Tristan DeGrand's column - My Australian education

American racer Tristan DeGrand contested the final round of the Australian Formula Ford Championship in November as one of the winners of the inaugural Spectrum International Scholarship, scoring three top-ten finishes.

The 18-year-old from St. Louis, the 2014 Toyo Tires F1600 and Quebec F1600 Champion, returned from his Australian adventure, racing at Phillip Island, and now shares his experience from Down Under.

Despite a travel delay in reaching Australia, where I basically ended up arriving a day later than expected, I thankfully still had a bit of spare time to enjoy some sight-seeing opportunities before getting down to the business of testing and racing.

Given it's starting to get pretty cold in Missouri, I fully embraced the weather during my stay in Melbourne. I was able to hit the beach a couple of times, relax and soak up the sun. I quickly forgot about the snow back home but I didn't get too long to get comfortable as there was work to do.

I did get to check out Melbourne, though, courtesy of some of the team members showing me around the city, which was awesome of them. It allowed us some time to get to know each other and then we headed to Winton Motor Raceway for my test day, the only opportunity I'd have to run with the team before heading straight into the action at Phillip Island the following weekend.

The Winton test went pretty well in my opinion. I spent most of my track time getting used to the driving style that came with running on the Avon tires. It was certainly a different style than I'm used to but I adapted quickly and enjoyed the speed of the Duratec engine in the car  – more power is always welcome!

Part of my prize for winning the Spectrum International Scholarship was the opportunity to head to the factory where they design and produce the Spectrum race chassis. It was a fun part of the experience. It was cool to see how the car parts are produced and the level of detail that goes into even the smallest elements of the car. The majority of parts are made in-house and to my surprise, almost all of the parts are hand assembled. The design process from computer to reality was really educational.

Speaking of computers, I spent most of my time at the factory behind the wheel of the Spectrum simulator, sampling the Phillip Island circuit on iRacing.

While the simulator was fun, I have to say the real Phillip Island was even better than I had anticipated. Everyone had told me it was a great track but it quickly shot to the top of my favorite circuits list. It's impossible to explain just how neat the track is and it's unbelievable setting.

At one point racing down the front straight, all you can see is the surface of the track and the ocean. Even better, it's extremely fast as well, I was probably hitting 150mph at the end of the front stretch. That said, it has its challenges, too – the smallest mistake there really hurts your lap time.

I was racing with Ellery Motorsport Enterprises on behalf of the factory Spectrum team, Borland Racing Developments. We had qualifying and Race 1 on the Saturday followed by a double-header of racing on the Sunday.

I qualified 11th for the first race which, given just how competitive the field was, I was satisfied with. The start was pretty crazy, I dropped a couple of spots from the standing start but I capitalized on a first-lap crash that involved Spectrum driver James Golding. Things settled down and I got to work. I had a good battle with Golding's teammate, Tom Grech. I took the checkered flag in 10th, which would also be my starting position for the second race.

Race 2 was somewhat frustrating. A top-five finish was potentially there but I lacked some speed. The car had slight understeer in the high-speed corners – which is most of them at Phillip Island. I couldn't make up much ground after a solid start. I finished eighth but it was disappointing having been fifth after the first two laps.

Adjustments to the car really helped for the third and final race. Again, it was somewhat of a manic start off the line. I lost the draft of the leaders but I was able to pull away from the group I was in and take some time out to gap the front-running pack. My best lap time was just two tenths off the fastest set in the race so we'd turned things around pretty well after the issues in Race 2. I finished eighth again.

My time in Australia is an experience I'll never forget. It was a great opportunity to further develop as a driver. For example, I learned more about being patient with my car and executing precise footwork – especially through Phillip Island's corners.

The actual racing wasn't anything new for me, it was more aggressive perhaps than Canadian F1600 but nothing in comparison to karting in Europe! All new experiences are valuable though and I'll take the knowledge and lessons learned from this trip and keep applying them in my career.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the Spectrum International Scholarship possible, notably Michael Duncalfe from Exclusive Autosport and Spectrum owner, Mike Borland. I loved racing for Ellery Motorsport Enterprises, the guys on the team helped add to the experience.

Finally, it was awesome to compete against the other drivers in Australian Formula Ford. They're a competitive bunch and I loved being in the mix with them flying the Stars and Stripes for the USA!

-Tristan