Another top-four finish in the seventh and final round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park on the weekend has seen Tom Sargent finish eighth in his rookie season.
Sargent qualified fifth, and despite a slow start in Race 1 he was able to fight his way up to fourth. He again finished fourth in Race 2 before capitalising on an incident in Race 3 to finish third.
“Overall, it was another solid weekend, and one where we learned a lot,” Sargent said.
“I made life hard for myself in the first race by getting off the line slowly, but my race pace was good and I was able to overtake other cars by slipstreaming down the main straight.
“I was in the thick of the battle of the lead in Race 2, and in Race 3 I kept my nose clean when a few other drivers made contact.
“There’s still a lot to learn but I feel like our pace in these last couple of rounds has been good enough to finish consistently in the top five.”
The points Sargent accumulated from the weekend were enough for him to finish eighth in the championship, even though he missed the first two rounds. The Young driver was very satisfied with the outcome.
“When you consider that at the start of the season, we weren’t even planning to do the national series and were just going to concentrate on the state stuff, I’m stoked with our overall result,” Sargent said.
“Just to be able to race at a national level and have that experience has been amazing, but to finish in the top 10 for the year is well above my expectations.
“It gives us really good momentum to head into next season and hopefully be in a position to contend for a top three championship result.”
However, Sargent’s season is still not finished; he’ll race in the final round of the NSW State Formula Ford Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park on 17-18 November.
“I’m currently second in the state championship, and it would be good to finish that series on a high with a win,” Sargent concluded.
Round Results Summary
Qualifying: 5th
Race 1: 4th
Race 2: 4th
Race 3: 3rd
Overall: 4th
Top 10 Points – After Round 7
- Hunter McElrea – 321
- Hamish Ribarits – 306
- Zac Soutar – 239
- Nathan Herne – 236
- Lachlan Mineeff – 172
- Angelo Mouzouris – 159
- Liam McLellan – 158
- Tom Sargent – 138
- Bart Horsten – 128
- Cody Donald – 116
