BORELL says AGP: “According to Plan”
Andre Borell and Master Electricians / simPRO Racing have started the 2010 Genuine Ford Parts Formula Ford Championship “according to plan” at the Qantas Australian Grand Prix at the weekend. Borell left the event with points in the bag and an 8th place finish for the round. Andre sits only 17 points behind championship leader Chaz Mostert after the first round. With 427 points still up for grabs over the season, the margin is by no means significant.
Practice went well, with Borell getting to grips with the Mygale SJ10a on a high speed circuit for the first time (after testing only at Winton) and setting the 9th fastest time. Qualifying was a step forward, placing his Master Electricians / simPRO Racing “Green Machine” on the third row of the grid with 6th spot. Andre was happy, but knew he had not got the most out of the car: “This is far better than I have ever qualified so of course I am happy. Having said that, I could have been a bit quicker in a few sections, and a tow would have been nice. Sixth is OK”.
Race 1 on Saturday was an eventful one for Borell – making life very hard for himself after dropping as low as 13th on the first lap. Andre explained the first lap: “I got a horrible start and lost a couple of places into the first corner. I should have probably done some practice starts in testing. After that I got slowed up a fair bit by Uhrhane when he spun in front of me, which dropped me another bunch of spots”. Borell worked very hard to move back up to 8th place, closing back to within 2 seconds of 4th place getter Ashley Walsh at the finish, but did not have the outright pace showed in qualifying. Some small set-up changes had not worked as expected, and the Evans Motorsport crew returned the car to qualifying set-up for Race 2.
Unfortunately, Race 2 was red-flagged and cancelled after a very heavy accident for Caleb Rayner in which the Melbourne drivers suffered a cracked vertebra. Caleb is otherwise OK and will make a full recovery. Andre was disappointed not to have another crack at the Albert Park circuit at full tilt: “The car felt much better in the first lap. I think we could have run with the front guys if I could have gotten on the back of that group after the safety car and the race gone it’s full distance”.
Preparations are already underway for Round 2 at Borell’s home circuit – Queensland Raceway in Ipswich. Borell has his sights set high for this race: “We’ve got to go there looking for the win really. We’re very similar pace to nearly all the front guys except maybe Chaz who has a bit on everyone. We can race with and beat any of them if we get everything right on the day. We just need to make sure we do exactly that – do everything perfect, from Practice 1 onwards”.
Andre is supported in 2010 by Master Electricians, simPRO, HPM Legrand, Extreme Safety, Speedo, Yellow Jersey, Giant, Xtreme Racing and Mediaglue. For more information contact Andre directly on andre@andreborellmotorsport.com