BALLARAT resident Ash Quiddington made a successful return to Victorian Formula Vee competition in Round 3 at Phillip Island, after spending more than half a decade on the sidelines.
Despite the sabbatical from Vee racing, Quiddington was quickly back up to speed in his Junior Racing Developments prepared Sabre 02, securing P3 in Saturday’s opening race of the weekend before capping his weekend off on the podium for the round.
Quiddington kindly spoke with vsrs.com.au to share his views from the weekend.
“I think it was six-years full time out of Vees.” Said Quiddington.
“We had a test in the car a week before Round 3 Phillip Island but didn’t get anywhere near as much running as we planned, but thankfully the Friday test just before the Phillip Island weekend was our first proper full day of running, so that was good to get settled back in, after six-years away.
“It took some adjusting to settle back in. The test was great as it gave us time to ease me back into the seat and get back up to speed, by the end of the day we were happy with where we were heading into Qualifying the next day.”
Formula Vee requires more than outright pace for success, it calls for a pragmatic, and more often than not, rehearsed approach on the run to the chequered flag, something Quiddington noted on reflection.
“It definitely required some thinking on my behalf. There are a lot of aspects to racing that you take for granted when competing full-time, settling back into the seat they’d slowly come back to memory and being at Phillip Island, it’s a tricky track and it’s hard to judge where to place the car on the final lap.”
What brought him back?
“I’d been watching the live stream of the VSRS on Blend Line TV, I’d been watching the guys battling it out at Sandown and Winton and I thought ‘I’d want a piece of that action’ and that spurred me on to get back into the seat.”
Quiddington also had respect for the level of competition afforded by 2021 Championship leader, Reef McCarthy, and fellow JRD stablemate, Heath Collinson.
“The competition was stiff, for sure. The other guys have developed a lot since the last time I raced against them. It was probably a one-off appearance for the year, but looking further forward, it definitely has reigned the fire for more.”
Round 4 of the VSRS at Sandown International Motor Raceway is scheduled for July 24-25.
