Son of former AFL star to contest Stars & Renegades Formula Ford Series
Jack Johnson, son of Western Bulldogs legend Brad, will make his national debut at the opening round of the Stars & Renegades Formula Ford Series at Winton.
Despite this being his maiden event at national level, 19-year-old Johnson has plied his trade in karting and turned to circuit racing at the start of last year by joining the Victorian Hyundai Excel Series.
Noted as a development pathway, Johnson’s move to Excels led to an association with former Victorian champion in the category Ben Bargwanna and will continue into the 2025 season.
Bargwanna will act as mentor and engineer for Johnson through his experience of Formula Ford having finished second, then led the shortened 2020 Victorian Formula Ford Championship before joining TCR Australia the next season.
Johnson competed against some of his Formula Ford Stars & Renegades competition at Sandown a fortnight ago at the opening round of the 2025 Victorian State Circuit Racing Championships where he placed a best of third in his Australian-developed Spectrum.
Johnson’s father Brad was a star of the Western Bulldogs across 364 games between 1994 and 2010. He kicked 558 goals, won three Charles Sutton Best and Fairest Medals, led the goal kicking five-times, was All Australian on six occasions, captained the club for three seasons and is now. A respected part of the Fox Footy commentary team.
The opening round of the Formula Ford Stars & Renegades Series will form part of the Hi-Tec Oils Super Series at Winton Motor Raceway on February 28-March 2.
QUOTES
Jack Johnson
#14 Accredited Distributers/Snack Brands Spectrum
“I’ve done karting for five years, then stepped up into Excels last season before jumping into Formula Ford,” said Johnson.
“I’ve always had a passion for it since we went to the Grand Prix when I was five or six and grew up loving it. When I got the opportunity to get in a kart at the age of 13, I took it and stopped footy to pursue my own career.
“We all get told if you can drive a Formula Ford, you can pretty much drive anything. It’s a fun category to learn from and step up into the next thing.
“We’ve done a lot of practice at Winton to start the year, so it’s a good track to learn and experience a mix of slow-speed, high-speed corners in addition to getting your brake technique right. It’s just a great track to learn at.
“They’ve done a great job of setting it the season up to go to all these great circuits across Australia. I’ve been to Queensland Raceway in the Excel and it was an amazing track, very fast and you have to get it right, which despite looking easy, it is not.
“My mentor is Ben Bargwanna. He’s learning to engineer and is coaching me as well to a high level. We’ve been working together for nearly two years and we’re at a similar age, so it’s been good to get some guidance from him.
Brad Johnson
“It’s exciting and it’s been a completely different world for us from day one in karting through to now,” said Johnson.
“We love it. We’re passionate about the sport now, so to see not only Jack, but the other young drivers trying to establish their careers and work through it is great to watch.
“We’ve tried to set it up where Jack has some coaching behind him, but trains and works hard to provide all the things that are needed. Most importantly though, is he enters the track with a smile on his face and leaves with one, which is awesome.
“I think it’s fantastic, it’s been set-up so well. With Marcos [Ambrose] being involved and Jeff, with the experience they’ve got is awesome. Unfortunately I work for most of the year, but my wife Donna will be at the track supporting Jack.
“It’s great that there’s full coverage, so when I’m at the footy, I can sit back and put Kayo on to have a look to see how Jack’s going.”