The CAMS PAYCE Australian Formula 4 Championship will this week visit Sydney Motorsport Park for the sixth and penultimate round of 2018.
The Sydney round comes off the back of the Winton double-round earlier this month, which saw Ryan Suhle and Jayden Ojeda victorious in the respective rounds.
“I’m really excited, I love the short gaps in between rounds,” Suhle said.
“Sydney is the home track for AGI Sport, so I think it’s going to be fantastic.”
The AGI duo are at the forefront of this year’s title battle, with only 21 points separating Ojeda and Suhle. Aaron Love remains a contender, 52 points behind leader Ojeda but with a string of consistent results across the year he is a prospect for the end of year podium.
“I drove there last year and I’ve already had a test day this year,” Love said.
“Last year we didn’t have the best result, so we’ll try to improve on that this year and go again.”
Love’s championship momentum was strengthened at Winton, with the West Australian claiming his first career race win.
“It was a massive relief to get that off the list, it felt really good,” Love said.
Love’s podium aspirations have also been increased with confirmation that Cameron Shields will not contest the final remaining rounds, opting to focus on a 2019 campaign overseas.
“Cameron has decided to get a head start on his 2019 campaign by completing a testing program in the US,” Team BRM’s principal Mark Rundle said.
“We are disappointed that it will mean the end to our championship hopes but wish him all the best with his future racing.”
Fifth placed Lochie Hughes is well positioned as the Burson Auto Parts Rookie of the Year leader on 155 points, and 56 points ahead of nearest rival Zayd Tones.
“Sydney will be another great round hopefully, some more podiums and wins,” Hughes said.
“I’ve developed a lot and we’ve been really fighting with the frontrunners. Hopefully we can do the same for Sydney and even New Zealand, try our best and get more wins for the Burson Auto Parts Rookie class.”
Patrizicorse’s Jackson Walls is only three points away from Tones in the championship, and will be eager to impress at his home round. Walls is also riding a strong wave of momentum, with the New South Welshman securing his first race podium finish last time out at Winton.
The likes of Ojeda, Suhle, Love are well versed with the Sydney Motorsport Park layout having competed at the track in previous seasons – though the majority of the field has enjoyed multiple test days at the facility.
Sydney is also a home round for AGI Sport, which holds a special place in the team’s history as the location of their first round victory in 2016 with Nick Rowe. The feat was repeated again last season with Rowe dominant for the round.
Round six will be the final round held in Australia, before the Championship’s final round takes place at New Zealand’s Pukekohe circuit in November for the first time in Formula 4’s history.
A test day aboard a Toyota Racing Series FT 50 is also up for grabs for competitiors, with the driver who accumulates the most points over the next two rounds at Sydney and New Zealand to be determined the winner.
As part of the Shannons Nationals line-up of events this weekend in Sydney, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport will also host its first sanctioned Esports round with the Motum Simulation VSR Showdown. The prize for the event’s winner will be a test day about an Australian Formula 4 car.
Sunday’s races will be streamed live and free on the Shannons Nationals live stream at formula4.com.au, with highlights to air on SBS’ Speedweek in the following weeks.
Entry List:
#5 – Ryan Suhle – AGI Sport – CAMS Rising Star/Ray White
#11 – Jackson Walls – PatriziCorse – Objective Racing
#12 – Josh Smith – Team BRM – Shamick Racing
#15 – Lochie Hughes – Team BRM – TFH Hire
#16 – Thomas Smith – Team BRM – SCT Logistics
#27 – Zayd Tones – Team BRM – Alientech
#31 – Jayden Ojeda – AGI Sport – Engine Sensors Australia
#39 – Antonio Astuti – Astuti Motorsport
#50 – Ardie Jonic – AGI Sport – Jonic Motors
#78 – Aaron Love – Team BRM – Coco’s
Session Times:
Friday 21 September
10:40am – Practice One (30 minutes)
2:00pm – Practice Two (30 minutes)
Saturday 22 September
11:20am – Castrol Pole Position (20 minutes)
4:20pm – Race One (9 laps)
Sunday 23 September
10:24am – Race Two (9 laps)
12:30pm – Race Three (9 laps)
2018 Stats:
Castrol Pole Positions:
Cameron Shields: 2 (Symmons Plains, Winton)
Jayden Ojeda: 2 (Phillip Island, Queensland)
Ryan Suhle: 1 (Winton)
Race Wins:
Jayden Ojeda: 9 (Phillip Island, Queensland, Winton)
Cameron Shields: 2 (Symmons Plains)
Ryan Suhle: 1 (Winton)
Lochie Hughes: 1 (Winton)
Aaron Love: 1 (Winton)
Round Wins:
Jayden Ojeda: 3 (Phillip Island, Queensland, Winton)
Cameron Shields: 1 (Symmons Plains)
Ryan Suhle: 1 (Winton)
Round Podiums:
Aaron Love: 4 (Symmons Plains, Phillip Island, Queensland, Winton)
Ryan Suhle: 2 (Symmons Plains, Phillip Island)
Cameron Shields: 2 (Queensland, Winton)
Lochie Hughes: 1 (Winton)
Championship Standings
1. Jayden Ojeda: 269
2. Ryan Suhle: 248
3. Cameron Shields: 242
4. Aaron Love: 217
5. Lochie Hughes: 155 (R)
6. Zayd Tones: 99 (R)
7. Jackson Walls: 96 (R)
8. Josh Smith: 62 (R)
9. Thomas Smith: 57 (R)
10. Antonio Astuti: 53 (R)
11. Ardie Jonic: 14 (R)
(R) = Burson Auto Parts Rookie
Weather
Friday: 0% chance of rain; partly cloudy – Min: 8 – Max: 21
Saturday: 50% chance of rain; sunny – Min: 8 – Max: 25
Sunday: 30% chance of rain; cloudy – Min: 11 – Max: 22
