Round 1, Sandown (Melbourne) 
Saturday, 30 January 1998 

VICTORIAN TEEN DRAWS FIRST BLOOD 

Melbourne young gun Adam Macrow has began his 1998 Australian Formula Ford Championship assault in blistering form, claiming pole position for tomorrow's season opener at Sandown. 

Macrow, 19, was fastest in both Qualifying sessions today, outpointing joint series-favourite Craig Zerner (NSW) by less than five hundredths of a second in the second session. 

"Everything went as well as I could have hoped today ... the car was set up perfectly, the conditions suited me, and Sandown is one of my favourite tracks anyway," Adam Macrow says. 

"Still there's practically nothing between the top 18 cars out there, so there should be a couple of really exciting Formula Ford races tomorrow, that's for sure." 

Western Australian teenager Aaron McNally was third fastest overall, with home-town hero Greg Ritter fourth fastest. 

The first Qualifying session saw Tasmanian driver Christian Jory's day come to a premature end when his Swift SC93 Formula Ford hit the fence on one of the fastest parts of the track. 

Fortunately Jory was uninjured in the incident although his car was substantially damaged. 

Ford Motorsport/Slick 50 Australian Formula Ford Championship: Round 1, Sandown (Melbourne) 

Qualifying: 1. Adam Macrow (Vic) Spectrum 06B, 1min 19.5811 secs; 2. C. Zerner (NSW) Spectrum 06B, 1 min 19.6270 secs; 3. Aaron McNally (WA) Van Diemen RF96B, 1min 19.7883 secs; 4. Greg Ritter (Vic) Van Diemen RF98 1min 19.8046 secs; 5. Christian Jones (Qld) Spectrum 06B, 1min 19.9926 secs; 6. Dugal McDougall (Vic) Mygale SJ98, 1min 20.0386 secs; 7. Dean Lindstrom (Vic) Van Diemen RF91, 1min 20.0891; 8. Steve Owen (Vic) Spectrum 06, 1min 20.1210 secs; 9. Tim Leahey (NSW) Van Diemen RF98, 1min 20.1344 secs; 10. Michael Simpson (Qld) Van Diemen RF96, 1min 20.1640 secs.