THE FUTURE IS NOW!
First FIA F4 Chassis lands in Australia.. ...and it’s straight into testing!
Special commemorative poster inside celebrating our 2014 Champions
Bathurst proves the point
Greg Woodrow Mygale Australia
Welcome to the April 2015 edition of Mygale News. After an absolute nail biter at Bathurst last year, I noticed yet again that almost every driver in the top 15 is a graduate of Formula Ford! At Mygale we have a special place in our hearts for Taz Douglas, who we helped through his Formula Ford days, and then watched on in disbelief as he fought with cancer at such a young age. Taz is one of the most genuine and honest guys I know and his second place at Bathurst will certainly be one of the highlights of his life; and so well deserved. His team mate, James Moffat also raced a Mygale with one of the best teams in the country in Sonic Motor Racing Services. James learnt his craft under the same team leader that made champions of Jamie Whincup, Will Davison and many more, Michael Ritter. Another Sonic Mygale graduate, Nick Percat took the final step of the podium, but the highest honour went to Chaz Mostert. Another Formula Ford driver, we are proud to know Chaz and although we all fought hard here at Mygale to beat him, we have nothing but the greatest respect for his talents and the way that he has always conducted himself. The list goes on all the way through the field, Cam Waters, Todd and Rick Kelly, Coulthard and Youlden, Lowndes, Heimgartner,
Courtney, Bright…. and it shows that the path to the top of motorsport is through the junior open wheel racing categories. For the future will this be Formula Ford and the new FIA and CAMS backed Formula 4 category and Formula 3. Mygale will continue to be here, in Australia, New Zealand and around the globe to offer racing cars that are engineered to win, as well as the support and pathways to build our future champions. The lesson I see from Bathurst is that it is very much possible for a young guy to make it in motorsport, but be aware, each and every one of the guys above have gone through the best and the worst of times, their commitment to their sport and careers is shown by the fact that they even got a start in Australia’s greatest race with Australia’s greatest race teams! The latest young champions that you will see at the highest levels in the future are in this magazine today! Special noteworthiness goes to Simon Hodge, Thomas Randle and Jimmy Garley, all Australian Champions for 2014! Cheers,
Woody
Published by:
Mygale Australia P.O. Box 3189 Mentone East, Vic 3194 Phone: +61 (0)3 9580 4882 enquiries@gforcemotorsport.com.au
Content & Design MCX2 Media & Communications
p: 0408 138 590 e:mark@mcgms.com.au
April 2015
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Randle is 2014 Formula Ford National Series Champion
Outstanding young secondgeneration racer Thomas Randle is the winner of the 2014 Australian Formula Ford Series after a late season charge secured him the title. Randle secured the victory at the final round of the series, emerging victorious after a season-long battle with fellow Mygale driver Jordan Lloyd and the Spectrum-mounted James Golding - there was a scant eight points seperating the trio at the end of the six round series. Golding fell behind after a 15th place finish in the first of three races at Phillip Island’s final round, while Lloyd piled on the pressure with two victories in the opening races to pressure Randle. Randle secured the title with three second places over the weekend to emerge victorious, while Lloyd slipped back to second after a third placed finish in the final race of the series.
April 2015
Nick Rowe, driving a Mygale for Sonic Motor Racing Services, won the final race of the series to finish fourth in the title race. Rowe’s Sonic Motor Racing Services team mate Hamish Hardeman was the only other driver to win a race throughout the season and finished fifth in the series.
Lloyd moves on to bigger and better things and will compete in the USF2000 Series while Randle will be one of the favourites for the inaugral Australian Formula 4 Championship when it kicks off later this year.
Randle started the season with some challenging races but hit his straps mid-way through the series to jump into title contention. His consistent run in the final half of the season saw him finish in first or second place in eight of the final nine events. Lloyd, in his BF Racing Mygale, took the most race wins for the year but coudn’t quite grab the points advantage when it counted - a couple of challenging races on home turf at Queensland Raceway and at Wakfield Park costing the Toowoomba racer dearly.
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Simon Hodge takes our first Gold Star title Mygale have secured their first major International Formula 3 Series win with South Australian Simon Hodge taking out the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship and the CAMS Gold Star Award. Hodge fought hard all series in the Team BRM Mygale M11 against a raft of challengers but a stunning win in race two of the final round allowed him to clinch the title with a race to go. In the race of the season, Hodge started from pole but dropped to third place on the opening lap thanks to a fast-starting Garnet Patterson and Ben Gersekowski. Patterson led early but was under constant attack from Hodge’s Championship rival Gersekowski, a series of wild side-by-side exchanges culminating in a slight rub through turn one at 240km/hr.
He quickly dispatched Patterson for the lead the following lap to win the race and the Gold Star in the most dramatic way possible. “The Mygale has been fantastic all year and the team has done an amazing job to bring the best out of it. It’s a case of using where the car is strong and minimising weaknesses and doing the best possible job.” An unpredictable championship battle with season-long rival Ben Gersekowski and the McDonald’s Gilmour Racing team has netted Team BRM a record eighth Championship – and a sixth Gold Star. It equals the great Birrana Racing in the Gold Star title-
Meanwhile, Hodge and Gersekowski duelled for second place before the Mygale driver ultimately wrangled his way past on lap seven thanks to a bold outside move at the turn nine hairpin.
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winning record books. Hodge is the first South Australian driver since 1979 – when John Walker won the title in a Lola T332 Chev – to win the Australian Drivers’ Championship. “It hasn’t been straightforward even though we’ve lead since the first round of the year,” Hodge grinned. “We’ve had out challenges and Ben has been pushing us the whole way. It’s been a tug-of-war between the two of us and come out on top when it counts is just an unbelievable feeling.
April 2015
“It’s a huge honour to be up on such a prestigious list. It’s something that, coming in through the motorsport ranks, through Karts and Formula Ford, you always look up to the Gold Star winners and the Formula 3 championship, with a lot of prestige. “To add my name to such an incredible list is fantastic.”
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Cockerton claims NZ Formula Ford Championship Hamilton student Taylor Cockerton has wrapped up the 2014/15 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship title, dominating the series in his Neale Motorsport-run Mygale. The 17 year old took maximum points from the sixth round, qualifying fastest and winning all three races including the Ron Frost Memorial Trophy feature race. “I can’t believe it,” exclaimed Cockerton. “It seems surreal that we have won the title. I can’t thank the team enough for their work and belief in me. It has been a great weekend; we were the fastest on both days and we have accomplished what we set out to achieve.” The St Paul’s Collegiate student won 12 of the 18 championship races held over the summer but only after a shaky start six months ago. “We had three ‘did-notfinishes’ taking no points in the first six races which left us wondering what was to be.”
speed and the confidence to keep going.” The pivotal point in the title chase was at the fifth and penultimate round at Manfeild Park, Feilding, when rival Caleb Cross from Christchurch failed to gain any points from the second race of the round. “We were able to capitalise on this and I finished the round four points ahead of Caleb.” Half way through the season Cross had a comfortable 145 point lead over Cockerton. Te Puke’s Michael Scott, Whanganui’s Aaron Marr and Christchurch’s Ryan Yardley also all had a shot at the title. However Cockerton started to dominate the championship taking maximum points in rounds three to five. In each race over the final weekend Cockerton was again able to take control of the race, creating a gap on the
“We weren’t thinking about the title back then. It was almost beyond our grasp. But we knew we had the
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following pack and enabling him to focus on consistent fast laps until the checkered flag. “Both Aaron Marr and Michael Scott were able to pressure me at the beginning of each race. “However I always had confidence in our car speed and was able to drive away.” The final points table has Cockerton on 1084 with Michael Scott second overall 43 points behind and Caleb Cross third, 18 points further back, both also driving Mygale machinery.
path that will take him to V8 Supercars. This may involve a number of Australian Formula Ford rounds in order to get to know the tracks and get noticed by the right teams. Cockerton’s amazing season consisted of 12 race wins from 18 starts, five pole positions from the six rounds, set two new lap records, won both the ‘Morrie Smith Memorial Trophy’ and ‘Ron Frost Memorial Trophy’ and of course he is now the 2014/15 NZ Formula Ford National Champion.
Now it’s back to the school books for Cockerton while the team reviews the season and looks ahead to the
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Garley leads Mygale trifecta in FF1600 National Series
Big teams and names for British FIA F4
MSA Formula, the British FIA Formula 4 Championship kicks off in April, and it has attracted a clutch of 15-year-old stars from the world of karting and beyond. Ironically the youngest driver – at 15 years and five days old – is one of the most experienced in terms of car racing. He is Californian Colton Herta (pictured), son of IndyCar race winner Bryan, who won the Pacific F1600 Championship when he was all of 13. Herta and Norris make up two-thirds of the crack Carlin team; their running mate is impressive 16-year-old Romanian Petru Florescu. Mygale driver James Garley has secured his biggest victory to date, taking out the FF1600 (Kent Engine) class in the Formula Ford National Series. The Albury-based driver took the title from Mygale compatriots Cameron Walters and Michael Hinrichs. Walters took the most race wins for the season but a combination of Walters missing the opening round of the series and Garley’s superior consistency clinched the series for the latter. A total of 12 drivers contested the six rounds of the series in the Kent engine class with a toal of six of those drivers taking a race win as the series progressed. Garley took the win with a total of 269 points, 27 points in front of Walters on 242 with Hinrichs a further 40 points back. The final round of the series saw Cade Southall take two victories while Scott Andrews triumphed in the other. Garley played the points game across the weekend finishing with two thirds and a second place finish to seal the series victory.
April 2015
Joining TRS Arden team-mates Mitchell and Ahmed is a driver familiar with single-seater success at Brands Hatch: 18-year-old Ricky Collard, son of BTCC driver Rob, who was twice a Brands Hatch podium finisher last year in Formula Ford. Nick Tandy’s JTR team won the Formula Ford championship the last three seasons and has two top kart stars on its roster for MSA Formula in the form of Dan Baybutt and James Pull, both of whom have shone in pre-season testing. They will be joined from the Donington Park rounds onwards by young Indian rookie Ameya Vaidyanathan. The real star of the pre-season has been Ticktum, who topped the times for the Fortec team at the Snetterton, Silverstone and Rockingham test days. Racing Steps Foundation-backed pilot Smith is Ticktum’s Fortec running mate. MSA Formula will utilise a Mygale chassis and Ford engine package to directly mirror the CAMS Formula 4 package kicking off in July
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McElrea Racing planning F4 expansion “Being a Carrera Cup team, we really have no stepping stone from go-karting to what we do, both for Australian and Asian kids. “Formula 4 makes perfect sense for what we want to do and we’re very keen to get our teeth into it.” “The FIA have mandated certain budgets that they’d like teams to meet globally, which will be hard to achieve given that we’re racing at V8 Supercar events,” he said. Leading Carrera Cup outfit McElrea Racing plans to create a multi-tier development pathway for young drivers by adding a CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship team to its stable. Team owner Andy McElrea has targeted a three-car attack on the new championship, which is set to kick-off at Townsville in July. McElrea says that adding a Formula 4 program will enable his Queenslandbased operation to take youngsters
from karts and prepare them for seats in the team’s Porsche stable. McElrea’s outfit also has close ties with Asian motorsport, having assisted Carrera Cup Asia teams for the last seven years, which adds a further element to its driver development plans. “I’ve spent a lot of time around gokart tracks in the last couple of years and have been overwhelmed by the amount of talent in Australian karting,” McElrea said.
“But for us it’s not so much about the financial side, it’s about the strategy of introducing new drivers to our team who we can potentially have onboard for three or four years. “We can take them into F4 and then all the way through GT3 Cup Challenge and the Carrera Cup.” Matt Campbell and long-time McElrea driver Warren Luff have been named as driver coaches for the team’s planned foray into F4.
Team Pelfrey to run four-car team in USF1600 Jordan Cane and Robert Megennis in their rookie seasons. Auriemma, from Manhattan, New York, graduates from the Skip Barber Racing School where he finished second in the 2014 Summer Series Championship and was also selected as one of the six finalists for the famed Team USA Scholarship program. The F1600 Championship Series is fast becoming one of the recognized championships for young drivers to establish themselves as junior open wheel drivers in North America. Leading US open-wheel outfit Team Pelfrey will compete in the USF1600 Series with a four-car Mygale assault on the growing series. Andrew Hobbs joins the team for a second season of F1600 competition and the team is delighted to announce the addition of Ben Auriemma to their F1600 stable for the 2015 season, joining
April 2015
“I feel we have an excellent team in place to challenge at the very front once again” commented Team Principal Nigel Tuckey. Following on from Palm Beach, the team will continue its preseason preparations before the opening rounds of the 2015 F1600 Championship Series that will take place at Road Atlanta in Georgia on April 10 – 12.
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April 2015
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April 2015
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FIA Formula 4 begins testing in Australia
Teams and drivers were left smiling after a successful shakedown of the first CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship car to arrive in Australia. Having arrived a week ago, it was the first on track test for the car and all who attended left the two day session happy. Held at Winton in rural Victoria, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) staged the shakedown and driver test sessions as an introduction to those who have committed to 2015 CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship, the new development category as set out globally by the FIA. CAMS General Manager of Motor Sport Development Cameron McConville said he couldn’t have left Winton any happier, knowing that the car performed well and all teams and drivers got a
April 2015
good introduction to the new racing machine. “I am happy, but the last two days has really been about helping the teams get up to speed on how to get the cars together, giving the teams the ‘user guide’ or ‘manual’ if you like. “They have some information now to take home and some genuine data to take with them. It’s exciting for them and exciting for us also,” he said. Australia’s Formula Renault 1.6 Champion, Anton De Pasquale from Victoria, was first behind the wheel of the new Formula 4 car and was impressed with the machine after completing 30 laps behind the wheel. “It looks good which is always important but on track it’s also really good,” said De Pasquale.
“It’s a nice car to drive… it’s the perfect entry level car for a young driver to set them up for a drive overseas and that’s the idea behind it all. “I think it will be good fun to belt around the track with twenty other guys or girls in one of these Formula 4s. It’s a fun car to drive and that’s always pretty important.” Knowing that the FIA approved Formula 4 car is safe and reliable, McConville noticed that many liked the look and sound of the new Formula 4 car and believes others will too when they witness the car in the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship starting in July. “They love the look of the car and then when they get in they are absolutely sold. It’s been valuable for them and while they have only really done about
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ten or twelve laps each they have gone away happy and now they have something to think about and really look forward to,” he said. Announcing a partnership with Walkinshaw Performance, which has become technical partners with CAMS for the championship. McConville is delighted that things are progressing nicely and believes the addition of Walkinshaw will help immensely. “Walkinshaw will be at all seven rounds, looking after the electronics, data and data acquisition, power train… and already I feel very comfortable that they are all over the car if there are any issues. Walkinshaw have put in the effort, having been to France to do a weeks training and I think they are a big asset to hit the ground running,” McConville said.
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CHASS Mygale Carbo Monocoque c
AERODYNAMICS Front and rear adjustable aerodynamic devices REAR SUSPENSION Double wishbone pushrod suspension and twin dampers
GEARBOX 6 speed sequential gearbox manufactured by Sadev TYRES Hankook Ventus F200 racing slick - 6 per round April 2015
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SIS on Fibre chassis
COCKPIT Sodemo cockpit with paddle shift and full data acquisition system
ELECTRONICS Sodemo electronics and engine mangement systems
ENGINE 1.6 litre Turbocharged Ford Ecoboost producing 160BHp
April 2015
FRONT SUSPENSION Double wishbone pushrod suspension and twin dampers
BRAKES Two spot calipers front and rear
• July 10-12: Townsville • July 31-Aug 2: Queensland Raceway • Aug 21-23: Sydney Motorsport Park • Sep 11- 13: Sandown Raceway • Oct 23-25: Gold Coast • Nov 20-22: Phillip Island • Dec 4-6: Sydney Olympic Park
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2015 Australian Formula Ford National Series (After One of Six rounds) 1. Jake Spencer Mygale 46 2. Christian Morina
Sonic Motor Racing Services/Mygale
37
3. Mitch Martin Spectrum 36 4. Cameron Hill Mygale 36 5. Hamish Hardeman
Sonic Motor Racing Services/Mygale
35
6. Nick Ellen Spectrum 26
2015 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship (After One of Seven rounds) 1. Ricky Capo Dallara/Mugen 46 2. Roland Legge Dallara/Mercedes-Benz 30 3. Trent Shirvington Mygale M11/Mercedes-Benz 25 4. Jon Collins Dallara/Mercedes-Benz 23 5. Shane Ryding Mygale/Mercedes-Benz 16
2015 F4 Series Calendar Rd 1 July 10-12: Rd 2 July 31-Aug 2: Rd 3 Aug 21-23: Rd 4 Sep 11- 13: Rd 5 Oct 23-25: Rd 6 Nov 20-22: Rd 7 Dec 4-6:
Townsville Queensland Sydney M/S Park Sandown Gold Coast Phillip Island Sydney
2015 Formula 3 Series Calendar Rd 1 Mar 27-29 Sandown Rd 2 Apr 17-19 Mallala Rd 3 May 22-24 Phillip Island Rd 4 July 3-5 Sydney M/S Park Rd 5 Aug 7-9 Queensland Rd 6 Sep 18-20 Phillip Island Rd 7 Oct 16-18 Wakefield Park 2015 FF Series Calendar Rd 1 Mar 28-29 Rd 2 May 22-24 Rd 3 June 12-14 Rd 4 July 3-5 Rd 5 Aug 7-9 Rd 6 Oct 16-18 April 2015
Sandown Phillip Island Winton Sydney M/S Park Queensland Wakefield Park Page 16
MYGALE MARKET • MYGALE MARKET • MYGALE MARKET Sonic MYGALE SJ 11 A Duratec Complete car including NEW Duratec engine, Motec SDL incl.all sensors, Sachs 4 way Dampers, Lightweight axles hubs etc Lightened and Blueprinted Gearbox, Sonic spec Exhaust, Oil and Water systems, Lightweight Bodywork, Stainless Floor, 3 x sets Performance Wheels, Spare Nosecone. No expense has spared in the preparation and maintenance of this car which has been run from new by Sonic. Car complete ready to race:
$49.000.00 +GST
Contact: Greg Woodrow at Mygale Australia (03) 9580 4882
Simon Hodge Gold Star Winning Mygale M11 F3 Mygale M11/Mercedes F3 prepared, maintained and set-up by Team BRM. Full factory assistance package available. Absolutely latest Australian spec car. Fully stripped and rebuilt by Team BRM. Full Bosch data kit. Parts support through Mygale Australia. Car complete as raced to the 2014 Gold Star Championship win Contact: For price and package details contact Simon Hodge on 0408 856721 or Greg Woodrow at Mygale Australia (03) 9580 4882
Wide range of 2nd hand FF Springs for sale Good second hand sets of Eibach and similar springs for sale to suit Formula Ford For more information contact Mygale on 03 9580 4882 or spareparts@mygale.com.au
Foto Flashback
Jack Le Brocq, Phillip Island 2012
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ENGINEERED TO WIN!
“From my first day in Formula Ford Mygale have been with meand all Sonic the way. support “Mygale MotorTheir Racing Servicesand gaveguidance me the has beenequpment instrumental right to winin inmy the success.” Australian Formula Ford Anton DePasquale, Australian Formulaout Ford Championship Championship. If you’re just starting you really need to
Anton DePasquale, 2013 Australian Formula Ford Champion 2014 Formula Renault NEC Champion
be in a Mygale”
Cameron Waters, 2011 Australian FF Champion & V8 Supercar driver
Mygale Australia, 21 Citrus St Braeside VIC 3195 p: 61 3 9580 4882 e:enquiries@mygale.com.au www.mygale.com.au
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