Le Brocq on the podium for the Round – Harrison, storms through field for race 3 podium.
August 05, 2011
CAMS Rising Stars Trent Harrison and Jack Le Brocq turned around the early challenges of the weekend’s racing to
secure impressive top seven round results in the season’s second outing of the Australian Formula Ford Championship.
Both young drivers needed to overcome early performance hurdles: Harrison having completed minimal laps through the
Friday practice sessions as his Mygale SJ11A experienced a persistent misfire. Le Brocq hoping to be more on the pace
once oversteer and balance concerns were corrected.
Qualifying saw lap time consistency for both the #12 and #49 CAMS Rising Stars machines through the 20 minute
session. With the early red flag not interrupting Harrison or Le Brocq’s commitment to secure front of pack starts to the
weekend, the team’s reliability and handling concerns looked to be a thing of the past. Both drivers posted consistent
times, and ended the session with Le Brocq to start from 6th, and Harrison from 10th.
Trent Harrison
“We knew the limited time on track would put us behind, but we’ve done the best we can to get the car right and are in the
top ten so that’s sure a positive to go into the races.”
Jack Le Brocq
“We fixed a lot of our problems with new tyres and made some minor setup changes overnight … I would’ve liked to be a
hit higher up but to be in that top group is good and to be in the 1:25’s is another thing off the list.”
Race one saw the CAMS Rising Stars start top ten on a circuit they both know well. Harrison made a good start, hot on
the trail of Graham while holding off any challenge from Fenech as the laps fell away. Posting times within 3/1000th’s of
his challengers, Harrison was looking good to edge towards the leaders when, on lap five, he headed into the pits with an
engine misfire again plaguing his weekend.
Harrison returned to the track soon after, but the dramas would see him back
in the pits to record his first DNF of the season, a disappointing start for the promising young racer.
Le Brocq had dropped position through turn one, but carried consistent pace throughout a race long battle with the Davies
Spectrum, securing a 7th place finish.
Trent Harrison
“I had a car that was quicker than the guys around me but I just couldn’t get past, then I got stung by the same misfire as
in practice … We’ll hopefully fix it this time around and we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Jack Le Brocq
“The car was really good. It had good pace but I was having trouble with it going off and not maintaining the grip all race
so we’ll work on that overnight and see if we can come up with a more consistent solution for tomorrow.”
Race two saw Le Brocq start from 7th, while team mate Harrison had everything to gain, starting from the rear of grid
back in position 20.
Le Brocq started well, battling with Hart, before making the move for 6th through turn ten, and going on to post times
comparable to the race leaders as the laps went by. Finding the gap on Sager mid race, Le Brocq was soon in the top five
and lapping consistently faster than Jacobsen in 4th and next on the hit list. When the contenders ahead tangled into the
final pass through turn one, Le Brocq seized the opportunity and 3rd position, crossing the line with his first podium finish
of the season.
Harrison made a great start, taking three positions on the run to and through turn one, before an early safety car took time
from the race. With the Mygale now on song and Harrison looking to use the pace, he made runs on Williamson and
again on Barbour, edging closer to the top ten. With movement across the field, the young #12 pilot gained further
position and secured a top ten finish with a pass on the inside of Rayner, an outstanding recovery to be back in the
points.
Jack Le Brocq
“The car felt pretty good. I made a few passes in the turn 10 and 11 braking zones, and with the car much better than in
race one, it seems the efforts overnight were the improvements we needed.“Jacobson and Brabham tangled in turn one so
I made the best of that to move up but we were consistent throughout the race so it’s great to be in the top three.”
Trent Harrison
“A better day today for sure. The early incident helped to bring me into the field, but I had good pace and simply couldn’t
use it being stuck in traffic most of the time.
“The pace wasn’t where we’d like to be but it wasn’t too bad considering, so to be able to get up to tenth was really good
and to gain that point was even better.”
The final race of the weekend saw both CAMS Rising Stars launching their Mygale SJ11A’s from the top ten as the
heavens opened above them. Le Brocq’s start line wheel spin dropped him to 11th, while team mate Harrison charged
through the field to take 7th as they crossed the line the first time around. Confident with the car, Harrison pushed on to
move closer to the top five, and by lap four it was fellow Rising Star Le Brocq following the #12 car.
When Foster dropped off the circuit on lap seven, Harrison pounced and moved up in to 3rd. Foster came back at
Trent and tried a desperate lunge on the outside of turn one but to no avail. Harrison greeted the chequered flag
with his first race podium for the year.
Le Brocq recovered from the bad start to regain three positions by the close of lap three, and as the action unfolded
ahead, soon found himself in 5th, directly behind the Mygale of team mate Harrison. The gap between the CAMS Rising
Star duo was increasing until an off at the sweeper for Harrison brought Le Brocq back within reach. As the final laps
unfolded, drama for Foster handed 4th position to Le Brocq who crossed the line behind Harrison to finish the weekend
with 3rd for the round – a deserved podium result for the talented young driver.
Trent Harrison
“I had a really good start and made four positions in the first lap, the first corner virtually, and that really helped straight
away. It was good to be able to use the speed this time out, and I was pushing hard.”
“Today’s result shows that we can dig through and make the best of the situation.”
Jack Le Brocq
“We knew it would be a full on final race when the weather closed in so I went out there and gave it my best shot.
“I’m really happy with the weekend’s result – it turned out to be a really good weekend for my championship, so now I’m
looking forward to more development with testing and another AIS camp, then on to Eastern Creek.”
The CAMS Rising Stars are proudly supported by CAMS, the Australian Sports Commission, Minda Motorsport, Penrite,
OAMPS, Relux Slabs, Revolution Racegear and Mark Webber.
Championship points after Round 2
Driver Name Team Name Chassis Points
Cameron Waters Linde Material Handling Mygale SJ011a 71
Matthew Brabham Sonic Motor Racing Mygale SJ10a 51
Garry Jacobson Sonic Motorsport/Jacobsons Transport Mygale SJ08a 45
Nick Foster Steeline/Sonic Mygale SJ011a 44
Tom Williamson Borland Racing Spectrum 012 42
Trent Harrison CAMS Rising Star Mygale SJ011a 33
Jack LeBrocq CAMS Rising Star Mygale SJ011a 31
Jesse Fenech * Bosch Batteries Spectrum 012 29