually finishing in that order.
In sixth position was David Sieders, followed by Joel Spychala and Lee Holdsworth.
Ninth spot was taken by CAMS Rising Star driver Brett Hobson from NSW (Spectrum 010b) who had been battling engine problems during practice and qualifying. Rounding out the top 10 was Grant Doulman (Driwash Racing Van Diemen RF94).
RESULTS – Race 1
1st Daniel Elliott (Van Diemen RF05), 16:06.1634; 2nd Mark McNally (Van Diemen RF05), 16:11.5591; 3rd Shannon O’Brien (Van Diemen RF03), 16:13.3047; 4th Jason Liefting (Spectrum 010b), 16:13.3650; 5th Shane Price (Spectrum 010b), 16:13.7587; 6th David Sieders (Van Diemen RF04), 16:14.1388; 7th Joel Spychala (Van Diemen RF05), 16:15.0433; 8th Lee Holdsworth (Spectrum 010), 16:15.1474; 9th Brett Hobson (Spectrum 010b), 16:15.7016; 10th Grant Doulman (Van Diemen RF94), 16:28.8397.

RACE 2 – 12 Laps (Sunday, May 8, 8.50 am): ELLIOTT SCORES THE DOUBLE

Daniel Elliott once again stamped his authority on the Barbagallo circuit by taking a start-to-finish win in Race 2. He finished over seven seconds ahead of second-placed Fastlane Racing teammate Mark McNally.
Third place was claimed by Jason Liefting after a tight battle with a Shannon O’Brien which lasted almost the entire race. The pair swapped positions a number of times until on lap 9, on the entry to the front straight, O’Brien tried an outside entry to the corner but lost positions to Price and Sieders as the group came onto the front straight.
Price then pursued Liefting to the line but was unable to get past the New Zealander who was obviously enjoying the close quarters racing with O’Brien and McNally. “In the first race and race two we were at it hammer and tongs. It’s going being able to dice wheel-to-wheel with drivers you respect and can trust,” said Liefting.
Andrew Thompson finished in seventh position after working his way through the pack from 17th position on the grid after a race one DNF. Joel Spychala collected four points in eighth position and Dean Fiore, from 19th grid position, moved up to ninth place. Lee Holdsworth, recovering from an encounter with a bee sting during qualifying, took the final point.
RESULTS – Race 2
1st Daniel Elliott (Van Diemen RF05), 12:11.9312; 2nd Mark McNally (Van Diemen RF05), 12:18.8805; 3rd Jason Liefting (Spectrum 010b), 12:21.4665; 4th Shane Price (Spectrum 010b), 12:21.6156; 5th David Sieders (Van Diemen RF04), 12:22.2069; 6th Shannon O’Brien (Van Diemen RF03), 12:22.3628; 7th Andrew Thompson (Spectrum 010) 12:24.4375; 8th Joel Spychala (Van Diemen RF05), 12:26.6003; 9th Dean Fiore (Van Diemen RF04) 12:28.2393; 10th Lee Holdsworth (Spectrum 010), 12:28.4217.

RACE 3 – 12 Laps (Sunday, May 8, 12.50 pm): ELLIOTT’S TRIFECTA

In a dominant display, Daniel Elliott completed his Barbagallo trifecta in race three finishing over seven seconds ahead of Mark McNally and Jason Liefting in another go-to-whoa win.
Elliott acknowledged Fastlane Racing’s Brett Lupton and his team for success over the weekend. “The team is very professional and we’ve got a good group of mechanics who all have specific jobs to do; that’s why everything runs so smoothly throughout the meeting,” he said. “It makes my job a whole lot easier and lets me concentrate harder on my driving.
“Brett Lupton is unbelievable with the amount of time he puts in and Troy Dunstan, the engine builder, is my main mechanic for every race meeting,” said Elliott.
McNally and Liefting had an enthralling battle for second place which went right to the line. The pair was separated by just .1176 of a second when they reached the chequered flag. “Jason’s a good racer and a good friend and I knew that we could have a really good dice together,” said McNally.
Liefting recognised McNally’s local track knowledge: “I was right on McNally’s gearbox from the start and got past him on lap five. I led for two laps but then local knowledge got the better of me late in the race. McNally put me where he wanted me on the circuit and picked me off,” said Liefting. “It was disappointing to lose that one but hopefully it will be the other way round when we get to our home circuit at Eastern Creek.”
Andrew Thompson took fourth place two seconds ahead of Nathan Caratti, Dean Fiore and Shannon O’Brien who had swapped places throughout the race, putting on an entertaining display of close competition for the large crowd.
David Sieders, Shane Price and Joel Spychala made up the next group two seconds in arrears, again having battled for position throughout the race.
RESULTS – Race 3
1st Daniel Elliott (Van Diemen RF05), 12:11.1730; 2nd Mark McNally (Van Diemen RF05), 12:19.5101; 3rd Jason Liefting (Spectrum 010b), 12:19.6277; 4th Andrew Thompson (Spectrum 010), 12:20.1094; 5th Nathan Caratti (Van Diemen RF04), 12:22.2857; 6th Dean Fiore (Van Diemen RF04), 12:22.4236; 7th Shannon O’Brien (Van Diemen RF03), 12:22.6349; 8th David Sieders (Van Diemen RF04), 12:24.0592; 9th Shane Price (Spectrum 010b), 12:24.0638; 10th Joel Spychala (Van Diemen RF05), 12:24.4896.