Sellars Excels on Thrilling Saturday at Sandown

There was action aplenty on the first day of racing in Round 6 of the Australian Formula Ford Championship alongside the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships at Sandown Raceway.

Picking up where they left off in Tasmania a week ago, the national competitors rubbed shoulders with the Victorian Formula Ford Championship entrants in a frenetic qualifying session and Race 1.

Qualifying

Harrison Sellars (#13 Altatek Racing Spectrum) took advantage of a short session and a red flag delay to take pole position - his first Tyres & More Pole Award of the season.

Making great use of the tow along the front and back straights, Sellars’ time of 1:15.2736 was the fastest of an incredibly tight top ten, covered by less than seven tenths of a second.

Race 1

Sellars made it a perfect Saturday at Sandown, converting pole to his second win of the season later that day – but not without a fight.

The track was in a notably different state from how the drivers saw it that morning, owing to a very sandy second sector and a permanent local yellow flag between turns 2 and 4, removing a key overtaking opportunity.

That didn’t stop the drivers from putting on a show, with the lead changing almost every lap amidst a battle pack that covered the top nine drivers at times.

Pole-sitter Sellars was first to the first turn, before Kobi Williams (#94 ACMF Finance Spectrum) went three-wide past the leaders into turn 6, moving from fourth to first in an instant.

Beswick, Sellars, and BF Racing Mygale stablemates Liam Loiacono (#43) and Lachlan Evennett (#88) formed a tight battle pack behind, catching back up to Williams four laps later.

The lead group had ballooned to nine cars by lap 8, as Jack Bussey (#74 AG Equip Spectrum) set the fastest lap of the race from eighth position across the stripe.

The tension culminated when the battle pack suddenly bunched up on the penultimate lap, and Williams and Bussey took damage in the resulting concertina.

As Williams retired with suspension damage, Sellars made one last move for the lead over the top of the hill, holding on to take the win ahead of Beswick (now leading the championship by 35 points) and a rapid Cody Maynes-Rutty (#69 Synergy Motorsport/Allotrac Spectrum), who climbed four places to round out the podium.

Don’t miss Races 2 and 3 on Sunday, LIVE on Blend Line TV from 11:20am AEST.

Full results are below:

Don’t miss Races 2 and 3 on Sunday, LIVE on Blend Line TV from 11:20am AEST.