23/06/2008 - A CLOSE SECOND (again) weekend 21 – 22 June

Second place is certainly starting to lose its thrill with Tom Tweedie after he once again finished in second place in the NSW Formula Ford 1600 Championship this time at Oran Park Raceway last weekend.

Over the weekend Tweedie was a close second to Anglo Australian Motorsport team-mate Ryan Simpson in both qualifying and the opening race on Saturday, but on Sunday an uncharacteristic spin during the second race on the last lap and a good recovery saw him finish in fourth spot, but he bounced back in the third race to finish in a close second place again driving the # 19 Anglo Australian Motorsport Comtec Spirit WL07.

As the time sheets throughout the weekend reflected there was little that separated the Anglo team mates and Tweedie managed to get the fastest lap time in two races both circulating over a second faster than the lap times from last years event proving great speed from both drivers. Tweedie is still confident he can bridge the gap between himself and championship leader Simpson in the point standings as they are only at the halfway point in the championship and “his luck must change” with a lot of hard work and practice.

“My spin in the second race while in the lead definitely spoiled any hope of me taking out the round victory as I had to start the third race from the second row of the grid and got caught up with a slower driver who blocked him for a lap and that gave Ryan [Simpson] a head start despite there being a safety car in the closing stages of the race,” expressed Tweedie.

“I’m pretty sure that when we return for the fourth round at Oran Park next month it will be very close, but I will be working even harder on staying in front of Ryan [Simpson].”

In race one and three Tweedie managed to record the fastest lap.

Between now and the fourth round of the NSW Formula Ford 1600 Championship at Oran Park Raceway on July 26 – 27 Tweedie will participate in the HSRCA Historic race car meeting next weekend and test sessions with the Anglo Australian Motorsport team at the Oran Park circuit, so that he will be well prepared for the next round and possibly a round win.

Tweedie maintains his second place in the NSW Formula Ford 1600 Championship point standings behind Simpson well ahead of the others.

Daniel Powell – Redline Media

Above: 2007 WL07 Comtec Spirit

Above: Close racing at Eastern Cree

FURTHER INFORMATION and results can be obtained from:-

• http://www.anglomotorsport.com.au
• http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?25/05/2008.ARDC
• http://www.formulaford1600.com.au/STATE/nsw%202008/2008nsw.htm
• http://www.ff1600.org.au