(c) Pic by John Morris - MPix

From qualifying right through to the third and final race Storey, aboard the Anglo Australian Motorsport WL07 Spirit, had the measure of the entire 21-car field and he most definitely looks on track to capture the 2007 championship crown with only one round remaining.

Despite his best efforts Morley was unable to match the consistent front running pace of Morley throughout the weekend, and as a result has slipped further behind in the championship point standings behind arch-rival Storey.

(c) Pic by John Morris - MPix

The efforts of CAMS Rising Star driver Daniel Erickson must be applauded, as the 19-year-old managed to overcome an opening race non finish after contact with Queenslander Andrew Hagen resulted in both drivers failing to finish which brought out the red flag and therefore a full restart. Erickson managed to fight way up to fifth place for the second race after starting from the rear of the grid, and in the third race made further progression to snare the final spot on the podium, third. Eastern Creek has proven to be a happy hunting ground for Erickson as this was his second podium finish in as many starts at the circuit. Earlier in the weekend Erickson qualified second and one can only begin to imagine whether or not he would have been able to match it with the likes of Storey and Morley had he not suffered the non finish in the opening race.
 
During qualifying early in the weekend it was Storey that paced the field by setting a dashing 1:38.0167 lap to earn the right to start the opening race from pole position and his nearest rival was some eight-tenths of a second behind, Erickson, followed by Team Sydney driver Glenn Welch, Morley and Hagen in fifth place.

The opening race of the weekend only lasted to the second turn of the opening lap before both Erickson and Hagen were eliminated after contact between the pair whilst dicing for track position which caused substantial damage to both drivers’ cars. A red flag was brought out to clear the damaged cars, and a complete restart was ordered. On the restart it was Storey that gained command from there was never headed taking the victory over Morley and Welch. Outside the podium finishers was Chris Goodman in fourth followed by CAMS Rising Star Scott Pye and Victorian State Champion Jake Chapman in fifth and sixth respectively.

It was Morley that set the pace in the opening laps of the second race, but his time out in front was short lived, only three laps, before Storey pulled off a daring outside pass in turn one on Morley for the lead and from there was never headed downing Morley and Goodman at the fall of the chequered flag. Tweedie was able to take advantage of a few tangles mid race to finish in fourth ahead of a rear of grid start Erickson and Pye.

Drivers such as Welch, Hagen and Jake Chapman were in the wars during the second race and it resulted in them failing to finish higher in the field. Welch was running strongly in a podium position only to have a spin exiting the final corner and despite recovering his hopes of a podium finish was ruined there and then. Both Hagen (running off the circuit) and Chapman (mechanical damage due to contact with Glenn Welch) had separate incidents mid race, and it saw the latter fail to finish as a result.

Storey completed his weekend domination by scoring a strong victory in the third and final race by comfortably defeating Morley. The battle for the final spot on the podium was intense between Erickson, Goodman and Tweedie, but in the end it was Erickson that gained the upper hand and held on for third ahead of both Tweedie and Goodman, whilst Welch finished in sixth. 

Other notable performances over the weekend included that of Queensland State Championship front runner Tony Chapman who recorded top ten finishers in all three races, whilst Bruce McCabe put in his strongest run to date with a tenth place finish in race one followed by 11th and 13th in race two and three.

(c) Pic by John Morris - MPix

The final round, the rescheduled round three, of the NSW State Formula Ford 1600 Championship is to be held on October 27 – 28 at Oran Park Raceway.

-ENDS RELEASE-

NSW State Formula Ford 1600 Championship media enquiries Daniel Powell – Redline Media
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