Buchan clean sweeps day one at Bathurst
Listec Race Car driver Josh Buchan has dominated the day today at Bathurst, where FF1600 cars are racing in a one-off event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the category in Australia. Buchan placed his Sydney-built Listec race car on pole this morning, three tenths of a second ahead of Ellery Motorsport's Mathias Beche and four tenths clear of team-mate Mark Lowing. After a bad start, Buchan charged to the front of the pack after a race-long battle laced with countless lead changes. The Liqui Moly backed driver eventually claimed the win ahead of the bumper 48-car field, a fantastic result for himself and the Sydney-based manufacturer Listec. "[I'm] proud of the great result for the Listec team at their first ever event at Mount Panorama. [It was a] fantastic drive by Josh Buchan to dominate the day", said team owner Paul Liston. Buchan was equally happy with his performance at the Mountain. "Firstly I'm ecstatic for the result, obviously. The car was great, the racing was unbelievable, I had a terrible start and then just had to work my way back up from there. I was lucky to have some really good, clean fights on the way back up to the front. We've got Liqui Moly on board for this round, sponsoring the car, so a massive thanks to them for their support both here and away from the track. [It] is phenomenal. Massive thanks to Liqui Moly and Listec Race Cars", said the race one winner. Buchan came to the Mountain as one of the favourite rookies to take the outright win. "The track really gives a nature of really good racing, so you're always going to get a good race here, especially in these cars". Swiss Mathias Beche and Anglo Motorsport driver Jayden Ojeda completed the podium in race one, demonstrating the depth of ability racing this weekend.
Two drivers competing in the historic class astonished many with their speed, fighting the modern FF1600 cars for the outright win. Richard Davison finished fourth outright, after leading at the beginning of the race, and finished first in the Historic FC class (cars from 1984 to 1989). The most impressive drive has to go to New South Welshman Garry Watson, who took the chequered flag in fifth position aboard his 40+ year old Mawer, dominating the Historic FA class (pre-1978 cars).
Western Australian John Van Leeuwen finished first in the Historic FB class (1978 to 1983 built cars, excluding Swift DB1), in 23rd position outright.
Race two is scheduled for tomorrow at 10.30am local time. Live timing for all of the Formula Ford raced at Bathurst is available from the Bathurst 12 Hour website or the Natsoft website.
