Wet and Wild Saturday at Symmons Plains

Two winners from two races are just some of the highlights of a wet, windy, and wild Saturday at Symmons Plains alongside the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint and Round 5 of the 2024 Australian Formula Ford Series.

With conditions changing at the drop of a hat, both Saturday races delivered action-packed racing, demonstrating why Formula Ford is still one of the best development categories for junior drivers to gain experience and hone their craft.

Race 1

Jack Bussey (#74 Ag Equip Spectrum) won his second race of the year amid the wet and wild opening race of the weekend. 

The soggy conditions were present from the moment the race began, with pole-sitter Kobi Williams (#94 ACMF Finance Spectrum) getting a fantastic start off the line while many in the field behind him struggled with traction on the slippery track surface. Williams led a cautious first lap as the 15-strong field maneuvered through the hairpin. By the end of lap two, he managed to set a comfortable gap back to the rest of the field, where he remained for the entirety of the race. Williams looked to be on for a lights-to-flag victory. However, a 5-second post-race penalty for a driving infringement on the formation lap relegated him back to third.     

Behind Williams, the battle raged for all 16 laps, with eventual race winner Bussey, second place Liam Loiacono (#43 BF Racing Mygale), and series leader Eddie Beswick (#30 Synergy Motorsport Spectrum) chopping and changing positions throughout the session. 

Beswick found himself as high as second early in the race before pressure from Bussey and Loiacono saw him shuffled back to fourth. With two laps to go, Beswick went wide into the gravel, allowing Lachlan Evennett (#88 BF Racing/OTTOS Mygale) to sneak past into fourth place, with Beswick ultimately crossing the line in fifth. 

Harrison Sellars (#13 ACL Race Series and Altatek Spectrum) was the first of the Tassie locals across the line to finish in sixth place, with Joe Fawcett (#23 KONSTRUCT Spectrum Spectrum) and Cody Maynes-Rutty (#69 Allotrac & Synergy Motorsport Spectrum) in seventh and eighth, with local Matt Holmes (#41 Altatek Racing Spectrum) in ninth.

Daniel Frougas drove from the back of the field to round out the top 10 after a racing incident in yesterday’s qualifying saw the #27 CHE Racing Mygale driver unable to complete the session.

Race 2

The track may have been drier, but the racing was just as wild, with the changeable conditions keeping the drivers on their toes and plenty of wheel-to-wheel passes at the hairpin and side-by-side racing action. Beswick drove from fifth to take the win ahead of Bussey (2nd) and Williams (3rd) in a race that saw the top spot change hands five times during the 14-lap outing. Bussey, Williams, Beswick, and Loiacono all took turns leading the race, with Loiacono getting another of what is quickly becoming his signature flying start and assuming the lead from Bussey off the line. 

Loiacono wouldn’t hold on to the lead for long when, on the first lap, he dropped two wheels of the #43 into the grass while defending his lead from Williams, sending him spinning across the track and into the grass before rejoining the field in 10th.

Sellars improved on his Race 1 effort, crossing the line in fourth ahead of Evennett (5th), Fawcett (6th), and Frougas (7th). Loiacono recovered from his off-track adventures to finish in eighth place. Lachlan Strickland (#47 Rightway Insurance Services Mygale) enjoyed a solid drive to finish ninth after starting the race in 15th. Frougas and Strickland came together during Friday’s qualifying session, with both drivers delivering strong drives across both of Saturday’s races. Logan Eveleigh (#91 Zero7 Motorsport Mygale) rounded out the top 10.

With three minutes left to go, contact between Williams and Maynes-Rutty sent the latter spinning before coming to rest at pit entry and triggering the first Safety Car of the day. After struggling with tyre pressures in Race 1, Maynes-Rutty was on for a strong finish, running as high as fifth before the incident. The race would go on to finish under Safety Car with less than a minute to go on the clock by the time the #69 was cleared from pit entry.

Full results are below

There’s one more race to go on Sunday, with the results pivotal in a number of driver’s championship standings. Watch all the action live on Fox Sports and Kayo at 11:05am.