Will Brown extended his championship lead by securing the opening race win at Sandown for Round Five of the CAMS Jayco Australian Formua 4 Championship this weekend (16-18 September).

Brown started alongside the U Race It Pole Position winner Jordan Love on the front row and got the jump over his Team BRM teammate.

AGI Sport’s Nick Rowe made a classic Turn One pass on Brown halfway through the race, with Brown running behind until the final few laps of the race where he reclaimed the lead.

“The battle with Nick was good. I probably didn’t race as good as I would have liked to,” Brown said.

“Started to look in the mirrors a bit and made a few mistakes. We came back from that after he passed us, got past him and then eyes forward.”

Love recovered to finish the race in 2nd, setting fastest laps throughout the race as he closed in on Rowe.

“I didn’t get the best of starts, so that really ruined pretty much the whole race I think,” Love said.

“We went back to almost fourth at the start. Managed to start chipping our way forward and had really good pace towards the end. Caught up to [Nick Rowe] Rowie and he managed to fire himself off, which is a little bit helpful!

“The aim was head down, try and catch [Brown] we did a little bit at the end but wasn’t enough time.”

Amongst the battle between Brown, Rowe and Love, Josh Denton was the benefactor amongst the commotion to collect the final podium place.

“The start wasn’t too good but after that I started chipping away at the leaders,” Denton said.

“Harry [Hayek] went off at Turn One which was unfortunate, but gave me a position. I kept chipping away, started to catch Jordan and then Nick fell off coming onto Dandenong Road which was unfortunate.

“That’s racing I guess! Slowly picked away it again, got third for the race which is really good.”

Denton’s third place is crucial as he aims to extend his lead in the Burson Auto Parts Rookie of the Year standings.

“Yeah that’s interesting, I’ve got a bit of a lead now I think. Should be good!” Denton said.

Team BRM’s Will Brown crossed the line in first place for the second time on Saturday (17 September), but that wasn’t to be the end of the story, as he was later excluded from the results of Race Two due to a technical infringement, after post-race inspections in parc fermé.

AGI Sport’s Nick Rowe lead much of the first portion of the encounter, pulling out a mighty gap after an impressive opening lap. However Rowe had to be content with third place come the finish line, with Josh Denton pulling off a brilliant move down at Dandenong Road in the final laps of the race.

“Yeah started P1 and got a good start, got to the lead, got to a bit of a gap,” Rowe said.

“I can’t thank the boys at AGI Sport enough, they’re awesome at setting up cars, good blokes. I can’t thank SCT Logistics for all their support on the race track and off the race track.”

Denton was buzzing after claiming his best result of the season, extending his Burson Auto Parts Rookie of the Year championship lead.

“It was a very exciting race. The start wasn’t too good but I fought my way back and made some pretty good moves down onto Dandenong Road against Jordan [Love] and Nick Rowe on the last lap,” Denton said.

“That was pretty scary, but I managed to pull it off! It was a good race in the end.

“Since the start of the year I’ve definitely made a lot of improvements. I’m feeling pretty excited going into the next race and going into the last round at Gold Coast.”

JRD’s Tyler Everingham had started the race from the front row, and initially got the jump over U Race It Pole Position sitter Nick Rowe.

Unfortunately the Dubbo driver out-braked himself into Turn One, but still produced some impressive overtaking manoeuvres throughout the race to eventually cross the line in seventh.

“It was just a bit of fun going around the outside! Thought I would give it a go,” Everingham said.

“It was a little bit slippery on the rubber but it held.”

DREAM Motorsport’s Simon Fallon certainly created some impressive images for television, getting some air into Turn One towards the end of the race. The young Victorian took solace though in feeling extra speed aboard his CoolDrive supported Formula 4.

“At least we found some pace!” Fallon said. “ I had a bit of fun out there still. This year’s all about experience, it doesn’t matter too much we’ll take it as a positive and move on.”

Race Two was raced in honour of Australian Formula 3 and V8 Ute racer Luke Spalding, who passed away after a long battle with cancer. The entire Formula 4 grid wore #WeFlyWith23 decals in tribute to the 18-year-old.

“I just want to send a shoutout to Luke Spalding who unfortunately lost his life with cancer,” Nick Rowe said.

“I hope his family and everyone else involved with him is going alright.”

The CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship community wishes to extend its condolences to Luke Spalding's family, friends and colleagues.

After a wet conclusion at Sandown Raceway on Sunday, Will Brown has claimed honours for Round Five of the 2016 CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship.

Brown, winner of Race One and Three, further extended his championship lead ahead of the season finale on the Gold Coast.

“To come out and win the last race, and still have good pace, we were really happy about that. So to win the weekend with what happened is a great weekend, and we look forward to the Gold Coast,” Brown said.

“I think we’ll still be looking for wins but we’ll see what happens when we get there. Luckily we raced there last year.”

Winner of Round Two at Phillip Island Jordan Love was second for the weekend overall, with the Team BRM pilot claiming another consistent points haul at Sandown.

Coincidentally, the podium trio of Brown, Love and Nick Rowe were the only drivers to previously experience Formula 4 in the wet.

“It was a pretty interesting weekend, not the best weekend but managed to stay consistent and keep it on the track,” Love said.

“The track was pretty greasy. I think the word I got before I went out was just to keep all fours on the track, because there’s bound to be a safety car when you’ve got a track that slippery and there was.

“I’m glad we kept it on track to come away with third so I’m happy with that.”

AGI Sport's Nick Rowe continued his streak of podiums to claim third for the weekend, and whilst a race win eluded Rowe he remains hopeful for his title aspirations.

“It would have been more possible if Race Three went our way, but we’ll see how we go. We’ve still got three races left and anything can happen,” Rowe said.

“It was a good weekend. I can’t thank AGI Sport enough for everything they do for me. It’s great to have a team like that behind me, SCT Logistics for their support, and all the boys for the good racing.”

After claiming Saturday’s Race Two win, Team BRM’s Josh Denton also claimed Burson Auto Parts Rookie of the Round honours.

“It was very difficult, having the dry race yesterday and then the wet race today,” Denton said.

“It’s been amazing this year. We’ve definitely learnt a lot from the start of the year. To come away with the race win yesterday was pretty amazing.”

Round Six of the CAMS Jayco Australian Formula 4 Championship will next visit the streets of the Gold Coast on 21-23 October, in what will be a thrilling final round of the year as Will Brown, Nick Rowe and Jordan Love aim for title honours.

Race One Results

Race Two Results

Race Three Results

Sandown Overall Standings