Englishman Joey Foster was today crowned the 2009 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Champion at a rain soaked Sandown International Raceway.
Foster entered the weekend with a narrow four point deficit to Victorian driver Tim Macrow
“I was pretty confident going into this weekend even though I was chasing Tim for the points, so to have this realised this afternoon feels pretty awesome,” the new Australian Drivers Championship winner, and CAMS Gold Star winner said.
“I knew if I could get a start on the front row we’d be in with a better than average chance – and how well we got off the line was going to decide it.
The conditions out there weren’t the best with all the spray so I was glad to be running at the front ... Mitch (Evans) pulled a good move on me and knowing Tim was now within striking range of me I wasn’t about to start fighting him for position.”
Macrow, the 2007 F3 champion, was understandably disappointed with today’s result.
“I really struggled with our wet set-up today,” Macrow said.
“I think if we went for a half wet / half dry configuration we would have had a better chance ... just as the car started to feel settled and I made ground on Joey we had another great downpour ... from then on the championship was pretty much his.”
Another driver to shine in the miserable conditions was young New Zealander Mitch Evans, this year’s runner up in the Australian Formula Ford Championship.
15-year-old Evans, also piloting a BRM prepared F307 Mercedes, again displayed talent that has him pegged as one of the world’s brightest motorsport stars of the future, confidently taking control of the final race against far older and experienced drivers in the tricky conditions.
“I took it pretty easy in the first race today because I just wasn’t sure how the track was going to play out with regards to grip levels after all the rain we’ve had this weekend.
In the last race I think we nailed the wet set-up so I pretty much pushed it as hard as I could ... I knew Joey and Tim were racing for the championship so I didn’t try anything to radical but at the end of the day there was a race to be won and I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass.”
Evans’ win today makes him the youngest competitor to do so in the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship.
In the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, it was Queenslander Matt Kingsley who took home the silverware after holding out his championship nemesis Sven Burchartz. 
While Kingsley and Burchartz battled for the title, it was Victorian Jeff Bobik who bagged the points on offer, using his local knowledge to take out the round win.
Also taking home a series title this weekend, in the V8 Touring Cars National Series was South Australian Adam Wallis.
Wallis, driving a Holden Commodore VX held off the tenacious Terry Wyhoon for the title, with Harmony’s Chris Smerdon finishing the season in third place.
And proving the form that earned his 2008 Fujitsu Development Series Championship, V8 Supercar endurance driver Steve Owen obliterated the competition this weekend winning all three races in convincing fashion.
In the Commodore Cup National Series, Victorian Brett Holdsworth maintained his winning form to take out the 2009 title ahead of fellow statesman Tony Bates.
And the final champion to be crowned this weekend was Garry Holt who took out the 2009 Boylan Traffic Solutions Australian Manufactuers Championship.
The Shannons Nationals will return in 2010, kicking off with Round one at Wakefield Park Raceway, New South Wales on the 6-7 March.
