Lloyd shows potential and Borell stars after 9 month absence
Evans Motorsport Gun Young Gun, Jordan Lloyd has let his presence be known at the latest round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Queensland Raceway.
The 15 year old rookie, in only his second ever national event, qualified his 2011 Mygale just 0.2 tenth off Pole Position, having earlier been a star in practice – finishing 2nd only to championship leader Cameron Waters.
Unfortunately this pace did not translate into the results that he or the team had hoped. But the key for the weekend was to gain more racing experience at the National level – and to learn what areas can be further improved.
“I come away from the weekend with mixed emotions really.” commented Lloyd “I’m really happy with the pace that the car and I had over the weekend. Considering it is only my second national event, to mix it with guys that have a lot more experience than me was really positive. We’ve also identified some areas for me to work on, so I can’t wait for the next National meeting and build on this experience – our pace is certainly there!”
Andre Borell also showed he could mix it with the front runners despite having not raced since last season. He didn’t take much time to get his eye back in finishing just 4 tenths off the fastest time in Practice. His Qualifying pace was looking even stronger until a slight error of his best lap cost him at top 5 starting position.
The highlight for Borell was his impressive drive in the wet – gaining 8 positions in 14 laps. After a hard fought battle with Sonic’s Garry Jacobson, Andre brought his Master Electricians/simPro Mygale home in an impressive 4th place. Unfortunately for the Australian tri-athlete wasn’t able to build on this result in the final race after sustaining damage during an incident with a fellow competitor.
“I’m a little surprised that I was able to mix it with the front runners despite having not raced since last year, and after only doing half a day of testing at Morgan Park before the weekend. Having said that I’m a racer and you always want more! I’d certainly love to come and do some more events in the future when my business and triathlon commitments allow.
Evans Motorsport Group Young Gun Elliot Barbour endured a less positive weekend which wasn’t helped by a severe case of the flu. Still learning a new track he qualified in 16th position. He had made good progress during the rain effected 2nd race and was running inside the top ten until an incident on the final lap.
Evans Motorsport Group boss sums up the weekend “Firstly I’d like to that the crew for putting in a huge effort over the last couple of months. The cars certainly have the pace to run up the front – which was proven by young Jordan and Andre over the weekend. For different reason they weren’t able to convert that into the consistent results they deserved.”
“Elliot had a few issues he needed to overcome this weekend, learning a new circuit and a bout of the flu certainly didn’t help. On a positive note the next two events are Sandown and Phillip Island, two circuits he knows well and has proven in the Victorian State Series he can run with the likes of Matthew Brabham.”
“With Jordan I know it’s just a case of gaining more experience at this highly competitive national level and identifying the areas to further improve – he is certainly has the potential to be a star of the future”