With new sponsor Land Surveys on the side of his Matthew White Motorsport BF Falcon, Tweedie’s first look at the challenging, undulating 2.42km circuit North of Perth resulted in 18th place in qualifying – however as usual the results only show a small piece of the full story.

Tweedie was .02 seconds away from the top twelve and only nine-tenths from the front row, showing the competitive nature of this years’ Fujitsu grid. Steady gains were made during the first race, held Saturday, that saw Tweedie finish 13th after managing to steer clear of all the carnage in a race that featured two safety cars. A race highlight included a mighty three-wide battle with David Wall and Tim Blanchard on the second-last lap, with Tom coming out in front.

Race two was affected before it even began; with the grid position directly in front of Tweedie’s starting spot the scene of the earlier fiery V8 supercar crash between Karl Reindler and Steve Owen – leaving the track surface covered in cement dust and debris. Sure enough, Tweedie’s Falcon broke into wheelspin as it hit the cleanup material just meters in front of his car, dropping him three places below his thirteenth place grid slot. A frustrating race saw two further safety car delays, limiting chances for improvement by the Land Surveys car and resulting in a 14th place finish. Tweedie said he learnt plenty from the tough weekend in what really did turn out to be the ‘Wild West’.

“Getting the most out of these cars is so much about experience and as it’s only my second ever round in the V8, I’m still learning,” he said. “On Friday we changed the car setup a lot to try and fix the lack of grid and it was good to improve – but the car still wasn’t 100% and due to my inexperience perhaps I wasn’t able to interpret the problems so easily. “Although my car speed in race one was pretty average my lap times were at least consistent which helped me gain positions later in the race when the other cars struggled with grip – my car was OK towards the end. “In race two I got a terrible start with too much wheelspin thanks to everything on the track in front of my grid spot. 14th was a fairly disappointing end to a weekend when we were making gains right up to that point, but you’ve just got to deal with it and move on to the next one, and I can’t wait until Townsville.”

Tweedie also said it was nice to finally have some branding along the sides of the Team Tom / MWR Falcon. “Land Surveys came onboard as my major sponsor for the weekend and I can’t thank them enough for their support. At the moment it was only for the one round but it’d be great to see them on the car for Townsville where I’m confident we can crack into the top ten. “We are really progressing and moving forward which is the main thing. We’ll get there.”

A week earlier, Tweedie was at the renowned Mount Panorama, Bathurst, circuit for his first visit to the hallowed turf of Australian Motorsport – getting some circuit experience in a Formula Ford race at the Bathurst Motor Festival. A productive weekend saw Tom gain plenty of experience on the 6.213km circuit ahead of his V8 debut there this October – with Tom even scoring a podium finish in the process despite driving his historic Formula Ford up against several late-specification models.

For more information about Tom Tweedie and the Team Tom Supporters Club, please visit www.tomtweedie.com

The reigning Australian F3 champion laid down an early marker by posting the second fastest time in official practice, belying the fact that it was his first visit to the circuit, and, despite dropping to fifth, closed the gap to the leaders in session two, setting himself up for a competitive qualifying. Despite optimism in the Team BRM camp, however, no-one expected  the relatively inexperienced Barker to go fastest of all in the crucial qualifying session, but his fifth lap proved three-tenths quicker than anyone else had managed to that point and, trying to conserve his tyres for later in the weekend, the Briton waited in pit-lane for the remainder.

“Fortunately no-one went faster!”  Barker smiled, “I am thrilled with pole as I knew I had to pull out a ‘balls-out’ lap. I usually struggle with that in qualifying, but I did it with full confidence in the car. This is a big learning hurdle ticked for my future as a driver.”

Having claimed an early advantage over established antipodean stars such as Steven Richards, Craig Baird and Jonny Reid, the 19-year old undid some of his good work by making a bad start to race one, changing into second gear too early. Excessive wheelspin caused the #20 TOTAL Oils-backed car to bog down and Barker fell back to fifth place. The Briton was quickly up to speed, however, and had caught the lead pack by the second lap before making a move on Daniel Gaunt into turn 6. Despite being on the outside due to the Kiwi defending, Barker thought he had done enough to take the position – until Gaunt lost control under braking.

“He basically used me as a barrier!” the Briton sighed, “Although I was able to keep going, there was tracking and alloy damage, so I hobbled round to take 13th. Until I got taken off, I had fastest lap, but Richards eventually pinched that too.”

Starting from 13^th in race two, Barker made a good start and quickly gained positions, rising to seventh by lap eight. Having been repaired between races, the Team BRM Porsche again displayed good pace and rapidly caught the next group, allowing Barker to move up to fifth place a couple of laps later.

“After that, the six-second gap to the leading group was too big, so fifth was realistically the best we could of hoped for, especially after starting at the rear of the field,” he commented, “The main aim was to save our tyres, and starting on the third row for race three gives us a good shot at an even better result.”

A much better start to the final race of the weekend saw Barker hold on to fifth and, after ten laps of nose-to-tail racing among a six-car train split by a single second, he was able to make a move on Michael Patrizi to take fourth. Reigning New Zealand Carrera Cup champion Gaunt continued to pressure the Briton, sitting on his rear bumper throughout, but, despite having to combine the desire to attack with a need to watch his mirrors, Barker was all over Baird with two laps to run.

Sniffing a potential top three finish, the BRM driver made an ambitious move in to the fast first corner, pulling it off despite the two cars coming close to contact. Reid and Richards were another second up the road but, without enough time to catch them, Barker settled for third.

“I am very happy with my first podium in the championship,” he admitted, “After our strong showing in the first round, it was due, and the team have done a great job in supplying me with a fantastic car. Fastest lap of the race was my second in six starts and I now have one pole from two rounds. Although I’ll always think that we should have won, it feels good to grab a podium considering the first race incident.

“Thanks to TOTAL Oils and CARS Europe, Driving Solutions, Race Fit for their ongoing support, and I look forward to giving them more of the same next time out! 

Barker recently unveiled a new website – www.benbarkermotorsport.com – where fans can follow his progress in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia.

We would like to invite our track day customers to experience the new format on Friday 21st January 2011 at the one-off discounted rate of $200 (inc GST) per driver. Spaces are strictly limited and bookings are essential, please call us on 02 9672 1000 to reserve your spot or complete and return the booking form.

With just a single season of Formula Ford in the UK under his belt, the Briton held his nerve in a thrilling triple-header at Sandown Raceway to emerge as winner of the 2010 Kumho Tyres Australian F3 Championship, and the prestigious Australian Drivers Championship’s Gold Star, in the closest finish in series history.

Despite holding a eight-point advantage over main rival – and Team BRM team-mate – Mitch Evans, Barker had the disadvantage of never having been to Sandown before, while his opposition was all more familiar with the quick 3.1km circuit. With just two half-hour sessions to get acquainted with the venue, the 19-year old was delighted to eventually be lapping within a couple of tenths of his Kiwi team-mate, but knew that he still needed to step up the pace if he was to secure the title.

A wet-dry shoot-out to determine the top six grid positions provided another test of Barker’s resolve as, having made it safely through the first phase of qualifying, he knew the right call on tyres would be crucial.

“I called for slicks as the end of the session would be okay for them,” he revealed, “I ended up fourth fastest with my last lap, but was running first on track and therefore took the chequered flag before everyone else as the circuit continued to dry.”

A slipping clutch at the start of race one on Saturday afternoon saw the Briton lose a couple of places off the line, but he quickly regained them at turn one, only to find championship outsider Tom Tweedie harrying him for the remainder of the race as he

benefited from a low-drag aerodynamic set-up. Barker dropped to fifth on the penultimate lap, but again used the opening corner to reclaim his position, running around the outside of Tweedie and securing the inside line for turn two.

With Evans second on the road, the points gap closed slightly, but Barker continued to lead going into race two on Sunday morning. Another bad start, however, appeared to have put his title hopes in jeopardy when another BRM team-mate, Zhang Shan Qi, slammed into the back of the #5 machine entering turn one. 

The Chinese driver rode over Barker’s rollhoop, having already demolished his rear wing and front suspension, and came close to injuring the Briton after making contact with his crash helmet.

“It was a massive impact, and I was very lucky as one of his wheels scraped my helmet, but, worse than that, I got back to the pits thinking my championship was well and truly over,” Barker admitted, “It was a horrible feeling.”

Incredibly, however, the Briton’s luck continued as, just a couple of laps later, a second major incident brought out the red flag and, instead of Evans and Tweedie having the chance to open out a significant points advantage, the decision to abandon the race left Barker nursing a five-point cushion with one round remaining later in the day.

Team BRM had another race on its hands, however, as it attempted to rebuild the shattered #5 machine in time for Barker to make the start, but achieved the feat with time to spare, even if the Briton would not uncover its pace and performance until he lined up on the grid

With Evans starting second alongside race one winner Tim Macrow, Barker knew that he either had to make up places or at least secure the bonus for fastest lap if he was to be crowned as champion. A good getaway appeared to have made his task easier, as he again used the outside of turn one to good effect and seized third place from Chris Gilmour.  The rebuilt Dallara was clearly not suffering from its race two ordeal, and Barker was able to lap faster than Evans, but the Kiwi wasn’t going to make life easier for his rival with the title at stake

A couple of robust defensive moves eventually backed the Briton up and allowed Tweedie to capitalise on his better straight-line speed to claim third place, leaving Barker again in need of fastest lap as his attempts to retake the Australian were thwarted. With three of the 15 laps remaining, the Cambridge native dropped back to give himself some clear track and popped in a 1min

09.6563secs effort to provisionally claim the extra point. Evans wasn’t done, however, and with room of his own, produced his best lap time as he passed under the chequered flag, only for the clocks to show it 0.0502secs slower than Barker.

“It was incredible,” the Briton admitted, “My heart hasn’t slowed a beat since the end of the race – what a way to win it! Once Tom passed me, I knew what I had to do, put my head down and just went for it, but everything still rested on how Mitch would respond. Even as I took the flag, I didn’t know how things had worked out – and the team kept me in suspense a little longer. It was like being on a game show! When they finally told me I’d won, it was a huge relief

“I feel so proud to walk away with Australia’s top motorsport award, the Gold Star, and continue the UK’s strong recent record in this competition. I could not have done it without the team getting my car out for the last race – and making it so fast! The backing of CARS Europe, Driving Solutions and RaceFit was also vital, as was the support of friends and family overseas.

“This day is dedicated to my mum, who was supposed to be here but is instead in hospital following a motorcycle accident.” 

Fleet Drive Day (FDD) 2010 will include a new, all-weather four-wheel drive test track, a low-emission vehicles demonstration and the addition of light truck demonstrations and heavy truck displays.

A joint venture between Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway, the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC), and event organiser Driving Solutions, FDD 2010 aims to build on the success on the 2008 and 2009 events.

“The first two events were successful in giving fleet managers and their senior management a unique opportunity to comparison shop a wide variety of potential fleet vehicles,” said the ARDC’s Chief Executive, Geoff Arnold.

“For exhibiting automotive brands, the event has proven to be an opportunity to get on the shopping list of potential customers who might not otherwise have considered their vehicles.

“We’ve listened to the feedback of both automotive brands and fleet customers and we’re refining the next event to better meet their needs.”

More than 200 customers attended the last fleet day at Eastern Creek, but organiser James Stewart expects that will grow to over 300 at the event next May.

“Word-of-mouth among fleet professionals has been hugely positive and I think we’re well on the way to making Fleet Drive Day the must-attend event for the fleet industry in Australia.”

Mr Stewart says the appeal of the event will be boosted by the addition of Australia’s leading Fleet Management Organisations (FMOs) to the ranks of exhibitors.

“There’s a growing trend towards FMOs being the organisations that actually purchase the vehicles and take the financial risk on behalf of their clients,” said Mr Stewart.

“We think it’s important to have FMOs present at Fleet Drive Day because, in many cases, they are the link between the automotive brands and the end users of the vehicles.”

To register as a guest or enquire about sponsorship for this event please contact jo@drivingsolutions.com.au.

The track will feature two courses to demonstrate the varying abilities of all-wheel drive Sports Utility Vehicles, as well as more specialised body-on-frame 4WDs.

“The courses are designed to test experienced drivers and also provide total novices with the opportunity to experience off-roading,” said Fleet Drive Day event organiser, James Stewart.

“Each guest will have the opportunity to drive several vehicles over the courses, with instructors providing guidance and tuition.”

A feature of the new four-wheel drive track will be a hard-packed marshalling area, which will allow guests to comfortably enter and alight from vehicles without having to worry about muddy shoes.

A selection of LEVs, including hybrids and diesels, will be driven on Eastern Creek’s skidpan to demonstrate their handling and roadholding.

Each guest will be given the opportunity to drive several of the vehicles on the skidpan under the tuition of a driver training instructor.

“Automotive brands are keen to reassure consumers that, as we shift towards LEV vehicles, they will still be fun to drive,” said FDD organiser, James Stewart. “The skid pan demos will open a few eyes to just how much fun they can be.”

Mr Stewart said the focus of activities would also be on safety as well as enjoyment, with demonstrations of Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) included in the skid pan program.