Preston’s winning journey began in Australian Formula Ford, working alongside Jason Bargwanna with the Spectrum Formula Ford chassis that Preston helped design and develop:
– 1996 Australian Formula Ford Championship: Secured 2nd place with Jason Bargwanna driving the Spectrum 05
– 1998 Australian Championship: Achieved a 1-2 finish with Adam Macrow taking the championship and Christian Jones second
These early successes established the Spectrum chassis as a dominant force in Australian Formula Ford. Part of the strategy for the 1996 championship was to be as prepared as possible. As a result, we entered into 2 races in 1995. The Australian Grand Prix at Adelaide and the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama both had support races with plenty of coverage.
As a build-up to the 1996 Championship, Spectrum entered the Spectrum 05b into the 1995 Adelaide Grand Prix. In that race, Jason Bargwana came second to Mark Webber, who went on to win the British Formula Ford Festival and go onto great this at Red Bull..
1996 Australian Formula Ford Championship
The 1996 Australian Formula Ford Championship was the culmination of years working in Formula Fords where success started to come. It was at the Eastern Creek race when Barry Lake came and proposed that Mark should consider following a dream to go to F1, and the rest as they say was history.
Sandown Rd 2
Philip Island – Rd 4
Barbagallo – Rd 6
Bathurst 1000 – 1996 Race 1
Bathurst 1000 – 1996 Race 2
Background Research
The Australian Race Magazine from January 1996 provides excellent context about the lead-up to the 1996 season and confirms several key details:
– Jason Bargwanna was confirmed to drive the Spectrum 05 for the National Series in 1996
– The car was run by Team Arrow with backing from Melbourne businessman George Stockman
– Mark Preston had joined as partner to Mike Borland, bringing graduate engineering and computer expertise
– The Spectrum 05b was described as “state of the art and comparable with any of the best imports”
Key Pre-Season Performance Indicators
The magazine documents significant 1995 lead-up results that predicted 1996 success:
Bathurst Meeting (1995):
• 4th fastest qualifier
• 4th place in Race 2 (Race 1 hampered by gear selection issues)
Adelaide Grand Prix Meeting (1995):
• Qualified in top 6
• 2nd place finish in Race 2 (after battling Jason Bright and surviving oil on track)
From Auto Action Magazine (March 2006)
The Auto Action feature confirms the championship outcome:
• “We owned Jason Bargwanna’s car, which came second in the 1996 Australian Formula Ford Championship”
