Jimmy Piszcyk leads National Formula Ford title after Round 3

CHE Racing Team’s Jimmy Piszcyk leads the Australian Formula Ford Series following a clean-sweep of podium finishes as teammates Tom McLennan and Zak Lobko displayed rapid improvement.

Supporting the Winton SuperSprint Repco Supercars Championship event, the Australian Formula Ford Series was evenly poised as Piszcyk trailed leader Cody Donald by four-points entering Round 3.

Seventh and eighth in practice provided Piszcyk a solid base to work with approaching qualifying.

In what was a frantic day for Formula Ford competitors as four sessions made up Friday’s running, Piszcyk qualified a strong third and was placed ahead of his title rivals.

Piszcyk was able to reinforce this advantage during the opening race as he progressed a position to second behind previous National Formula Ford champion Tim Blanchard in what was a cameo appearance.

Title rival Valentino Astuti won a tough battle for second place in Race 2, however Piszcyk finished third, before turning the tables on the Sonic Motor Racing Services driver in the final event to complete a clean-sweep of podiums.

Piszcyk almost added his first national win in the finale as he closed on Blanchard, but fell just short, but leaves Winton with the series lead.

Teammate McLennan enjoyed a breakthrough round where he failed to finish outside the top 10 and qualified on par with Piszcyk.

It was a steady start for McLennan as he set the 10th and ninth fastest times during the two practice sessions, but just like Piszcyk he put in an impressive qualifying performance to be fourth to make it a CHE Racing Team lockout of the second row.

In a rough and tumble opening encounter, McLennan was pushed wide to lose position, but recovered to ninth.

He maintained ninth in the second race before improving one position to eighth in the final, however it proved a big step forward ahead of the next round on home turf at Sydney Motorsport Park.

It was another weekend of learning for Lobko as he adapts to national competition.

Starting the weekend in 14th and 12th after the two sessions of practice, Lobko replicated the qualifying pace of his teammates to qualify ninth.

After dropping to 18th in Race 1, Lobko gradually progressed to 15th and 11th in the following two events to be just short of a top 10 finish.

Winton’s Australian Formula Ford round was a strong one for the CHE Racing Team as the next event of its national campaign is at Sydney Motorsport Park on August 6-7.

QUOTES
Jimmy Piszcyk

“It was a great weekend all round,” said Piszcyk. “We qualified on the second row and climbed up one position during the race. It was great to race behind Tim Blanchard, who is very experienced.

“Race 2 we got shuffled back a position, but we worked hard to be fast on track and in Race 3 we were so close as I scored the fastest lap by a fair bit to almost have Tim by the last lap.

“Racing at a Supercars event is awesome due to the atmosphere with so many more people around, who come alive.”

Tom McLennan

“It’s probably been my best weekend so far this season,” McLennan reflected.

“I qualified fourth and during the opening race I had an incident with another driver to get pushed off the track to finish 10th.

“Race 2 I finished ninth after a tough battle with Clay Richards and Jude Bargwanna. In the final, I battled Clay again, which was hard and clean to finish the race eighth.

“I’m stoked with that. Thanks to CHE Racing Team for the dialled up car all weekend and keen for the next one in Sydney.”

Zak Lobko

“I had a good weekend overall and had a lot of pace,” Lobko summarised.

“We showed we had a lot of pace and progressed through the field every session. The first race we were on for a good result, but unfortunately an incident sent me to the back and after that I was recovering.

“It was a good weekend, I learnt a lot and I’m looking forward to getting back in the car at Sydney.”

Cameron Hill

“It’s been a great weekend for CHE Racing,” lauded Hill. “Jim drove fabulously to finish second behind Tim Blanchard for the round.

“He leads the series now, which is fantastic.

“The other two boys were right on the money and if it wasn’t for a bit of track position both could have been contending inside the top five.

“Super strong performance for all three guys and look forward to continuing the momentum in Sydney.”