MTA NEW ZEALAND FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP.

FORMULA FORD TITLE WIDE OPEN AS HALF WAY POINT APPROACHES.

With the summer holiday season over for most of us, it is back to business for the MTA New Zealand Formula Ford Championship. What better way for drivers and teams to commence the New Year’s racing than to continue the South Island leg of the Series and sample more of the renowned hospitality from the dedicated race fans of Timaru and Invercargill.

As usual, Southerners will be treated to some of the best racing on offer as Levels International Raceway and Teretonga Park are two of the best Kiwi circuits suited to the wheel to wheel racing Formula Fords are designed for. In fact, some of the best racing seen last season was at those two venues and with the dates brought forward to January it is most likely the weather will play a positive part in ensuring good clean racing.

Levels International Raceway will see the half way point in the Championship but as expected, there is no clear favourite yet to emerge. The surprise of the season is debutant contender Richie Stanaway leading the points standings after totally dominating Round 3 at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway at Ruapuna. Not only is the driver debuting but so is his newly imported Mygale manufactured car from Australia which came into the season as a virtual unknown. To emphasise the competitiveness of Formula Ford racing, the Ruapuna track record was broken three times in three races during Round 3 and more lap records are expected to go over the next two rounds.

Without question, the main opposition for Stanaway will be Taranaki driver Stefan Webling who was in devastating form on these tracks last season and will be determined to regain the Championship points lead. Although most may pick the top two points earners to set the pace, there is another group of hot teenagers pushing their chances and with just one slip from the leaders are within striking distance of the top spot. These include fellow podium placegetters Simon and Mitchell Evans and Jamie McNee although Martin Short and Matthew Penrose have also been making regular inroads into the top five.

Naturally there is interest in local drivers with several Canterbury based competitors joining the Southern rounds including the impressive Nick Donaldson, Chris Cox, Brett Sullivan, Matt Williams and the new lady of Formula Ford racing, Clara Bond. For Southland fans their will be plenty to cheer about judging from the performances of Damon Leitch who sprung a major surprise in making the Round 2 podium at Pukekohe in early November. Stephen Heffernan is another Invercargill based driver who is only contesting selected Championship rounds but is always on the charge in front of his home crowd.

Racing for Rounds 4 and 5 will comprise the usual three race format to take place at Levels International Raceway (Timaru) on January 10th and 11th with Teretonga Park (Invercargill) the following weekend.

RICHIE STANAWAY DOMINATES FORMULA FORD RACING AT RUAPUNA.

Tauranga’s Richie Stanaway has dominated Round Three of the MTA New Zealand Formula Ford Championship with a clean sweep of race wins to take the points lead into the New Year segment of the season. A sensation of the weekend was the outstanding performance of Wellington’s 15 year old Jamie McNee who took 2nd place honours with a 2nd and two 4th placings with Aucklander Simon Evans taking 3rd overall from 3rd, 4th and 5th places in the three races.

The weekend started well for the Mygale manufactured cars as Stanaway comfortably qualified on pole position with typically fierce competition despite lap times not being as close as usual. Stefan Webling joined him on the front row of the grid 0.337 secs behind with McNee a superb 3rd just 0.261 secs further back. Next on the grid came Martin Short (+0.039 secs), Mitchell Evans (+0.060 secs) and Simon Evans (+0.124 secs). Canterbury based drivers Nick Donaldson, Chris Cox, Matthew Penrose and Matt Williams completed the top ten qualifiers.

Saturday morning’s Race 1 (8 laps) was an orderly affair compared to previous rounds as Stanaway led from the start and fended off all challenges from Webling to win by 0.075 secs. Simon Evans drove a consistent race for 3rd ahead of the impressive McNee. Local star Donaldson took 5th with Cox 6th followed by Brett Sullivan, Henry Thomas-Kircher, Short and Penrose. Young Mitchell Evans finished 11th after he came into contact with Short on the opening lap resulting in a drive through penalty for Evans and a disappointing placing for Short. Webling was also awarded a new lap record for the Ruapuna circuit of 1m 29.091 secs.

Race 2 (8 laps), held on Sunday morning, saw the return of cut and thrust racing when shortly after the start, Webling and Stanaway came into contact resulting in Webling’s retirement while Stanaway again went on to dominate to the chequered flag. Simon Evans took full advantage of the drama to leap into 2nd but was soon displaced by Short. A furious battle then developed between McNee, Short and Evans which saw the 15 year old McNee overtake both cars to take 2nd with Short and Evans close behind. Penrose claimed a well earned 5th ahead of Cox, Williams, Damon Leitch, Brett Sullivan and Donaldson who recovered from an earlier spin. Stanaway’s 1.4 sec margin of victory was confirmed by his breaking Webling’s newly set lap record to set a new mark of 1m 28.578 secs.

The 12 lap Feature Race 3 was an absolute classic as three separate battles kept spectators on their feet. Pole sitter Richie Stanaway was again dominant leading from start to finish despite a late challenge from Stefan Webling who drove brilliantly from his 5th starting grid position. Behind the leading duo, a scrap involving Simon Evans, Martin Short and Jamie McNee was soon joined by Mitchell Evans who also charged through the field from a lowly starting grid slot. Eventually it was Mitchell Evans who took 3rd place ahead of McNee with the ever consistent Simon Evans on his tail. Behind the leading five, Short battled hard to hold off Nick Donaldson and Chris Cox while Matthew Penrose headed home another battle group involving Damon Leitch and Brett Sullivan who all finished in that order. Mitchell Evans also became the third driver over the weekend to break the lap record with a new time of 1m 28.290 secs.

The next round of the MTA New Zealand Formula Ford Championship will take place at Levels International Raceway, near Timaru over the weekend of January 10th and 11th 2009.

SOUTH ISLAND FORMULA FORD DRIVERS EXPECTED TO CHALLENGE AT RUAPUNA.

Powerbuilt Tools raceway at Ruapuna Park is a motor racing circuit with a deep history of Formula Ford racing as proven by some of the titanic battles conducted over the four decades of racing. Not only have some of New Zealand’s great past and present International drivers locked horns there but the nature of the track is renowned for springing major surprises such as last season when a 16 year old rookie, Simon Evans, took out his maiden race win in only his second Formula Ford championship appearance.

Following the opening round of the 2008-09 season, the favoured title contenders were Simon’s younger brother Mitchell Evans and Stefan Webling but Round Two at Pukekohe changed all that when three more drivers put their hands up as challengers. Simon Evans has been a sensation as, at only 14 years of age, he won his first two Championship races but suffered some rough on-track treatment at Pukekohe which drastically hampered his progress. Webling, though not involved, capitalised on the youngster’s problems to win the Round overall and leapfrog him to the top of the points table.

While most of the attention was focused on the two favourites, Richie Stanaway literally ambushed the Pukekohe field to record his first Formula Ford win in a hard charging display which saw him runner-up for the Round despite an unfortunate off-track dispute with officialdom. To further add to the mix, 15 year old Damon Leitch excelled in qualifying then backed up his effort by completing the Round 2 podium thus signaling his intention to mix it at the sharp end of the field.

While marveling at the spectacular driving of the aforementioned drivers, we must not forget that consistency can also be a Championship winner which might explain Simon Evans sitting at fourth in the points and ready to pounce if the leaders look like faltering. Another 15 year old making impressive progress is Jamie McNee who lies in the top six on the points ladder and improves with each outing.

An interesting aspect of this weekend’s “Hampsta Win $1 Million 200” meeting will be the performance of South Island drivers more familiar with the technical Ruapuna circuit including Matthew Penrose, Brett Sullivan and Chris Cox, all of whom will be determined to challenge for prominence in front of their “home” crowd. They will be joined by Stephen Heffernan, Nick Donaldson and Matt Williams who will all be looking to make their mark against the regular front runners. Whatever the outcome of this weekend’s racing, we can be rest assured their will be a “bolter” in the mix and judging by the wheel to wheel encounters we have seen to date, few will be willing to pick a winner just yet.

WEBLING WINS EXCITING FORMULA FORDS AT PUKEKOHE.

Stefan Webling (Oakura) has won an exciting Round 2 of the MTA New Zealand Formula Ford Championship at Pukekohe Park Raceway over the weekend. His two race victories and a 2nd placing gave him overall Round 2 honours together with the sought after Ron Frost Memorial Trophy for winning Sunday afternoon’s feature race. Richie Stanaway (Tauranga) took out the runner up position following a win, 2nd and 10th placings while sensational teenager, 15 year old Damon Leitch (Invercargill), completed the podium with two 3rd placings and a 4th.

Saturday morning’s qualifying run was as close as predicted with the 14 year old Mitchell Evans setting the pole position time just 0.107 secs ahead of Stefan Webling. The invasion of youngsters was further advanced by Damon Leitch signaling his arrival at the sharp end of the field with the third fastest time 0.065 secs further back ahead of Richie Stanaway (+0.094 secs) and 16 year old Jamie McNee (+0.164 secs). Martin Short, Daniel Jilesen, Chris Cox, Simon Evans and Matthew Penrose rounded out the top ten although Simon Evans was drastically hampered after losing fourth gear on his first flying lap. Jilesen was actually only making a one-off return to the Series in preparation for his debut in the upcoming 2009 Toyota Racing Series.

The opening ten lap race of the weekend was a Formula Ford classic as Mitchell Evans, Webling and Stanaway opened an early gap to engage in a race long duel. Webling made the better start but was soon overhauled by Evans who led until a desperate outside overtaking maneuvre saw Stanaway hit the front. The enthralling battle continued until the final lap when contact saw Evans spun off at the Hairpin while Webling, although not involved, took advantage to win just 0.070 secs from Stanaway. Leitch took 3rd place after another battle involving Daniel Jilesen, Martin Short and Simon Evans who all finished in that order. Mitchell Evans recovered to take 7th ahead of Jamie McNee, Matthew Penrose, Chris Cox, Kerry Ross and Brett Sullivan.

Sunday morning’s 10 lap Race 2 saw Webling execute another blinding start but again the younger Evans regathered the lead on the opening lap. Stanaway’s early attempts to overtake around the outside came to nothing so he settled into 4th place behind the consistent Leitch until his fortunes changed drastically. With Webling having forced his way to the front, Evans attempted an outside maneuver but contact resulting in his spinning off and out of the race with damaged suspension. The restart, after the safety car period, saw two final frantic laps which allowed Stanaway to ambush both Webling and Leitch to gather the lead he was to hold to the chequered flag. Webling wisely settled for 2nd only 0.035 secs behind with Short overhauling Leitch for an excellent 3rd ahead of Simon Evans and McNee. They were then followed across the line by Penrose, Cox, Ross and Sullivan.

The revised starting grid for the 15 lap feature race saw Simon Evans and Jamie McNee off the front row but it was just a matter of time before Mitchell Evans and Richie Stanaway hit the front to open a small gap. They were eventually joined by fast charging Stefan Webling and Martin Short to form a five way tussle. After Mitchell Evans was run wide at the Hairpin, the uninvolved Webling dispatched Simon Evans to attack Stanaway for the lead but despite his best attempts, the debutant held on to record his second win of the day. Simon Evans held off Short for 4th with Mitchell Evans, McNee, Matthew Penrose, Daniel Jilesen, Brett Sullivan, Chris Cox and Kerry Ross following in that order. In a cruel twist of fate, Martin Short was later disqualified over a technicality which elevated the following drivers up one position.

The next round of the MTA New Zealand Formula Ford Championship will take place at Powerbuilt Tools Raceway, near Christchurch over the weekend of November 29th and 30th.

FORMULA FORDS PROVIDE BIG SURPRISES AT TAUPO.

The opening round of the 2008/09 MTA New Zealand Formula Ford Championship has sprung some major surprises with the usual action packed close racing resulting in a points table nobody predicted. While most of the returning drivers from last season featured prominently, it was the performance of 14 year old rookie Mitchell Evans that captured the attention with two race wins from three races to lead the Series on points.
Saturday morning’s qualifying was the first indication that race fans were in for a spectacle as last season’s MTA Scholarship winner Stefan Webling (Oakura) was comfortably on pole position with the impressive Evans (Auckland) joining him on the front row, all be it 0.512 secs behind. He was closely followed by Martin Short (Hamilton) debuting the all new Mygale manufactured car with veteran Kim Crocker (Tauranga), Kenny Smith (Auckland) and Simon Evans (Auckland) completing the top six grid positions.
From the start of Race 1 (8 laps) on Saturday afternoon, it was obvious that the rapid Mitchell Evans was not going to allow Webling to have it all his own way and after a pursuing the Taranaki driver over the opening laps, eventually took the lead which he was to hold to the finish. Crocker held his good pace to come home third ahead of another hard charging teenager, Jamie McNee (Wellington), while Smith and Richie Stanaway (Tauranga) followed closely behind. Martin Short was hampered by problems which relegated him to the rear while Simon Evans was a satisfying seventh.
Sunday morning’s Race 2 (8 laps) was as closely fought despite the prevailing wet weather and once again it was the 14 year old Aucklander Mitchell Evans who took out victory but this time chased home by the fully recovered Martin Short with Stanaway an excellent third ahead of a frustrated Webling. Matthew Penrose (Christchurch) gained one of his best results to date in fifth with Crocker well in the points in sixth.
The 12 lap feature race on Sunday afternoon was a contrast to the earlier races with Webling confirming his class with a dominant victory by nearly six seconds over the young Mitchell Evans. Stanaway drove hard for another top three placing ahead of Short, Crocker and a consistent Simon Evans. The overall Round 1 podium positions saw Evans on the top step in his debut MTA Championship appearance with Webling and the rapid Stanaway joining him for the prizegiving ceremony.

For Further Media Information Contact: Kevin Lancaster
Ph. 09 627 8219 (Home)
Ph. 021 627 824 (mobile)
Email: kevlancs@xtra.co.nz