Mygale Magazine by G-Force Events

May 2016

SUCCESS CONTINUES FOR MYGALE Titles keep mounting as 2016 season kicks off

Jordan Lloyd

2015 Australian FIA F4 Champion

Cameron Hill

2015 Australian Formula Ford Champion

BREAKING: Scott wins 2015/16 NZ FF Championship for Mygale

Why Formula Ford is still the logical first step

2013 Formula Ford Champion Anton De Pasquale made inroads in Europe before heading home and landing a prime seat in the Dunlop Series

Today we see so many options for young drivers dreaming of a career in motorsport. Let’s face it, the majority of young, up and coming champions come straight out of karting, and in the past they could see a direct path for their dreams in motorsport. Those wanting to become a paid-up V8 Supercar star would go Formula Ford, Development Series and if they were good enough, into the V8 Supercar merry-go-round.

for a young driver who is coming out of karts or directly into car racing.

The cars are edgy, you still need to heel-toe, and there is no aero. If you don’t build the necessary feel for the Formula Ford race car, you will really struggle to win a race.

Today, we see many options, too many in my mind. Formula Ford, Formula 4, Formula 3, the new Toyota 86 sedans, Porsche or even the Aussie Racing Cars. How do you know which one will give you the skills and the exposure to make it to the top?

2015 showed that those drivers with Formula Ford experience were the leaders at the elite, FIA F4 level. The top drivers, Jordan Lloyde, Thomas Randle, Will Brown and Nick Rowe showed the superiority that their Formula Ford training had supplied.

I, and probably 99% of the team owners you are trying to impress still firmly believe that Formula Ford supplies the skills and a solid base

May 2016

The introduction of FIA F4 has brought the cost of Formula Ford down to very realistic levels. From what we are seeing, the costs are now similar to the cost of karting.

As a class, Formula Ford has shown the kind of tenacity that has made it the longest running form of motorsport in the world today. Formula Ford as a class has demonstrated its

longevity and viability. The teams, the drivers and the families of the young champions in the making still see it as relevant and affordable.

Today we have seen Thomas Randle, Mygale’s 2014 Australian Formula Ford Champion, and 2015 Australian F4 runner up, win his first UK F3 race, a huge achievement by any standard which shows how capable these young drivers are.

And as I always say…

It’s about the kids, and we all need to remember that. My experience tells me that we have a very important group of young drivers right now, who themselves will shape the future of Australian motorsport….

Woody

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Scott victorious in New Zealand FF Championship

Te Puke’s Michael Scott is the 2015/16 Formula Ford Champion after winning two of the final three races of the season at Pukekohe Raceway over the weekend. Heavy rain saw race stewards finishing the meeting early due to extensive track flooding with six races to complete, including the final NZFF race of the season. Whanganui’s Aaron Marr finished runner up with Southland’s Jordan Michels third.

“I’m absolutely stoked to have won,” commented Scott. “It’s been neck and neck all season with Aaron (Marr) with some really close racing.” With six rounds held over the summer, Scott won 13 of the 17 races.

Rival Aaron Marr finished second in both races at the sixth and final round, finishing just 60 points behind Scott.

“It’s disappointing to finish second but that is how it is, that’s racing,” said Marr. “But we have had a solid

May 2016

season so really pleased with that.”

Scott set fastest lap on Saturday morning and led off the line in race one that afternoon. Marr was slow away but eventually caught and passed Scott for the lead. With the lead swapping over the remaining laps it was Marr who lead heading to the chequered flag only for Scott to get around him and win.

Michels finished third and secured third overall in the championship commenting, “It’s so much more than we ever expected in my rookie championship.”

“It was lap for lap passing,” commented Marr. “It was close and tight racing, like it was all season. We haven’t hit each other and it has been a great bit of rivalry with respect. We have been racing each other for a long time now” The second and what turned out to be the final race was in the wet on

Sunday morning. After a poor start and a short safety car period, Scott had the better wet weather set up on his car and was able to take the lead and pull away from Marr who finished in second.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get a crack at the third race,” said Scott. “I was initially a little bit gutted but it’s pretty exciting to get pole and two wins and finish on a high.”

Scott not only wins the national title but also the opportunity to attend an international ‘shoot-out’ to determine who wins a $US200K fully supported drive in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda in 2017.

“We’re thrilled to get this opportunity,” said Scott. “That’s one of the reasons we have been so dedicated to this series and this great opportunity. I’m looking forward to giving it a crack.”

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Race Academy launch new Sponsor E The old saying that ‘Money makes the world go round’ could have been written with motorsport in mind. Greg Woodrow has been involved in this sport, firstly as a driver, then as head of Mygale in Australia for over 20 years, so he’s one of the best people to ask when it comes to the prospect of identifying and securing sponsors.

In this article he gives us some valuable tips on how to go about it.

Almost every week I am faced with questions of sponsorship, and most often the frustration comes after many proposals have been meticulously designed, printed and sent. After all the hard work, 99.9% of these receive absolutely no response.

As a driver who had to work sponsorship into my plans if I was to even think about hitting the race track, I spent a large portion of my life researching and testing different ways to bring the corporates on-

May 2016

board. The results were sensational, with one sponsor purchasing a new Formula Ford for me and backing my motorsport campaigns for over six years.

Today, I am older, wiser and busier than ever. I have enjoyed being behind young drivers who have used our Mygale cars to dominate the Formula Ford, Formula 4 and Formula 3 landscape in Australia and New Zealand. Going up against, and beating the powerhouse motor racing factories of Van Diemen, Spectrum and Dallara has been a challenge to say the least, but that’s why we race.

So, it takes talent, it takes a commitment that consumes your life and it takes money. I can’t personally help with the first two, that’s up to you, but I can explain here what I have learn’t to date, what has worked, and what G-Force as a company are doing to bring in corporate backing for our own Porsche GT3 program.

My experience was that most of my offers to potential backers involved

myself receiving a bucket of cash, and the backer having the privilege of seeing their name on my 250kph mobile billboard. It took me a while to wake up to the fact that I was offering what I wanted, not a structured marketing platform that suits a corporate entity’s needs.

Corporate after corporate rejected me, so I began looking for something better to sell. I started by approaching magazines and asking for free advertising space in return for coverage on the car, which I could then sell on as bona fide exposure on top of their name on the car.

This worked, and my first real season of Formula Ford was backed by Inside Sport Magazine and Castrol. But I needed more…

At that time, I met the main players in an up-coming insurance company, who wanted to back my career, but didn’t really need the advertising I had as a part of the package. With their assistance over the next six years

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Enagagement Programs

I built G-Force Events, an events company that specialised in motoring and motorsport programs.

I realised that I could sell the sponsorship on the back of the events, and work full time in the racing industry, as well as race myself…

So here we are, many years later, and I have built two successful companies in the motorsport sphere, Mygale Australia and G-Force Events…

Joining the two together seems logical, firstly so I can once again get out onto the race track, and secondly, so I can offer the product to the young Mygale drivers and assist them to move forward.

This is where Race Academy was born, with the company currently assisting drivers to gain that much needed corporate backing. But we don’t do it for you, and unlike many sponsorship hunters, we don’t ask for money from you while you hope and

May 2016

pray that we come up with a result.

Today, we have over twenty years of experience in running professional road and race track orientated events.

We bring the bling required to make a young driver look professional as he heads up his own Race Academy event with our team running the operation in the background.

It allows you to add these events into your own proposals, and pitch for real dollars. It gains you the exposure and interest from corporations, marketing and event managers that would normally not look your way.

Additionally, it allows you to get on with your racing career, without spending most of your time trying to keep your sponsors happy.

We supply the events that you can sell on the back of your race car signage and other products that you offer.

We run the event, supply all that is required, but you headline the events.

It’s a stack of fun, and it allows you to immerse your corporate backers into your team and motorsport as a whole in a way they never could.

Your sponsors and their invited VIP’s get behind the wheel and experience what you do.

It’s a very powerful tool to build a long term relationship on, and wouldn’t it be great to have a sponsor on board for many years, using you as their brand ambassador, backing you as you progress through the motorsport ranks.

To me, that sounds easier than chasing a new backer every year while trying to move up the ladder.

G-Force and Race Academy are currently putting together our new products and events, I invite you to get on board early and see the interest in your career take off…

Page 5

Love and Brown the class of the field in Will Brown and Jordan Love have shown their competition a clean pair of heels during the opening two rounds of this year’s Australian Formula 4 Championship.

season’s opening race.

The Team BRM duo have been untouchable in 2016, sharing the victory dais at Symmons Plains and Phillip Island to be heading the Championship standings.

Love took two race wins in both Tasmania and at Phillip Island, while Brown has one race win to his credit.

In fact the only other driver to step aboard the top step of the podium in the first six races of the season has been another Team BRM driver, Brenton Grove, who saluted the chequered flag during the

May 2016

Since then Brown, the Rookie of the Year in the inaugral F4 season, and Love have proved an unstopable force.

Brown took the round win at Symmons Plains after Love failed to finish the opnening race of the year while Love bounced back to claim round honours at Phillip Island and take a nine point lead in the series standings.

After some highly succesful meetings in Formula Ford, Brown was a standout in the inaugral FIA Formula 4 season, taking victory in the class’s forst ever race on Australian soil and going on to finish a credible third place in the Championship.

Hailing from Toowoomba in Queensland, Brown began his driving career through in Karts at the age of 13, where he would go on to win multiple titles across different classes.

Love may be from the other side of the country, but both meet on the neutral ground of Adelaide to compete with Team BRM in the F4 series.

Page 6

n opening F4 contests The Perth-based Love also had a very successful Karting career winning numerous titles and was WA State junior Rotax champion when he made the shift from karts to Car Racing in 2014.

Love made his car racing debut in Asia in the Formula BMW class at the Sepang International circuit in December 2014 where he finished fifth in a field of experienced international drivers.

of the Australian F4 Championship, including at Sandwown, where he won Rookie of the Round honours.

Both drivers are highly-talented, are flourishing under the tutelage of the Team BRM engineering staff and should continue to fight at the front of the series as it evolves throughout 2016.

In 2015 he competed in Asia, at home in Perth and also competed in four rounds

Jordan Love took his first Round win at Phillip Island and subsequently assumed the Championship lead

May 2016

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Shirvington joins Team BRM for F3 title assault Trent Shirvington and his family team have joined forces with Team BRM in 2016, bringing the Adelaidebased outfit back into the national F3 category.

With technical expertise from Team BRM brought in house, the times were promising in testing, and there is an expectation that the car will challenge for wins as the season progresses.

Perhaps the best indication of the New South Wales’ drivers improvement came in practice when he lapped within one second of experienced frontrunners Macrow, Anthony and Legge.

After a year spent learning the ropes and circuits of Australian Formula 3 in 2015, Shirvington will be pushing for the F3 title in 2016, this time in the BRM fettled Mygale M11 campaigned

by Nick Foster and Simon Hodge to complement the M11 that he ran last year.

The partnership is already proving fruitful. In the opening round of the 2016 Championship Shirvington qualified fourth and finished third, fifth and fourth in the three races and sits third in the championship after a strong opener.

Both BRM and Shirvington are hopeful of running the second Number 14 Mygale at selected rounds of the 2016 series.

Trent Shirvington has moved to Team BRM and is now equipped with the 2014 Gold Star winnng Mygale chassis

May 2016

Page 10

Tander takes Mygale to early lead in Australian FF National Series Sonic Motor Racing Mygale driver Leanne Tander, has come away from the opening round of the Australian Formua Ford Series at Sandown Motor Raceway with a lead in the series, much to the delight of her team boss Micahel Ritter.

driver Garth, and mother of two, Tander continues to prove that age or gender is no barrier to success in the Formula Ford ranks.

“Everyone did a great job,” said Ritter.

“We got caught out a bit with the weather in qualifying but overall I’m really happy with the way it all panned out,” Tander said.

“It’s only early days obviously but we lead Series going into Round Two. I’m very proud of everyone.”

“To come away with a pair of wins, a second place and the overall round win is a very satisfying way to start the series.”

For Tander Sandown was a triumphant return to the winner’s dais after joining the multiple-championship winning Sonic team over the off-season.

Tander’s teenage team-mate South Aussie rookie Max Vidau was also impressive on debut at Sandown.

A series regular and race winner over a decade ago, the wife of V8 Supercar

“Max surprised a lot of people,” said Ritter.

“Considering he has little or no experience,

to finish one point off the podium in a field of 19 cars is fantastic. I’m really pleased with Max’s performance.

“Leanne was superb, she’s going to be a major series contender this year and her rivals are going to have their hands full.

I’m really excited about our year ahead.”

Vidau qualified in 7th position, then put in a 6th place finish in Race One, a tremendous 3rd place finish in Race Two and was holding down third in the final event before he pushed a little too hard and dropped back to 7th.

Tander was fourth in qualifying, took the win in Race One, second place in Race Two and won Race Three for the overall win.

The new-look British Formula Ford 200 features wings and slicks as well as sequential gearbox and a turbo powerplant Leanne Tander leads the Australian Formula Ford Series after a dominant weekend at Sandown

May 2016

Page 11

Randle takes maiden British F3 Victory Australian racer Thomas Randle became the first Australian to win a British Formula 3 race since 2011, scoring his maiden championship win during Race 2 of the third round of the 2016 title at Rockingham.

The 20-year-old’s British Formula 3 win is the first by an Aussie since Scott Pye in 2011, coincidentally also at Rockingham.

Following a positive first test at the circuit, Randle qualified strongly in fourth position claiming the same spot at the end of Saturday’s opening 14-lap encounter.

“What an awesome feeling! I woke up this morning hoping that we could get a win or a podium and I just can’t thank the guys from Douglas Motorsport enough.”

Randle said.

Lloyd off to flying start in US F2000 Championship Reigning Australian FIA Formula 4 Champion Jordan Lloyd has made an immediate impact in the United States.

The Queenslander made a great start to the USF2000 series, which started in conjunction with the IndyCar Grand Prix of St Petersburg.

started on pole position for race one and led every lap on his way to winning the season opener.

After the opening two weekends of the series LLoyd sits third in the standings, with fellow Aussies Luke Gabin and Anthony Martin second and fifth respectively.

In the feeder category to IndyCar, Lloyd

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For further information contact us at Mygale Australia Ph. 03 9580 4882 E: greg@gforcemotorsport.com.au

May 2016

Page 12

Luis Leeds to the fore in British F4 Championship After a string of second place finishes, Australian Red Bull junior team member Luis Leeds finally broke his victory duck in scintillating fashion in round eight of the F4 British Championship.

dedicated my whole year to this. I’ve left all my friends and family in Australia to pursue what I want I’ve wanted to do all my life. It’s Mother’s day in Australia so I think this is the best present for my Mum back home.”

Leed’s victory was TRS Arden’s first victory of the season and the first for the esteemed Red Bull Junior driver programme in the series.

Leeds has shot up the drivers’ standings to now become joint championship leader, alongside Sennan Fielding, on 109 points.

With a handful of second place finishes to his name already this season, Leeds was determined not to be the bridesmaid again and never looked like relinquishing the lead. He was able to build an advantage out in front at both times of asking following two safety car restarts as the drama unfolded behind him.

Fellow Australian Formula 4 graduates Zane Goddard and Harry Hayek also enjoyed a thrilling weekend.

Leeds took no prisoners from third on the grid during the opening lap, pulling off a daring move around the outside of pole man Jack Butel, having quickly dispatched James Pull.

Hayek climbed as high as 5th place before fellow Australian Goddard claimed the place off Hayek. Goddard later secured a 6th place in the final race of the weekend, ahead of Leeds who crossed the line 7th.

“I knew it was going to be close at the start and I knew if I was able to brake later into the first corner I could go around the outside to take the lead and that’s what happened really. I then focused on putting in good laps to try to build a gap. It was a little frustrating as the safety car kept on wiping out my gap to the cars behind, but I was still able to control the race.

“I’ve been working so hard and full credit to Arden for setting up the car and turning things around after a difficult qualifying. I hope this is the first win of many. My goal is the championship this year and a win like this helps a lot.

“Dr Marko has given me this incredible opportunity to compete in this series and be part of the Red Bull Junior driver programme. I’m doing my best every day to repay his faith and try to win races. I’ve

May 2016

Red Bull junior Luis Leeds has taken his first win in the British F4 Championship and sits at the top of the series standings

Page 13

2016 Australian Formula 4 Championship 1.

JORDAN LOVE

MYGALE

TEAM BRM

118

2.

WILL BROWN

MYGALE

TEAM BRM

109

3.

NICK ROWE

MYGALE

AGI SPORT

74

4.

JOSH DENTON

MYGALE

TEAM BRM

60

5.

JOSH CONROY

MYGALE

DREAM MOTORSPORT

50

2016 Australian Formula Ford National Series 1.

LEANNE TANDER

MYGALE

SONIC MOTOR RACING

56

2.

JAYDEN ODEJA

SPECTRUM

53

3.

JORDAN BOYS

MYGALE

34

4.

MAX VIDAU

MYGALE

SONIC MOTOR RACING

33

5.

ADRIAN LAZARRO

SPECTRUM

33

2016 Australian Formula 3 Championship 1.

TIM MACROW

DALLARA

43

2.

CHRIS ANTHONY

DALLARA

37

3.

TRENT SHIRVINGTON

MYGALE M11

27

4.

ROLAND LEGGE

DALLARA

19

COMING UP Aus Formula 3 Round 2 - PHILLIP ISLAND, 27-29 May Aus Formula Ford Round 2 - SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK, 28 - 29 May Aus Formula 4 Round 3 - SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK, 1 - 3 July Vic Formula Ford Round 2 - SANDOWN, 21 - 22 May NSW Formula Ford Round 2 - SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK, 28 - 29 May

May 2016

Page 14

FOR SALE

Click on the image below to be redirected to Mygale cars and parts for sale on the Mygale Web Site

FOTO FLASHBACK

Caption

Caption

Simon Hodge, Mygale M11 Formula 3, Phillip Island 2014

Mygale Australia P.O. Box 3189 Mentone East, Vic 3194 Phone: +61 (0)3 9580 4882 e-Mail: enquiries@gforcemotorsport.com.au Design and Production MCX2 Media & Communications - 0408 138 590

May 2016

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Page 15

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