AASA Combine Day 1 Wrap

Day 1 of the inaugural AASA Combine has concluded and was an action-packed day for both the tin tops and the open wheelers with a vast array of on track activities at Winton Motor Raceway.

In total four different categories hit the track, entrants from the TA2 Muscle Car Series, Yokohama Tyres AASA Australian Ford Championship, Formula RX8 and Australian Drivers’ Championship.

The Tin Top classes were combined as were the open-wheelers, allowing drivers and teams more on track time.

Today featured dedicated rolling start simulation sessions, the new rolling start procedure sees pole sitting car now dictate when the race commences within the acceleration zone.

Off-track a big announcement was made with Yokohama Tyres announced as the naming rights sponsor of the AASA Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2026.

At the end of the day there was also a shootout session, a one-lap quali simulation run, like a Supercars Top 10 Shootout.

Another qualifying simulation will take place tomorrow, an ‘Indy Style’ quali shootout.

The fastest driver in each category across both sessions takes home the prize of a year’s free testing at Winton Motor Raceway.

In the shootout, Cameron Laws was the fastest in the TA2 Muscle Car Series, just over a quarter of a second faster than Jack Smith.

While in the open-wheel Formula Fords, it was Hunter Salvatore who set the best time. He was 0.4s faster than Jamie Rowe, with Tabitha Ambrose rounding out the top three.

In the non-competitive sessions the day was split into two halves, the morning and afternoon.

It was Smith who set the benchmark in the TA2 Muscle Car Series category in the morning with a 1m 25.375s, 1.775s faster than Laws, with Mark Spencer rounding out the top three.

In the afternoon Laws was faster than Smith, however he could not match the former Supercars driver’s morning benchmark.

In the Yokohama Tyres AASA Australian Ford Championship Tabitha Ambrose topped the timesheets in the regular timed sessions.

Rowe was fastest in the morning with a 1m 25.848s, but it was tight, the top three were split by just 0.1s. Ambrose was second fastest just 0.033s behind, while Formula Ford newcomer Rio Campbell rounded out the top three.

In the afternoon Ambrose set the best time and the fastest time of the day a 1m 25.858, less than 0.03s faster than Rowe, Hunter Salvatore set the third fastest time today.

Tomorrow’s on-track action will be highlighted by the ‘Indy Style’ quali format in the afternoon, at the end of which prizes will be awarded.