AGI Sport’s Ryan Suhle was the top scorer in Australian Formula 4’s six race visit to Winton Motor Raceway, reducing team-mate Jayden Ojeda’s championship lead.
The first sessions of the weekend to be held were qualifying, which took place in abysmal conditions. Suhle took the first two poles for Saturday, with Team BRM’s Cameron Shields taking both poles for the Sunday races.
Suhle converted the first of his poles into a dominant victory, with Shields finishing second after a controversial collision with Ojeda. The pair touched on lap two, breaking Ojeda’s rear suspension and causing him to retire.
Rookie Lochie Hughes took his first win in the reversed grid race, holding on through two safety car periods to beat Shields and Suhle. This time it was Suhle who clashed with team-mate Ojeda, but the latter managed to finish the race in points, albeit a lap down.
Ojeda seeked vengeance in the third race, and after getting past Suhle pulled away to win by 8.5 seconds, and retain the championship lead. Suhle finished second, with Aaron Love beating team-mate Shields to the final podium spot. Antonio Astuti finished a career best fifth.
The resurgence continued into Sunday for Ojeda, who moved past poleman Shields at Turn 2 on the first lap of the fourth race and took a second victory in a row. It wasn’t an easy win though, as Suhle pushed Ojeda to the flag. They were 10 seconds clear of Jackson Walls, who took his and the Patrizicorse team’s first podium in the championship from seventh on the grid.
Shields moved down the order after Ojeda got the better of him, and he ended the race in seventh.
Love became the second new winner of the weekend in race five, following in older brother Jordan’s footsteps. Suhle finished second but was penalised for a clash with Hughes and abusing the safety car rules, demoting him to fourth behind Shields and Ojeda.
Ojeda once again stole a march on the opposition in the final race, but with Suhle joining him on the podium it meant he left Winton with a decreased championship lead. He was untouchable in the race though, with other main title rival Shields splitting the team-mates in second place.
Results round-up
Race 1 (11 laps)
1 Ryan Suhle AGI Sport 15m25.5447s
2 Cameron Shields Team BRM +7.7398s
3 Aaron Love Team BRM +10.8069s
4 Lochie Hughes Team BRM +11.5859s
5 Josh Smith Team BRM +18.3134s
6 Jackson Walls Patrizicorse +21.3599s
7 Zayd Tones Team BRM +21.6850s
8 Thomas Smith Team BRM +22.1782s
9 Antonio Astuti Astuti Motorsport +22.9195s
10 Ardie Jonic AGI Sport +44.3205s
Pole: Suhle, 1m35.4373s
Fastest lap: Suhle, 1m22.2290s
Race 2 (11 laps)
1 Hughes 19m18.6436s
2 Shields +1.0519s
3 Suhle +1.6889s
4 Walls +4.0228s
5 Astuti +4.4706s
6 Love +4.7430s
7 T Smith +5.7653s
8 Jonic +6.1506s
9 Jayden Ojeda AGI Sport +1 lap
Ret Smith
FL: Hughes, 1m22.2233s
Race 3 (12 laps)
1 Ojeda 16m26.0818s
2 Suhle +8.5648s
3 Love +12.5377s
4 Shields +12.9681s
5 Hughes +13.7644s
6 J Smith +20.0286s
7 T Smith +24.0410s
8 Astuti +27.5096s
9 Walls +29.6127s
10 Tones +42.1181s
P: Suhle, 1m35.9723s
FL: Ojeda, 1m21.2814s
Race 4 (12 laps)
1 Ojeda 16m37.9522s
2 Suhle +1.3290s
3 Walls +11.1033s
4 Hughes +11.4224s
5 Love +11.7977s
6 Astuti +15.5199s
7 Shields +21.1358s
8 T Smith +21.1358s
9 Tones +22.7434s
10 Jonic +30.0772s
P: Shields, 1m22.2333s
FL: Ojeda, 1m20.9345s
Race 5 (11 laps)
1 Love 19m22.0097s
2 Shields +2.2657s
3 Ojeda +2.9613s
4 Suhle +6.7212s
5 J Smith +7.6435s
6 Tones +8.2123s
7 Astuti +9.3480s
8 T Smith +10.0001s
9 Walls +49.6278s
Ret Jonic
FL: Ojeda, 1m20.6549s
Race 6 (12 laps)
1 Ojeda 16m22.2915s
2 Shields +6.1937s
3 Suhle +7.0378s
4 Love +7.9798s
5 Hughes +9.081s
6 J Smith +12.2568s
7 Tones +14.1674s
8 Astuti +22.3242s
9 T Smith +23.3251s
10 Walls +1 lap
P: Shields, 1m22.3039s
FL: Ojeda, 1m20.6106s
Championship standings
1?Ojeda 269? ?2 Suhle 248? ?3 Shields 242? ?4 Love 217? ?5 Hughes 155? ?6 Tones 99? ?7 Walls 96? ?8 J Smith 62? ?9 T Smith 57? ?10 Jonic 14