The 2002 Australian Formula Ford Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Formula Ford racing cars. [1] It was the tenth Australian Formula Ford Championship. [2]
Heading into the season, Jamie Whincup was touted as a championship favourite. Heavily favoured to carry his form shown in his debut year the previous season. He, along with teammate Marcus Marshall at Sonic Motor Racing Services (running under the Garry Rogers Motorsport banner), were the pacesetters throughout the season. However, rookie Mark Winterbottom would prove to be a serious challenger for the championship, driving with Borland Racing Developments, and would herald the first of many battles between he and Whincup in the years to come.
Whincup would ultimately emerge victorious at seasons end with Winterbottom finishing second overall and Marshall in third. [3]
| Team | Chassis | No | Driver | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonic Motor Racing Services (Garry Rogers Motorsport) | Van Diemen RF01 | 3 | | All |
| Van Diemen RF01 | 7 | | All | |
| Brad Jones Racing | Van Diemen RF02 | 6 | | All |
| Hanger Racing | Spectrum 09 | 10 | | 5 |
| Anglo Australian Motorsport | Van Diemen RF94 | 13 | | 5 |
| Tekno Autosports | Van Diemen RF01 | 14 | | All |
| James Small Racing | Mygale SJ01 | 15 | | 2–5, 7 |
| MinervaNET Motorsport | Spectrum 09 | 18 | | 1–3, 6–7 |
| Chamberlain Racing | Spectrum 06b | 22 | | 1–7 |
| Gilmour Developments | Van Diemen RF96 | 25 | | 8 |
| T.R.E. Motorsport | Spectrum 07 | 26 | | 1–2 |
| Fastlane Racing | Van Diemen RF94 | 26 | | 4 |
| Van Diemen RF90 | 32 | | 4 | |
| Van Diemen RF94 | 59 | | All | |
| Van Diemen RF94 | 62 | | 4, 6 | |
| Interpak Racing | Swift SC94F | 28 | | 1, 5 |
| Macrow Racing | Spectrum 06b | 28 | | 2, 7 |
| Wimmers Soft Drinks | Van Diemen RF02 | 32 | | 1–3, 5 |
| Thomson Ford | Van Diemen RF93 | 33 | | 1–2, 5 |
| Steve Baxter | Van Diemen RF92 | 33 | | 4 |
| Lowe Racing | Spectrum 06b | 34 | | All |
| Michael Henderson | 35 | | 4 | |
| Thrifty-Link Hardware | Van Diemen RF95 | 36 | | All |
| Property Solutions Group | Van Diemen RF95 | 40 | | 8 |
| Borland Racing Developments | Spectrum 09 | 41 | | All |
| Spectrum 07 | 69 | | 7 | |
| Intune Motorsport | Swift SC94F | 42 | | 1–3, 5, 7–8 |
| Rupert Collins Plastics | Spectrum 06b | 43 | | 2, 7 |
| MC Racing | Spectrum 06 | 44 | | 4 |
| Holts Crane Hire | Van Diemen RF96 | 44 | | 8 |
| Pettaras PressCastle Finance | Van Diemen RF98 | 45 | | 5 |
| Jagz Racing | Swift SC93F | 47 | | 4 |
| Simon Wheeler | Van Diemen RF98 | 48 | | 4 |
| Gregory's Ford | Spectrum 06b | 49 | | 1–3 |
| Eggleston Motorsport | Spectrum 07 | 51 | | 1–3, 7 |
| VIP Petfoods | Vector MG96 | 53 | | 8 |
| Vector TF94 | 54 | | 8 | |
| Apex Motorsport | Van Diemen RF98 | 55 | | 2, 5–8 |
| Vagelis Cafe & Bar | Van Diemen RF95 | 57 | | 1–3, 5–8 |
| Swingyde | Van Diemen RF93 | 61 | | 1–7 |
| Lansvale Racing Team | Van Diemen RF93 | 63 | | 5, 7–8 |
| Stones Kart Spares | Van Diemen RF96 | 66 | | 1–2 |
| AdRad Radiators | Van Diemen RF94 | 66 | | 6 |
| Sean Supanz | Van Diemen RF87 | 67 | | 4 |
| Luke Morton | Van Diemen RF94 | 69 | | 4 |
| Factory Enterprises | Spectrum 06b | 71 | | 1–3, 5–8 |
| Nomad Racing | Spectrum 06 | 74 | | 4, 6–7 |
| Burford Racing | Van Diemen RF92 | 75 | | 1, 5 |
| Complete Fire | Swift SC93F | 77 | | 6 |
| Bryce Francis Automotive | Van Diemen RF02 | 82 | | All |
| Sita/Marsh | Van Diemen RF94 | 84 | | 2, 6–8 |
| Proteus Cosmetics | Van Diemen RF95 | 87 | | 1–3, 6–7 |
| Tim Davies | Van Diemen RF90 | 88 | | 4 |
| Southern Titanium | Van Diemen RF90 | 92 | | 4, 6 |
| Qantas Link/Avis | Van Diemen RF95 | 94 | | 8 |
| Paul Zsidy | Spectrum | 96 | | 7 |
| Clive Hartz | Van Diemen RF95 | 98 | | 4 |
| Tony D'Alberto Racing | Mygale SJ00 | 99 | | 7 |
The championship was contested over an eight-round series with two races per round. [3]
| Round | Circuit | Dates | Supporting | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 31 March | Konica V8 Supercar Series | |
| 2 | | 5 May | Konica V8 Supercar Series | |
| 3 | | 9 June | V8 Supercar Championship Series | |
| 4 | | 30 June | V8 Supercar Championship Series | |
| 5 | | 27 July | V8 Supercar Championship Series | |
| 6 | | 4 August | Konica V8 Supercar Series | |
| 7 | | 18 August | V8 Supercar Championship Series | |
| 8 | | 14 September | V8 Supercar Championship Series Queensland 500 | |
Championship points were awarded at each race on the following basis:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 20 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Pos. | Driver | WAK | PHI | CAN | WAN | ORA | MAL | WIN | QUE | Pen | Pts | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | ||||
| 1 | | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 243 | |||||||||
| 2 | | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | Ret | -10 | 227 | ||||||||
| 3 | | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 224 | |||||||||
| 4 | | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 150 | |||||||||
| 5 | | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | Ret | DNS | 11 | 6 | 128 | |||||||||
| 6 | | 22 | 9 | Ret | 7 | 6 | 6 | 1 | Ret | 114 | |||||||||
| 7 | | 13 | Ret | 11 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 68 | |||||||||
| 8 | | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Ret | 62 | |||||||||
| 9 | | 7 | 12 | 54 | |||||||||||||||
| 10 | | 5 | 5 | Ret | 16 | 9 | 11 | 47 | |||||||||||
| 11 | | 10 | 12 | Ret | 13 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 27 | |||||||||
| 12 | | 5 | 5 | 26 | |||||||||||||||
| 13 | | 6 | 4 | 20 | |||||||||||||||
| = | | 6 | 6 | 10 | Ret | 11 | 9 | 16 | Ret | 20 | |||||||||
| 15 | | 14 | |||||||||||||||||
| = | | 8 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 10 | Ret | 17 | 8 | 14 | |||||||||
| 17 | | 10 | 5 | 11 | |||||||||||||||
| 18 | | 16 | 15 | 10 | |||||||||||||||
| 19 | | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| 20 | | 11 | DNS | 9 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 7 | |||||||||||
| = | | 12 | 10 | 14 | Ret | Ret | 7 | 7 | |||||||||||
| 22 | | 15 | 11 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| = | | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 24 | | 14 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 12 | 13 | Ret | 20 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| - | | 14 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 0 | |||||||||||
| - | | 16 | 15 | Ret | DNS | 15 | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||
| - | | 17 | 14 | Ret | 18 | 16 | 12 | 0 | |||||||||||
| - | | 18 | 18 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 19 | 20 | Ret | DNS | 0 | |||||||||||||
| - | | 20 | 17 | 18 | DNS | 19 | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||
| - | | 21 | 13 | 20 | Ret | 18 | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||
| - | | 23 | 19 | 17 | 21 | 13 | 14 | 0 | |||||||||||
| - | | DNS | Ret | 13 | 17 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| - | | 19 | 22 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | Ret | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 12 | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 13 | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 15 | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 18 | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 19 | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 20 | 12 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 21 | 11 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | 22 | 14 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | Ret | DNS | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| - | | Ret | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Pos. | Driver | WAK | PHI | CAN | WAN | ORA | MAL | WIN | QUE | Pen | Pts | ||||||||
| R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | ||||
Note: Australian Formula Ford regulations mandated the use of the Ford 1600cc "Kent" four cylinder engine. [4]