Borland Racing Developments hits 40-year milestone

This weekend’s round of the 2026 Yokohama Tyres AASA Australian Formula Ford Championship, at Sydney Motorsport Park, marks a significant anniversary for the category – 40 years since a 23 year-old Michael Borland ventured into the business of race car manufacture.

Since then, Borland Racing Developments has become synonymous with Formula Ford in Australia, developing and producing Spectrum cars that have taken impressive numbers of championships, pole positions and race wins in, while also exporting considerable numbers of championship-winning cars to the US, Canada, the UK and New Zealand.

BRD also produced  a wings-and-slicks car for the US FF2000 market, as well as its Sabre Formula Vee for some years (the rights were recently passed to JRD/Sabre Racing Cars) and has become a go-to place for specialist motorsport fabrication and projects – including the Daytona sports car program. BRD also completed oversight of the design, development and build of the V8-powered S5000 that then went into production with Garry Rogers Motorsport and, more recently, restorations of historic open-wheelers including Todd Willing’s March 722 and Andrew Miedecke’s Formula Atlantic March 76B.

But it is Formula Ford with which Michael Borland and his company have become inextricably linked, with an extraordinary list of young drivers who have learned their craft, won championships (Australian and State), and gone on to success in many motorsport arenas.

After a couple of years honing his skills preparing Australian F2 cars in the early 1980s, Michael delivered the first Spectrum Formula Ford in 1986.

Up against the big-name marques imported from the hot-bed of Formula Ford, the UK, Spectrum’s winning record since is impressive: eight Australian Championships; 46 State Championships; six Canadian championships, four NZ, three USA , two British … and even a NZ Grand Prix win, in 2009, at the time when NZ’s top race was run as a Formula Ford contest. Throw in five wins in Britain’s prestigious annual Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone and 27 wins from 28 races supporting Canada’s F1 GP and it provides a great measure of Spectrum’s local and international success.

Indeed, it is Spectrum’s export growth which stands out, with cars increasingly contesting the major championships around the Formula Ford world.

“Actually, of the most recent 50 cars built, 42 went overseas,” quips Borland. To date, 165 Spectrum Formula Fords have been constructed.”

Australian championship success first came in 1998 with Adam Macrow and Christian (son of Alan) Jones completing a historic 1-2, with other champions including John martin (2006) and current Supercars champion Chaz Mostert (2010), along with a number of familiar names on the podium, stretching back to and including 2002 runner-up Mark Winterbottom, 1996 runner-up Jason Bargwanna, Scott Pye, Jayden Ojeda and James Golding.

Most recently, Spectrums have taken out both of the most recent titles – with Eddie Beswick (2024) and Kobi Williams (2025).

Above all, it has been Borland’s commitment to supporting Formula Ford cost containment, with the all-Australian car carrying a budget advantage which has allowed the category to attract more newcomers and continue to thrive as the place to acquire the skills necessary to progress through to the sport’s highest levels.

More than half the current Supercars grid came via Australian Formula Ford, with international stars Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo, Scott Dixon and Will Power among those for whom Australian Formula Ford was the first step towards international single-seater success.

 “What pleases me most is that since the very first years of Formula Ford, Australian-built cars – back then it was Elfin, with Richard Knight and Larry Perkins taking out the first championships (1970/71) – have been an integral part of it,” said Borland.

“Formula Ford is undergoing a resurgence again with the success of recent graduates and with former and current Supercars drivers and engineers recognising it as the best place for their own kids to learn. The cars have an excellent safety record and they offer a great laps for dollars ratio – so there is no need to change something radically that still delivers the best driver education you can get.”

What next for Michael Borland, Spectrum, and Formula Ford? It’s been nine years since the most recent Spectrum – the successful 015 – was released. There’s a suggestion that an upgrade – 016 – could be in the wind.

In the meantime, current Formula Ford Championship contender Jamie Rowe has re-liveried his Spectrum 015 and will carry number ‘40’ this weekend to recognise the anniversary of Michael Borland’s entry into the race car manufacture business.