Winning Southern Highlands racer Lachlan Mineeff says his confidence levels are at an all time high, as he prepares for this weekend's fifth round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Melbourne's Sandown Raceway.
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The 16-year-old Oxley College Student claimed his maiden Formula Ford round win at The Bend Motorsport Park last time out, emerging on top after a tight tussle with several other drivers.
"I always believed I had the ability to win, but now I know I can do it, and understand exactly what it takes," Mineeff said.
"Having said that, this year's Formula Ford field is extremely competitive, so I'm not becoming over-confident. Winning a race has made me realise just how much hard work and driving skill is required... but I'm ready to do it again!"
Since The Bend, Mineeff's victorious performance has attracted attention from a number of high-profile sources including renowned current affairs commentator Paul Murray, who invited him to appear on Sky News to talk about his racing and also promote ReFrame, a free mental health service providing support to 12-25-year-olds in the Southern Highlands.
"Since I became involved with ReFrame last year, I've been looking for opportunities to promote its services through my motorsport activities - it turned out that my on-track success generated the attention we needed to give ReFrame some valuable coverage," Mineeff said.
"I'm passionate about helping other people around my age who might be going through a tough time, and I'm excited about some projects we'll be working on throughout the rest of the season."
Turning his attention back to the race track, Mineeff said the Sandown circuit is very different to other tracks Formula Ford has visited recently.
"The Bend had lots of fast, flowing corners, but Sandown is much more stop-start - it's a mixture of slow corners leading onto long straights," he said.
"There will be a lot of slip-streaming and overtaking as usual, but the key factor we'll be focusing on is drive out of the slow corners, to ensure we reach the maximum possible speed on the straights.
"The round will feature the normal format of practice on Friday, qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday, and Races 2 and 3 on Sunday."
