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MEDIA PREVIEW: 18 May 1998
It's crunch time for the lead drivers in the 1998 Ford Motorsport/Slick 50 Australian Formula Ford Championship, with the ultimate prize of a Bathurst drive with Tony Longhurst Racing at stake, this weekend at Mallala. If Generation XR Brat Pack member Adam Macrow can stamp his authority on the rest of the Formula Ford field, then the 19-year-old Victorian can book his tickets to Bathurst in November to race in Australia's premier motor race, the Primus 1000 Classic. If, on the other hand, Dugal McDougall brings the Aloe Qench Mygale home in front then the championship remains wide open. And other highly-rated racers that have endured frustrating starts to the year, including Christian Jones and Tim Leahey, will be desperate to score maximum points to stay in touch with Macrow and McDougall. It sets the scene for an exciting weekend's racing, according to current series leader Adam Macrow. "This weekend at Mallala and next week at Wanneroo (Perth) could virtually decide the winner of the championship this year, and you can bet everyone will be playing for keeps, that's for sure," the leading Spectrum driver says. "And I haven't raced at Wanneroo before, which might make it a bit tougher for me there, so a good result at Mallala doubly important for me really. "I've got a fairly handy lead at the moment … not enough to say I'm comfortable yet but still pretty useful … I suppose the most obvious thing I have to do is keep racking up points. "But now that I've won a few races, I've got a bit of a taste for it, so I think 'plan A' is still to win as many races as I can," Macrow says. Unlike Macrow, however, Apache Constructors team boss Dugal McDougall does not have the luxury of not needing to win races. Fortunately, the dramatically improved performance of this year's Mygale chassis leaves McDougall with an outside chance to win the elusive title he has been chasing for six years. "We're obviously still a chance, I mean we're only half way through the championship and with eight races to go anything could happen," McDougall says. "The odds are probably stacked against me right at the moment but a bit of a turnaround in luck could see us right back in the hunt, and that will allow me to put a bit more pressure back on Adam (Macrow). "The toughest thing about this year is that I've really only had one bad round (Phillip Island) and that was enough to put me right behind the eight ball, but hopefully that means that my one 'bad' round is behind me. "I usually do pretty well
at Mallala … I have had one or two good results there … and I've got a
fairly good record at Wanneroo, so I guess we'll see how I go."
Pointscore (after round 4): 1. A. Macrow 140; 2. D. McDougall 92; 3. C. Jones 67; 4. Tim Leahey 66; 5. C. Zerner 62; 6. Greg Ritter 48; 7. S. Owen 42; 8. A. McNally 35; 9. I. Harrington 32; 10. A. Seward 31.
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