Round two of the F3 Australian Drivers' championship should have had the slogan 'anything you can do...' as a marketing tagline, based on the results from an intriguing day of racing at a freezing Wakefield Park in New South Wales.
Former champion Tim Macrow delivered Scud Racing an emotional first ever Championship Class win in race one, capitalising on polesitter Joey Foster running wide at turn two on the opening lap. Foster, however, was not to be outdone and, later in the afternoon, took his Team BRM entry to a crushing eight-second win to further extend his championship lead after four of sixteen races in the 2009 Gold Star campaign.
The event was also a fitting tribute for the late Graham Watson - both F3 races were preceded by solo laps from a classic Ralt RT4 driven by former Gold Star driver Neil McFadyen as a tribute to the former Gold Star winner - with series rookie Tom Tweedie performing brilliantly to mix it with the outright runners in both races.
In freezing cold, windy and often damp conditions, race one began with Foster and second-placed Mat Sofi running wide at turn two, allowing Macrow to take a lead he would never lose. Adding insult to injury, Foster was then punished for rolling at the start and took a drive-through penalty that dropped him down the order. Macrow was untroubled, leading home Sofi and the recovering Foster to take a ninth career race win, but the first since the final race of his title-winning year in 2007.
“[Race one] was a case of taking advantage of the two guys running wide in front and then making sure that I maintained the lead,” a naturally pleased Macrow said, "Really, it's just great to give [Scud team owner] Bill [Maddocks] and the boys a win for all their hard work and dedication. Bill has given so much to the category so to be able to reward him with a win is sensational. The championship points are nice to have as well!”
“It feels brilliant,” beamed Maddocks, who formed Scud Racing before F3 even came into being over ten years ago, and himself won the F3 Trophy Class title, “Timmy and the guys have done the job and made the most of the situation. I can't wait for the rest of the year, but it's great to get the monkey off the back and get that win we were so close to on more than one occasion last year.”
The first race was cut four laps short of its scheduled 20-lap duration after Ben Crighton suffered a punctured right-rear tyre and beached the TanderSport car at turn four.
Foster then led from start to finish in race two and, despite a safety car interruption mid-race - due to a turn one off from Jesse Wakeman - was able to win by over eight seconds, extending his series lead to 26 points in the process.
“It was a good comeback,” the Briton noted, “I just rolled slightly at the start [of race one] and, after the drive-through, it was just too big a gap to recover, so I went after the podium and the bonus point for fastest lap.
