Repco Supercars Championship team boss Tim Blanchard will travel back in time as he prepares to return to Australian Formula Ford with Sonic Motor Racing Services as part of the Winton support program.
It will be a one off appearance for Blanchard in Australia’s leading driver development category as he re-joins Sonic Motor Racing Services, the team in which he secured the national title with in 2007.
Blanchard will contest the round in the same livery as his title year and the Mygale he will race also has a family connection, with younger brother Harrison using it in the Victorian State Formula Ford Series, which continues this weekend at Phillip Island.
Following on from his title winning year in 2007, Blanchard finished runner up in the British Formula Ford Championship before returning to Australia where he entered the Development Series with Sonic. After finishing second in 2010, Blanchard progressed to Supercars racing for Dick Johnson Racing, LD Motorsport, Brad Jones Racing and now the Blanchard Racing Team as co-driver to Tim Slade.
In fact, Blanchard and Slade’s connection emerged at around this time as both were teammates at Sonic.
Blanchard’s goal is to compete in the prestigious Walter Hayes Trophy for Formula Fords at Silverstone occurring in October annually.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back to Formula Ford at Winton. It’s a category that I’ve always loved and I have a real soft spot for,” said Blanchard.
“I’ve been doing historic Formula Ford racing for the last few years and I really enjoy driving the cars, so I was keen to try a new challenge and pit myself against all of the young stars coming through.
“The hidden agenda is that I’d really like to do Walter Hayes Festival at Silverstone at some point, so I wanted to see how I go against the current level of drivers and see if I’m wasting my time or not!
“I also want to keep race miles up ahead of the Bathurst 1000, and with this Winton Formula Ford round on the Supercars bill, it’s a good chance to do it. I’m already going to be there, so I thought this was a handy opportunity.
“There’s a real nostalgic element with Mick and Maria from Sonic too. Tim Slade prepared my Formula Ford back in 2007 with Sonic, so on the Friday, he’s going to come over and give the team a hand – it’s a full reunion.
“Also, from a BRT point of view, you always need to keep an eye on the future, and what better way to assess the future stars than to actually get in the car and race against them and see what they’ve got.
“In terms of expectations, I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I feel like I should be up the front. I’m pretty experienced in racing, so I should be competitive, but on the flip side I haven’t raced a Duratec-powered Formula Ford in 15 years, and these guys are racing them all the time, so I’m not really sure where I’ll land.”
Blanchard will join Sonic’s regular national drivers Winston Smith and Valentino Astuti as part of the Australian Formula Ford Series field at Winton on May 20-22 in support of the Repco Supercars Championship.