Kyle Evans scores maiden F3 victory at Sandown

The first round of the 2024 Giti Australian Formula Open has been won by KCK Lubricants’ Kyle Evans who took honours in the final race and the overall round at Sandown Raceway last weekend (February 9-11, 2024).

The F3 rookie won by three points over series rival Miles Bromley (#9 Dallara F308/11) who had been the man to beat all weekend after topping qualifying and dominating the first two races.

It was in the final 20-lap race that Evans (#17 Dallara F308/11) took the lead after closely battling with Bromley who speared off at Turn 1 later in the race, only to be stranded in the sand trap and pulled back on track by recovery crew under Safety Car.

Bromley - who finished third outright in last year’s series - had experienced a career-defining weekend up to that point claiming his first ever pole position on Friday - including the $500 pole award thanks to All Properties Group - and his first ever wins in single-seaters.

The 18 year old scored the Race 1 victory from pole position ahead of a fiercely competitive teammate in Trent Grubel (#1 Dallara F312). Bromley again won from pole on Sunday morning in Race 2 by getting the jump on Grubel, but wasn’t able to do the same in Race 3 against Evans. The Melbournian did get to the lead and worked to gain a sizeable gap before spearing off before rejoining at the rear.

The same fate was dealt to Grubel who went off earlier in the day in Race 2 after stablemate Ryan Macmillan (#21 SP Tools) made contact with the reigning champion going into Turn 1 on Lap 2, leaving Grubel out of the race and with his first DNF in the series.

In AFO2, a class for Formula Toyota cars and other similarly powered vehicles, Chris Slusarski (#93 TRS FT-50) was fastest in class all weekend across practice, qualifying and won Races 1 and 3, and finished second in Race 2 behind fellow Adelaide racer Matthew Roesler (#4 TRS FT-50).

In the AFO4 class for Formula 4 race cars, newcomer Isaac McNeill (#11 Tatuus T014) was a star in his first ever circuit racing event, scoring a hat trick of class wins as well as class pole position. FDA finalist Joanne Ciconte (#25 Mygale M14 F4) from Victoria finished second for the weekend ahead of rookie Jayden Hamilton (#43 Mygale M14 F4).

Earlier last week the series announced Giti Tire as its official naming rights partner for the 2024 season, with full technical support thanks to local Australian-based businesses Tyres4U and Gary’s Motorsport Tyres.

Download the full Round 1 Results Book here.

The series now heads to Winton Motor Raceway from April 26-28, 2024 for Round 2.