2017 CAMS Jayco Australian F4 Championship – Nick Rowe on Pole Again

Nick Rowe At Home On Pole Position

West Australian Nick Rowe has claimed a home pole position today for Round Three of the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship. It is Rowe’s second pole position for the year, having also claimed Round One’s $500 Virgin Australia flight credit prize at Sandown. “We nailed the setup, I can’t thank the boys at AGI Sport enough,” Rowe said. “The car was mega quick, we’ve got the double pole. Hopefully we can turn the pole into a race win like we did at Sandown.”

Local experience has counted for much of today’s running, with fellow West Australian Aaron Love setting the pace in Practice One followed by Rowe in Practice Two. Team BRM and CAMS Foundation Rising Star driver Cameron Shields traded fastest times between Rowe throughout qualifying, but was ultimately content with a front-row start for tomorrow morning’s first race.

“Very close that session between me and Nick Rowe for the front row. Looking forward to the first race now,” Shields said. “After the first two rounds I didn’t have a very good start, so now I finally get to start from the front of the field and hopefully can see what I can do.” Friday practice started in comparatively cooler conditions, and there were mixed reactions across the field with tyre performance during the warm qualifying session. “From the first session it was very cold, the track was very slippery,” Shields continued. “Then it was a lot warmer and a lot more grip with the new Hankook tyre on the car as well. Certainly a lot more physical work in the car and a lot of sweating going on!”

New Zealander Liam Lawson, in comparison, had been chasing tyre performance throughout practice and some changes prior to qualifying helped to propel the New Zealander to third place in qualifying. “We made a few changes for that qualifying session. Towards the end there, lost the rears again. It’s been like this really the whole day, it’s just been that little bit I’ve been off the two guys in front,” Lawson said. “We’ll make a few changes for tomorrow, tune the car up and see where we end up.”

Lawson, like the majority of the field, has enjoyed his introduction to Barbagallo Raceway aboard an Australian Formula 4 racer. “It’s a very cool circuit, very fast and flowing,” Lawson said. “There’s a lot of cambered corners, a lot of elevation, but it’s not a very long lap at the same time. For me, every track that I’m going to this year’s a new learning experience. Just got to take it as it comes.”

Zagame Autosport’s Tyler Everingham enjoyed a season best qualifying performance of fourth ahead of Team BRM/CAMS Foundation Rising Star Simon Fallon. Jordan Mazzaroli, who spent several minutes in the pit lane, recovered well to register the eighth fastest time in the closing stages of qualifying with Zane Morse and Harley Haber rounding out the top ten. With the fast nature of Barbagallo Raceway, the 13 car field was spread in qualifying by just one second from pole position to 13th.

Race One for the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship will commence at 11:20am AWST, with drivers to tackle Barbagallo Raceway for 16 laps.