2023 Formula Classic – Round 1
Carco Cup, Wanneroo Raceway 5th March
The first round of the 2023 Formula Classic season was held at Wanneroo Raceway on Sunday 5th March. It was a perfect day for racing with clear blue skies and a very civilised start time of 11.00 a.m.
Thirteen cars were entered for the event and there were a couple of guest Formula Fords with us too.
In the qualifying run we saw a few different car and driver combinations, mainly due to several cars being prepared for next weekend’s big race at Phillip Island. New boy to Formula Classic, Arthur Abrahams was driving Bob Creasy’s Ralt RT4 whilst Bob had reverted to his RT1 and Dan Gate was in his March 80A.
Sadly, Bill Norman broke his CV joint at the start of the first race causing a bit of mayhem for the vehicles behind him and prompting a safety car intervention, that in itself cause some issues subsequently with time penalties being applied to several drivers for yellow flag infringements.
Arthur won the first two races and looked set to make it a clean sweep but for an electrical issue to sideline him partway through the third race. Jamie Kerkhoff, who’d been running a strong second in the first two races swept through to win the final race of the day, his first ever win and taking the outright win for the day too.
Glen Caple returned to the track after a three year absence with his beautifully presented Birrana 274, similarly Harvey Leys returned to the track after an absence with his equally beautifully prepared Chevron B19, Harvey picking up overall 3rd place on the day.
There was one huge big smile on Jamie Kerkhoff’s face on Sunday afternoon following his inaugural outright win in the Carco Cup race.
There could have been no more deserving winner following last season’s struggle with a string of car problems that saw him sidelined more often than on the track.
Further cause for celebration too was the sub sixty second lap he managed along the way to his win.
Outright results for the meeting were;
1st Jamie Kerkhoff 65 pts
2nd Lance Carwardine 54 pts
3rd Harvey Leys 52 pts
Handicap results for this round;
1st Harvey Leys 42 pts
2nd Glenn Caple 36 pts
3rd Jamie Kerkhoff 35 pts
The next round is at Collie over the weekend of 25th / 26th March.