FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday 16th November, 2011.
Just when it looked like things couldn’t get any worse during the early weekend running, Shae Davies bounced right back into the Formula Ford fray with a sensational career-best finish of second place in the final event of the year. Saturday at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains circuit was a frustrating affair for the Main Beach 21-year-old, who was coming off an excellent overall fourth place from the previous Formula Ford round on the streets of the Gold Coast.
Practice saw Shae acclimatising well to the unique little 2.4k Symmons circuit, which despite having one of the slowest corners in the entire championship – the Turn 4 hairpin – also possesses some very quick sections, making it one of the fastest overall lap speeds on the eight round championship trail.
Qualifying saw Shae full of confidence and despite being very quick early he slipped from fourth place to seventh at the end of the session, ruing a lap that should have put him in third grid spot.
“Daniel (Erickson) and I were working together and slip-streaming each other around, but on my best lap I had a narrow entry to the most important corner on the lap and lost 0.4s on the run to the line. That lap would have seen us inside the top four, so seventh felt slightly disappointing, but I was confident we had good race speed in our Spectrum.
Race 1 saw Shae make an excellent start and gaining one place, before making another pass at the end of the back straight to move into fifth, but before he could start thinking about finding a way past the next batch of cars he was left stranded and bogged in the muddy outfield – after making error at Turn 6 while challenging for fourth.
“Not good and so bloody frustrating. The cars in front were tripping over themselves and I felt sure I could get by them before their tyres came up to temperature, but I over-cooked it going into six and made a small error that turned itself into a huge one. Just not what I was looking for and a real shame because we’re genuinely quick.”
Shae’s words were to prove profound, and in Sunday mornings’ second race he drove brilliantly to make pass after pass and come home in fifth place, having started at the rear of the field. Better still was to follow in the final event of the year where Shae saved his best for last, driving the race of his life to fill second spot at the chequered flag, claiming the fastest lap in the process.
“That’s more like it. I knew we were fast enough to race with the front-runners and I’ve never felt so satisfied with a Formula Ford race. The car was quick and I was patient, but aggressive at the same time, and the result is a reward for not just me, but the whole Borland Racing Developments team, who have been great since we joined them mid-year. What a shame we’re done for the year, but bring on 2012.”
Click below for PDF Press Release for Full Results:
Shae Davies Racing Release – Rd 8 AFFC
For more information please contact Shae Davies on: 0400 015 056 or Chris Jewell on: 0417 458 416
