HUGE FORMULA FORD FIELD HEADS TO SANDOWN

A bumper field of 32 cars head to Sandown Raceway for round four of the 2018 Australian Formula Ford Championship. This weekend also marks round two of the Australian FF1600 Championship for Kent-powered vehicles, with the national competitors also joined by state racers campaigning in the Victorian Formula Ford Series. Hunter McElrea is currently leading the Formula Ford standings, 17 points clear of Sonic team-mate Hamish Ribarits. A further 60 points separate Ribarits and Queenslander Cameron Shields in third. The BF Racing driver will sit out this round due to conflicting racing commitments, meaning the battle for the top three in the championship and a ticket to the 2018 Mazda Road to Indy Shootout is well and truly alive heading into the business end of the season. The battle for third place in the championship remains hotly contested, with seven drivers currently separated by only 19 points. Shields is leading Zac Soutar, Courtney Prince, Nathan Herne, Angelo Mouzouris, Lachlan Mineeff and Bart Horsten. In the FF1600 field, Queenslanders Tim Hamilton and Dylan Fahey are currently separated by five points. New South Welshman Robert Rowe sits in third, 13 points behind the duo, ready to take advantage of any mistakes and take the lead of the FF1600 Championship. Neither Hamilton, Fahey nor Rowe have visited the iconic Victorian circuit previously, and reigning Victorian champion and current state series leader Brendan Jones is hoping to use his track knowledge to challenge for race victories this weekend. On-track action for the Formula Ford field kicks off with practice on Friday, followed by qualifying and three races across the weekend at Sandown Raceway.

Weekend schedule Friday, 20th July FP1 - 9:20am FP2 - 11:20am FP3 - 1:20pm FP4 - 3:40pm Saturday, 21st July Qualifying - 9:40am Race 1 - 1:33pm Sunday, 22nd July Race 2 - 9:23am Race 3 - 1:24pm

Formula Ford entry list: #2 Hunter McElrea - Sonic Motor Racing Services #3 Courtney Prince - Sonic Motor Racing Services #4 Angelo Mouzouris - Sonic Motor Racing Services #5 Hamish Ribarits - Sonic Motor R