LAUNCESTON teenage racer Jock Goodyer exceeded his own expectations by finishing inside the top 10 of last weekend’s Australian Formula 500s Championships in South Australia.
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Goodyer, 16, lined up in the 30-lap final out of position 12 at Murray Bridge Speedway and toiled away hard to clinch sixth position against the nation’s best.
He was the second fastest driver in practice but slipped back to eighth from fifth in his opening heat race and finished fifth in heat-race two, before regaining his composure to win his remaining heat race.
Goodyer delivered a solid performance to come in fourth in the preliminary final.
In the final the young star quickly made his way up to seventh in the opening five laps, battled for positioning through the middle stages to move up to sixth with 10 laps to go and stayed there with consistent racing.
“We went into the championships just hoping to qualify for the feature race, so to have been able to do that and also finish where we did is an amazing feeling,” he said.
“It was a lot of effort to make it over to the mainland to race and this result makes it all worthwhile.
“This definitely gives us some more confidence in racing on the mainland, but we’ll definitely continue to learn and improve, and gain as much experience as possible while we’re over here.”
Carrying added confidence into his next appearance, Goodyer is hoping he can continue his strong form at Sydney’s Valvoline Raceway on Saturday night.