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For the second round in a row Sydney driver Mat Sofi has proved he has the pace needed to win in the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship.

And, for the second round in a row, that success has been thwarted by some bad luck out of his hands – but it hasn’t got the Transwest Racing driver down, in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

”Bring on Phillip Island; that’s all I can say,” he said the conclusion of a tough weekend in a cold and wintery South Australia.

Sofi’s Transwest Racing / RALT Australia Dallara F307 – Mugen Honda showed impressive pace throughout the Mallala weekend, including two strong qualifying performances that left him within a few tenths of a second of the leaders.

In race one he started fifth, ran sixth for most of the race until the final corner where he jumped back into the top five.

A race long drive with former point’s leader Neil McFadyen and Nick Percat saw the three trade track position for most of the 14 laps, Sofi deciding enough was enough on the final lap.

When Percat blocked McFadyen’s move into the turn seven hairpin, Sofi stuck to the outside (grippier) racing line and shot around the outside of the former Gold Star champion, leaping back to fifth.

His only disappointment with the move was that he didn’t get fourth as well.

In race two he was dicing with the leading bunch into turn two when a touch from behind spun the #2 Total Developments Dallara and sent Sofi to the back of the 17-car field with 12 laps remaining.

He then set the fifth-fastest race lap en route to a comeback to 10th position outright, and eighth in class, at the flag.

”That was an up and down weekend, for sure, but positive on the whole,” Sofi said after race two.

”Race one was good and we certainly had the car speed that we needed to do the job. I was following Neil and Nick all race long and when they went to the inside into the hairpin I saw the chance to go around the outside – the only bad thing about it was that I didn’t get the both of them at once!

”Race two was one of those very frustrating things – I got touched from behind into turn two and that spun me around.”

Sofi said that he was pleased with the speed of the car and said that it was a sign of the times that things were always moving forward in the world of F3.

”If we were at this point last year we would be winning races – but it’s just progressing forward so quickly that you have to keep working hard on improving the car,” he explained.

”We need to extract a bit more cold tyre pace in the opening few laps, but aside from that we’re faster than ever. I can’t wait for Phillip Island; it’s going to be great.”

For more information head to www.mathewsofi.com

ENDS