Cameron Walters has claimed the inaugural Russell Norden Memorial Trophy by winning all three Historic Formula Ford races at the Sydney Classic Speed Festival on the weekend.
After qualifying on pole position by more than two seconds in a damp session, Walters drove to a comprehensive victory from Andrew McInnes in Race 1, before resisting attacks from Jon Miles in Races 2 and 3.
Walters’ victory came on a landmark weekend for Formula Ford; as well as celebrating the life of 1979 national champion Russell Norden who lost his life earlier this year, the event was also themed as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Formula Ford as an international category.
Walters, who won the Kent Class national title in 2015, was thrilled with the result.
“I’ve always enjoyed racing at Sydney Motorsport Park and had good results here, but to come out on top against such a large field of cars and on such a momentous weekend for Formula Ford is very satisfying,” Walters said.
“I had to work hard because there were some fast cars here this weekend, and I was pushing right to the limit in the final race.”
As well as Miles and McInnes, the other driver featuring in the battle for the outright placings was Garry Watson, who enjoyed a sensational weekend in his 1973 Mawer 004 to comfortably win Class Fa (pre-1978 cars). Watson produced a giant-killing performance, nipping at the heels of the more modern cars in all three races.
Second place in Class Fa went to Lyndon Arnell ahead of Grahame Burton.
Cameron Walters’ father Geoff was the winner of Class Fb (1978-83 cars), finishing in the top 10 in all three races. Wayne Groeger was second in Class Fb after battling with Kendal Barry-Cotter in each race.
As part of the category’s celebrations, a commemorative dinner was held on Saturday night. As well as enjoying slide shows of classic Formula Ford photos and authentic historical race footage, attendees at the dinner were also treated to a “Q and A” session with 1975 Australian Formula Ford Champion Paul Bernasconi, and 1976 champ Richard Carter.
PHOTOS: goodpublicity.com.au
