We always look forward to the Australian Grand Prix weekend, not the least because it is typically the first race of the new Formula 1 season and always a glamorous and exciting weekend to be a part of.
We also have fond memories of Jaxon and Tim taking the double round win in 2018.
Cooper did a great job in qualifying and was on for his second straight pole but was baulked by a Pro-Am driver on his ‘push lap’ putting him on the second row in a deflated P4. In race 1 he got a good start and got by Wood into second on lap 2. He fought a valiant fight with McBride and despite clocking the fastest lap of the race couldn't get by, but happy to take a podium finish.
Harri did another top job in qualifying taking 8th place, three places ahead of the one and only Craig Lowndes. He had a rough first lap dropping to 11th, but put his head down and over the 19-lap ‘enduro’ was able to displace four cars, including Lowndes and race winner Wood, on his way to 7th on his first visit to the famed Albert Park circuit.
This was Tim's third visit to the hallowed F1 street circuit. He qualified 3rd in Pro-Am, electing to use two sets of greens in the short 20-minute session. In race 1 he had an uncustomary slow getaway dropping him a few spots. He came unstuck with a quick spin mid-race, dropping him down the order but had an eventful race making progress through the pack to 6th.
David followed up his great job in Adelaide to qualify 7th in Pro-Am again. He got away well in race 1 and did a super job to make two places on the opening lap. He had a cracking dice with teammate Tim for a few laps then running inside the Pro-Am top 4 until a moment in the closing laps cost him a couple of places.
Well, that was the most bizarre weekend we’ve ever had racing. On Thursday, a McLaren F1 team member tested positive for the virus and that set a domino effect that lead to some F1 drivers leaving Australia Thursday night and the unprecedented cancellation of an F1 event. For the team and our drivers to go to all this effort and expense to only have 1 race was heartbreaking.
Clearly, the health and well-being of our drivers, teams, officials and fans is paramount so we support the decisions that were made. The Australian motorsport community is like the rest of the world currently and we are hopeful we can resume racing and our normal lives within a couple of months but that will remain to be seen.
