Horsham’s Blue Ribbon Raceway will roar into life this Saturday and Sunday nights when the 2012 Victorian Formula 500 championship invades the 450 metre Kalkee venue. With 35 cars nominated for the 2 night event, indications are that this will be 1 of the toughest Victorian Titles in its 49 year history.
Defending Victorian Champion Charlie Brown leads the nominations. After winning the Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian titles last season Brown is coming into his title defence with some strong results including a podium result in Western Australia a few weeks ago.
A host of Victorian hard chargers are out to keep the title on home soil. Names like current Australia 2 Jye O’Keeffe, perennial front runner Chad Sullivan, Stampede Series champion James Aranyosi and Will Carroll to name a few.
O’Keeffe just this week announced that he will be piloting a brand new Eagle Chassis along side Robert Trewartha in the Diablo Motorsports stable. The 2 time Jack Willsher Cup winner will come into this weekend’s event with a truck load of confidence and good car speed.
Sullivan meanwhile has had an indifferent season. He’s picked up 2 wins in the Stampede Series but didn’t quite have the Oval Express Series that he would have wanted. This weekend Sullivan heads into the event with a quick car and will be up the pointy end of the field.
Aranyosi is enjoying a strong 2nd half to his season. After having engine dramas and flipping during the Oval Express Series he has returned to form with back to back podium finishes and strong run through the field at the last race at Ballarat.
Will Carroll has been the most improved driver in Victoria this season. He capped off an amazing Oval Express Series with a podium finish in the final round at Warrnambool. That vaulted him into 10 overall for the series. Coupled with a few podium results in the domestic scene, Carroll heads into Horsham with confidence. 2008 Australian Champion, Brock Hallett returns to Blue Ribbon Raceway for the first time in 4 years. Hallett will be piloting the Q13 Stallard this weekend and has had some pretty strong results in South Australia this season including setting records at both Murray Bridge Speedway and Speedway City.
Liam Williams looks to add the Victorian Title to his many honours he has picked up over the years. After winning 2 Oval Express Series A-Main’s and finishing 3rd overall, Williams went on to win the South Australian Title at Murray Bridge Speedway.
Jess Moulden won the 2008 Victorian Formula 500 title and after a limited campaign this season Jess is back. Driving the familiar V53 she will be looking to continue the same form that netted her a top 10 in the Oval Express Series, Victorian Title victory and Victorian Stampede series victory in a standout 2008 season.
Mat Turner is having the time of his life this season. Driving his home made ASF Chassis, the Melton resident has picked up an Oval Express Series podium result, Top 10 finish and also many heat race victories along the way. Last season Turner performed very well at Horsham and shapes up as one of the favourites heading into this competition.
Horsham is well represented this weekend with 4 local drivers set to take on the invading pack. RTS Chassis Australia owners Jock Baker and Ash Hicks return behind the wheel for the first time this season. Jeremy Beddison has had a limited campaign this season but will be looking to continue the form from last season which netted him a few podium results. Adrian Christian is in his 2nd year of competition and is on the verge of a great result. He will be one to watch
The format for the first night will see each driver participate in 2 12 Lap heats, the first being drawn with the 2nd round of heats being reversed with the lanes swapped over. The 18 lap B-Main will witness drivers 13th in points onwards after the heats race off with the top 12 transferring to the back of the 25 lap preliminary A-Main.
Night 2 will see the same format used as night 1. The opening round of heats will see the highest points from night 1 starting up the front. The second round of heats will see the highest points coming from the rear of the field with the rows crossed.
After the qualification heats have been completed, a 20 Lap B-Main will have be run with the top 12 transferring to the back of the A-Main After 12 heats and 5 Main’s the 2012 Victorian Formula 500 championship will be run over 25 laps with the top 24 cars doing battle for the coveted Victoria 1 crown. Racing will start on Saturday night at 5.30pm with Racing on Sunday night starting at 4.30pm. Racing fans are encouraged to get to the track early with a full supports program also on the cards. The Victorian Formula 500 Association would like to thank the Committee, Volunteers and Officials from Blue Ribbon Raceway for their valued support of the 2012 Victorian Formula 500 Championship. We also have a Facebook page. Search for Australian Formula 500 Facebook Page and ask to join.
2012 Victorian Formula 500 Title Nominations A1 Liam William Q1 Charlie Brown (Defending Champion) V4 Ash Hicks V5 Chad Sullivan V6 Will Carroll SA9 Leigh Van Ginneken Q13 Brock Hallett V14 Brett Willsher V17 Andrew Morton V19 Brett Dillon V25 Phill Smith V26 Mitch Whiting V27 Dylan Willsher V29 Jock Baker SA29 Grant Stansfield V32 Mat Turner Q33 Kristin Brown V34 Adrian Christian V39 Gerrard Mabbitt V40 Josh Fort V45 Jeremy Beddison V50 James Aranyosi V51 Ashley Sinclair V52 Shane Van Duynhoven V53 Jessica Moulden V55 Jye O’Keeffe V57 Rod Barker V70 Matthew Symons V75 AJ Blackstock SA81 Brad Tink V83 Adam Turner V91 Steven Horton V92 Robert Trewartha V95 Dale Sinclair V97 Jarryd Irving
