Anglo Australian Motorsport drivers conquer The Mountain

Anglo Australian Motorsport has again outshone its peers at Mt Panorama, Bathurst over the weekend securing a pole position and taking out all three races out of a thirty three strong field.

The 2012 NSW and VIC State Championship winning team headed to the mountain with 2012 VIC state champion Jonathan Venter piloting the Sparco and Racer Inc sponsored Spirit WL11. After enjoying two promising trips to the mountain in 2012 as well as multiple state and national level podiums Venter was always going to be the driver to beat heading into the weekend and he held no prisoners from the start qualifying on pole.

Race one saw the talented teenager engrossed in a close battle for position with team mate Nathan Morcom until mechanical issues with Morcom’s 2012 Bathurst winning Spirit WL08 saw him drop behind leaving Venter with clean track and no challengers to easily take the win. With Morcom’s car fixed for race two the pressure was back on the team mates battling it out throughout the six lap race, but Venter’s experience at the challenging iconic track saw him able to hold onto the top spot for his second race win of the weekend.

The third and final race saw the first of two safety cars come out on lap one, leaving the field under its control for two laps with Venter leading the train at the restart and with his team mate firmly on the back of his car Venter was unable to hold off the other Anglo machine with Morcom taking the lead pushing Venter down to the second spot before another safety car was deployed leaving the final race to be concluded under safety car conditions securing the sixteen year old his first second for the weekend.

Happy with his achievement in mirroring past years data and times Venter wanted to thank the team that has already secured him a championship title “I’d like to say thank you to Anglo for setting up a very good race car and allowing me to run the weekend with a great and reliable engine. Race one and two was consistent but race was bad luck with two safety cars so I am moderately happy with my results. Thank you to all of the other competitors and the Formula Ford Association especially Amy and Jeff for all of their organisation”.

The biggest challenger for Venter over the weekend was his team mate Nathan Morcom who was impressive in his debut at Mt Panorama, returning to Australia after competing in the F2000 National Championship in the United States for the past two seasons, Morcom stepped into the 2012 Bathurst winning Spirit WL08 with hopes of enjoying and learning the 6.2km circuit and all the challenges it has to offer but was quickly rewarded with two seconds and a first.

Learning the challenging track quickly Morcom set the third fastest in qualifying ahead of many other seasoned Bathurst racers. Confident lining up for race one after an impressive qualifying outing Morcom was right on the tail of team mate Venter for the first half of the race but mechanical issues lessened the gap from his team mate ruining his chances of first but still able to secure second position.

Race two had the young Sydneysider back to the pointy end of the field again challenging Venter for position close to matching his speed and keeping the pressure on until the chequered flag fell on the shortened six lap race leaving him with another second place finish.

Race three allowed Morcom to display his talent when a safety car bunched up the field after lap one, with Venter leading the pack Morcom stuck to the back of his team mate like glue and with a near perfect move after the lap four restart Morcom moved into first position holding off his team mate before another safety car ensured that no one could challenge him and he crossed the line for his first Bathurst win in his debut outing.

Impressed with Anglo Australian Motorsport’s data and set up Morcom knew that the team provided him with a great car from the first time out “Tim has got great data and the car was hooked up from the first session and from there it was up to me to learn the track. All weekend I just focused on progressing and hunted down Jono and the gap got smaller. After the first safety car in race three I just pushed a lot harder over the top and caught him to take the win. I would like to thank Direct Plaster Board Outlet, Rhondo and Racer Inc for their support and Anglo Motorsport and Tim for the weekend”.

Rounding out the defending Bathurst team was usual Historic Formula Ford competitor Cameron Walters, making the leap from his family prepared Historic Formula Ford to the Anglo Australian Motorsport prepared Mygale SJ2007A Walters spent his second outing to Bathurst familiarising himself with the newer machine.

After having his 2012 Bathurst campaign cut short with a crash Walters was keen to prove his worth and improve on his results this time around. Qualifying the Spot on Wheel Repairs Mygale in thirteenth position after some carburettor issues in practice and qualifying, Walters was in the middle of the pack for the start of race one on Friday afternoon.

Race one had the part time pilot embroiled in some close racing ultimately able to maintain his starting position and finish with a top fifteen spot in thirteenth. Race two saw further improvement moving up through the sheets to finish in eleventh position heading towards the pointy end of the thirty three strong field. With multiple incidents in race three leaving the NSW native having to avoid the carnage and two safety cars leaving little time to make up position Walters was pushed back to fifteenth for the trophy race, finishing his weekend with three strong top fifteen finishes. Joining the six time consecutive championship winning team for the 2013 NSW Formula Ford 1600 Championship Walters is looking forward to the season ahead “Thank you to Anglo and Walters Racing for a great weekend and to the Formula Ford Association for the weekend, looking forward to round one”.

Anglo Australian Motorsport team owner Tim Beale was pleased with another successful Bathurst outing for 2013.