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.
Christchurch driver Nick Donaldson fights off Damon Leitch (Invercargill) and Matthew Penrose (Rangiora) at Ruapuna last weekend
Championship Points After Round 3:
Richie Stanaway (Tauranga) 565; Stefan Webling (Oakura) 547; Simon Evans (Auckland) 453; Jamie McNee (Wellington) 443; Mitchell Evans (Auckland) 429; Martin Short (Hamilton) 397; Matthew Penrose (Rangiora) 368; Damon Leitch (Invercargill) 348; Chris Cox (Rangiora) 321; Brett Sullivan (Nelson) 304; Kerry Ross (Tauranga) 185; Kim Crocker (Tauranga) 154; Nick Donaldson (Christchurch) 124; Ken Smith (Auckland) 111; Daniel Jilesen (Taumarunui) 96; Matt Williams (Christchurch) 96; Clara Bond (Christchurch) 80; Henry Thomas-Kircher (Taumarunui) 65; Stephen Heffernan (Invercargill) 52.
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For Further Media Information Contact:
Kevin Lancaster
Ph. 09 627 8219 (Home)
Ph. 021 627 824 (mobile)
Email: kevlancs@xtra.co.nz
