The third round of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship was held in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 03 May.
The Ford Racing Dealer team has made huge strides in the last 12 months and the Focus EcoBoosts are definitely becoming a force to be reckoned with.

This was proven by Gary Formato when he won the feature race at Zwartkops and by Shaun Duminy when he led the race and fought for victory (before being taken out) in Cape Town.

The cars are now beginning to operate at their optimal level in terms of performance and this means that corner entry and exit speeds are going to be far greater than they were in 2013, throwing out any existing set-up specs from last year. In essence, the team will have three practice sessions to get the handling right.

This will also be a learning curve for Gary and Shaun. For Gary, the car will be completely different from the one he drove last year in terms of performance, braking and handling; this should however not slow him down for longer than a lap or two.

UNTOUCHABLE IN PE
The third round of the Bridgestone Production Car Championship in Port Elizabeth on 03/05 proved to be a good one, with the Ford Racing Dealer Team claiming a full house of points.

Gary Formato was in the zone from the get go, setting the fastest time in two of the three practice sessions and putting his Ford Focus ST EcoBoost on pole position during Friday’s qualifying session. Much to the competitions’ chagrin, Gary took an unchallenged victory in race one and set the fastest lap in the process.

A few hours later, he was at it again. This time showing the car’s endurance and his stamina by winning the 17 lap feature race, after starting behind the leader but managing to take the lead into turn one. This victory and another fastest lap meant Gary and the team walked away from Aldo Scribante with maximum points and have been catapulted into second place in the championship.