Isaac Demellweek seals the final victory at Round 1

Isaac Demellweek has secured his maiden victory in the Yokohama Tyre AASA Australian Formula Ford Championship by crossing the line first in the final race of the weekend.

It was Demellweek triumphing in a race-long battle with Oli Wickham, who finished just off the podium in fourth following a thrilling final lap battle.

The race started in dramatic circumstances courtesy of an opening corner clash between Jett Leicester, Hunter Salvatore and Lachlan Mineeff.

Contact between Leicester and Mineeff sent the former airborne where contact followed with Salvatore when he landed.

This put the race under control of the pace car, with Wickham holding the ascendency on the restart.

Demellweek made a concerted effort to go around the outside of Turn 1, but fell short and was now under pressure from Seth Burchartz.

Another for Demellweek came at Turns 6, 7 and 8, which was much more successful as he led next time at the line.

Slipstreaming then paid dividends for Wickham as he snatched the lead back, with Rowe now starting to come into play after disposing of Giuseppe Imbrogno following a mistake coming onto the straight.

The battle for the lead was fierce due to the ever-present Burchartz, who nearly took second after Demellweek tried his chances around the outside again.

As Demellweek and Burchartz battled for second, Wickham was staking his claim for the race by building a significant margin.

Rowe was now a driver to watch after catching second, third and fourth with ease, with the race winner making a big play on Burchartz’s position.

Demellweek was closing on Wickham due to Rowe and Burchartz’s battle, but a red flag came out after Xavier Henderson went off at Turn 1.

The clean up was swift and a four-lap shootout was held until the end, with Wickham under immense pressure.

Contact was made at turn 1 on the restart as Demellweek continued to try this strategy on Wickham, but it took just one lap to re-take the lead.

Wickham retook it, but the pair ran side-by-side for much of the final lap until the penultimate corner when Demellweek took the advantage until the line.

However, this where Wickham dropped to fourth when Rowe and Burchartz took the final two podium positions.

Behind Wickham, another great driver from Giuseppe Imbrogno gave him a top five from Sam March, Kaleb Balek, Tabitha Ambrose, Rio Campbell and Ryan DeBorre.

Mineeff failed to finish following damage, Brad James also didn’t make it in a final race of attrition.

Next up for the Yokohama Tyre AASA Australian Formula Ford Championship is the Druitt Circuit at Sydney Motorsport Park on April 25-26 as part of the AASA Short Track Nationals.