CHE RACING WEEKEND WRAP VIDEO >> https://www.facebook.com/CHEracingteam/videos/393982832538962
The three-car CHE Racing Formula Ford squad strove forward during Round 2 of the National Formula Ford Series at Phillip Island, held in-conjunction with the opening event for the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships.
Stunning results from Jimmy Piszcyk highlighted a solid weekend for the three-pronged CHE racing attack as he just narrowly missed out on taking victory in the final race, some 0.0046s in what was an entertaining weekend of racing.
Piszcyk was in contention all weekend as he qualified fourth, though emerged as a challenger to the Sonic Motor Racing Services pair of Valentino Astuti and Winston Smith during the course of the weekend. This was highlighted by splitting the pair in the opening race as he finished just behind his rival.
Race 2 provided a major highlight for Piszcyk as he led the majority before an incident delayed him back to fourth in a very impressive drive.
This was followed by another strong performance in the final race to fall just 0.0046s shy of the race victory in what was a great event for the South Australian.
Another to finish with a strong performance was Tom McLennan as he completed his weekend with a result just outside the top 10.
McLennan qualified 14th, but soon progressed inside the top 10 in Race 1 to then settle into 11th by the end. A frantic Race 2 resulted in McLennan dropping to 13th, but continued to build experience as he dropped into the 1m 39s, an equal pace to the leaders.
For the final race, McLennan just missed out on breaking the top 10 in what is a strong National Formula Ford field to finish 11th and with the race’s fastest lap, a 1m 38.4186s.
For Zak Lobko, it was a weekend to gain experience as he matched teammate McLennan in qualifying to place 14th and in Race 1 moved up a position to 13th in what was a close battle.
Lobko dropped back to 14th in Race 2 and was 15th in the final race to complete a weekend of learning as CHE Racing prepares for the Winton round of the National Formula Ford Series supporting the Supercars on May 21-22.
QUOTES
James Piszcyk
“We enjoyed great results all weekend," said Piszcyk.
"I qualified well on Row 2 which helped us to P2 in Race 1. The second race of the weekend we dropped back a little bit to P4. With the final race of the weekend, we only just missed out on the victory by a tiny margin, but overall it was a promising weekend.
“I’d like to extend a huge thank you to the team at CHE Racing for giving me a good car all weekend.”
Zak Lobko
“We had a tough weekend, but I have to thank the team and all my sponsors for all of the help they have given me, especially Cameron (Hill) and Tom (Sargent) for all the setup advice and driving tips,” said Lobko.
Tom McLennan
“My weekend was filled with ups and downs. I didn’t qualify all that well but was able to make up a few positions in Race 1," said McLennan.
“Race 2, I basically fell asleep at the start … Race 3 I had a good race and scored the fastest lap of the race.
"A big thanks to CHE Racing for setting up a nice car for me this weekend and I'm keen for Round 3 at Winton.”
Cameron Hill
“It was a good weekend for our team. James Piszcyk was running at the front of the field, leading the race and swapping, changing for position and he picked up P2 for the round, just missing out on the win in the last race by 0.0046s," said Hill.
“He can take a lot of confidence out of this weekend and it puts him P2 in the series tally, which is great.”
“For Zak and Tom, it’s their first time racing here and it was a tough weekend for them having qualified further down the grid. Each race they found speed and were able to run with the front pack. As we know, track position is just so important in Formula Ford.
“I'm looking forward to the next round at Winton and hopefully we will have all cars running at the front.”
