PRESS RELEASE – AGI Sport tests four drivers at the Formula 4 second official test.

The weather held off for a dry track at the second official CAMS Jayco Formula 4 Championship test at Phillip Island on Wednesday 20th May with eleven race drivers testing throughout the day.

AGI Sport fielded four drivers. Signed drivers Jimmy Vernon and Tom Grech were joined by Queensland karter Will Brown returning for his second test. Another young karter, 15-year-old Jack Smith rounded out the numbers under the AGI Sport banner.

It was Jack’s first time steering a racecar after a few seasons of karts and he was rapt with the experience.

“It was a fair bit different, a lot bigger with a lot more power, especially with the wing, gave it a bit more grip so that was the main difference.’

‘I felt a bit dodgy at the start of the day but I’m starting to get the hang of it now so it’s good.

‘I’d love to race it in the next few months if we can get to a round, it would be great fun to do that.

The team was really good, everyone was really helpful, really nice. I think it was a good first day in the car, everything has gone to plan so far”.

The teams are still working through a few reliability issues with this only the second day of official testing since the cars arrived direct from the Mygale factory production line last month.

Jimmy Vernon was champing at the bit while the team worked against the clock to solve a fuel pump issue. It was a tense few hours for the young Sydney driver.

“Today was an up and down day, little bit of frustration having the fuel pump quit on us, but Dave and Ritchie worked really hard to get the car fixed with the help of Nick.

Once we got the problem fixed with the car we posted a competitive lap time so we turned a positive out of what could have been a very negative day.

‘I am feeling more comfortable in the car with each lap we turn over, working closely with Dave to get the last bit of pace out of the car and I think when it comes time to race, we will be very competitive”.

Victorian Tom Grech managed to get some consistent laps and turned in some competitive times.

“I felt we had a really successful day as a team gathering data and continuing to learn more about the Mygale F4.

‘Of course we are still having some technical glitches at times but this is expected with new cars so its good to have testing opportunities to iron these out before Townsville.

‘I’m really enjoying driving the IQ Option Racing/ AGI Sport car, i’m having fun and it’s very suited to the fast and flowing nature of Phillip Island.

‘I’m really happy with my pace during the day, although we just missed out on our target time by a couple of tenths but the most important things is we got the data and maximized the entire day on track.

 

And recent recruit Will Brown was starting to feel a lot more comfortable with the wings and slicks. Will showed some consistent improvement in lap times as he worked with his engineer to find extra seconds around the circuit.

“Went alright this time. Probably a little bit off, probably a second and a half off, would have liked to be closer but it’s a good day. More track time, more bum in seat time and see what comes of the next test day.

‘We are pretty comfortable in the car. It’s a bit twitchy through turn one so we will have a look at that next time. It was pretty good.

‘They are pretty good to drive, a lot more grip than a Fomula Ford so good to drive”.

Will is now looking forward to joining the series at the first race in Townsville.

Team Manager Adam Gotch only got the call regarding a fourth driver on the Tuesday afternoon but he’s excited that more drivers are starting to come out of the wood work.

“We tested four young drivers at Phillip Island yesterday for the second official Formula 4 pre season test.

‘We ran through a number setup options on all cars and made a positive step forward with the new Mygale chassis.

‘We also welcomed young QLD karter Jack Smith to the team in the fourth AGI sport F4 car in what was his race car debut.

‘We now look forward to the third F4 test in two weeks time at Sydney Motorsport Park.”

The season start is now less than seven weeks away with the first official race in Townsville July 10-12.