TSR winning form as Formula Ford winter series

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Richie Stanaway in action in his Mygale Formula Ford car

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Martin Short prepares for some fast laps

TSR shows winning form as Formula Ford winter series gets underway

TSR Racing - the new Hamilton-based Formula Ford team running kiwi racers Richie Stanaway and Martin Short - enjoyed a dream debut weekend at Manfeild in the FF1600 Winter Series.

Two wins and a second place gave Motorsport Academy driver and SpeedSport Scholarship winner Stanaway the round victory, whilst Short recovered from engine gremlins to take three third places.

Stanaway spent much of the weekend getting used to the team’s new Mygale chassis, and in no time at all showed the car has incredible pace. Much of his weekend was spent dicing with series contender Mitchell Evans, but Stanaway's pace even with an early engine drama when he stuck the car on the front row will have struck warning bells with the rest of the country's Formula Ford contingent. Stanaway's two race wins and a second gave him the round.

"We still have a lot of improvement to come as we are in development stages with the Mygale, but I am exceptionally pleased with the early pace we have been able to show and to have won the round at Manfeild."

Team mate Martin Short had a down on power engine for practice and the first two races and despite taking two thirds, was frustrated not to be mixing it with Stanaway at the sharp end. In the build up to the third race, however, the team found the reason for the down on power engine - the distributor - and quickly remedied the fault. It made a world of difference for the Hamilton driver.

"In the third race I could feel the difference with the car straight away," he said. "My start wasn't the greatest and by the time I fought my way up to third, the two leaders had gone. But I could feel the difference with the engine straight away and was able to push hard." Short quickly found his true pace and was lapping as quickly as the leaders, posting a time almost one second quicker than he had managed during the rest of the weekend.

Team principal Geoff Short was delighted with his team's debut weekend, commenting: "It was a great weekend. Richie and the new Mygale chassis were dominant in Saturday's wet qualifying with a very fast pace and that bodes well for the rest of the winter series and the summer series after that. Martin had some early engine troubles, but showed he had pace too and is eager for the next round."

ENDS

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