Tom Sargent is looking forward to returning to a happy hunting ground when the Australian Formula Ford Championship heads to The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia this weekend for the fourth round of the season, held as part of the Australian Motor Racing Series (AMRS) race meeting.
The 17-year-old from Young has fond memories of the circuit, where he scored his first national Formula Ford podium result with second place last year.
“The Bend has a lot of fast, flowing corners, and my driving style seemed to click with it straight away,” Sargent said.
“It’s a track where you really have to be committed and understand how much grip is available from the tyre; through some of the turns around the back of the track, the car is dancing right on the limit of adhesion.”
While the previous round at Winton was not ideal for Sargent, he still accumulated valuable points to maintain his top-three position in the standings, and said it has only served to strengthen his motivation and determination to return to the podium this weekend.
“Winton wasn’t one of our better weekends, but it also wasn’t as disastrous as it could have been.
“We didn’t quite nail the setup for qualifying, I managed to come through the field in the wet, but then I was penalised in the second race when I misjudged the Safety Car restart.
“I learned a lot from that weekend, but it’s behind me now, and I can’t wait to race at a track where the car worked well last year.”
Event Schedule
Friday, 21 June
8:50am – Practice 1 (15 min)
11:15am – Practice 2 (15 min)
1:35pm – Practice 3 (15 min)
Saturday, 22 June
10:45am – Qualifying (20 min)
2:55pm – Race 1 (7 laps)
Sunday, 23 June
10:55am – Race 2 (5 laps)
3:10pm – Race 3 (5 laps)
Where to Watch
Sunday’s races will be live streamed via the AMRS Facebook page and Blend Line TV YouTube channel.
