Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway will join Lords Cricket Ground as the host of a sporting contest between Australia and England this weekend, in Round Six of the Shannons Nationals. Englishman Joey Foster and Australian Tim Macrow are fighting for the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship, which features young aces in Australia’s fastest race cars. One of seven categories racing at Eastern Creek this weekend, Formula 3 is a class contested around the world, with Mark Webber among 17 of the 20 current Formula 1 drivers to have cut their teeth in the class internationally. With four of the eight rounds in the 2009 Australian Championship completed, Foster, from Cornwall, leads the way in his maiden season down under.

Foster forged an impressive record in Europe and North America, but his career lost momentum after sustaining a broken back in a crash in Germany in 2006.

Since moving to Australia at the start of the year, Foster has won five of the eight races and currently holds a 20-point championship lead over Macrow.

“I have noticed the England versus Australia rivalry more since I’ve been in Australia, as an outsider over here, so it looks like I’m fighting for my country,” Foster, who is Sydney based, said.

“There are a lot of similarities between my battle with Tim and the Ashes.

“We’re both very evenly matched and very competitive people that want to win this title - but so far it hasn’t had the controversy of the cricket, which is good!

“Neither of us has been able to get a big break over the other since the first round of the championship, so this weekend is going to be important.”

Foster is aiming to become the third Englishman to win the title in four years, following in the footsteps of countrymen Ben Clucas (2006) and James Winslow (2008).

“Ben and James both won the Australian championship; I’d love to do the same,” Foster said.

“We’ll keep pushing hard to keep scoring points, hopefully the championship result is different to the result of the first test match; I don’t want to draw, I want a win!”

2007 Australian Formula 3 Champion, Macrow is flying the local flag.

The Melbourne driver has scored race wins at each of the last three events to halve Foster’s championship lead, which peaked at 40 points.

“It’s going to be a big weekend,” Macrow said.

“There’s been nothing between us in the last couple of rounds, and we want to keep closing the gap to Joey.

“We know the best way to reduce his lead is to win races and get the bonus points for pole position and fastest laps.

“We’ll work hard all weekend and try to do just that, if it means beating a Pom in the process it’ll be even sweeter.”

Two Western Sydney-based rising stars will also be looking for a strong weekend on home soil.

Mat Sofi sits fourth in the Championship Class, while ‘Red Kangaroo’ driver Tom Tweedie leads the National Class for older-model cars.

The Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship will be joined at Eastern Creek by the Boylan Traffic Solutions Australian Manufacturers Championship, Australian GT Championship, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, Commodore Cup, Australian Superkart Championship and Tyrepower HQ Nationals.

A big weekend of action kicks off at 9am on Saturday, with racing from 3pm, ahead of a full program of races from 9am on Sunday.

Sunday tickets are great school holiday value at just $20, with kids under 12, grandstand seating and pit paddock access all free.

A unique initiative in conjunction with Boylan Traffic Solutions, wheelchair-bound fans and a carer will be admitted free all weekend.

For more information about the 2009 Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships, visit http://www.thenationals.com.au.