PUKEKOHE ROUND 3 - RACE 1 REPORT

Ian Foster ended a long run of bad luck today by taking the first race victory today at Pukekohe Park Raceway. Foster (Auckland) had started from fourth on the grid and capitalised on a few incidents in the race to take the victory by the narrowest of margins from championship leader Michael Shepherd.

In a race of epic proportions, Selby Allison had led from the start right through till the second to last lap when he missed a gear at the hairpin, dropping back to sixth in the process. His missed gear change saw Andrew Waite collide with the back of Allison's car, losing his nose cone.

John Young, who started second on the grid, made a great start to lead the way early on, but he was soon passed by much of the leading bunch after two laps. Allison had taken the lead and proceeded to drag a gaggle of 9 cars behind him.

Three laps into the race, Young and Cliff Field (who had started 9th) tangled at the exit of the hairpin after Young was forced to move left to avoid Andrew Waite - who had come up on the inside on the exit. The resulting collision saw both Field and Young lose the leading bunch (see video clip below).

Up front, the battle raged for second place behind Allison, with Simon Hardy, Shepherd, Scott Fountain, Waite, Caine Lobb, Foster and Bryan McConkey all jostling to obtain the best position for the last lap.

Brake lock-ups were common at the hairpin on most laps as each driver tried to find the advantage and slip into that crucial second position.

Entering the hairpin on the seventh lap, Allison missed second gear and exited the hairpin momentarily in neutral. Waite was right behind Allison at the time and clipped the rear of his car, breaking of the Speedsport Scholarship winner's nosecone. This caused the pack to scramble and slowed the bunch enough for Field to get a run up close to the back of the pack with a lap to go.

The next lap at the hairpin saw more drama when Waite's exhaust system broke apart leaving his muffler and several exhaust spacers on the track. It didn't seem to hamper his preformance too much as he chased the first three up the hill towards the finish line.

By this stage Field had managed to get himself back up to the rear of the pack and all nine front runners crossed the line in one group - less than .77 seconds separating all nine.

Foster took a popular win, from Shepherd, followed by Hardy, McConkey, Allison, Waite, Fountain, Lobb and Field.

Fellow competitor and 'ace' Formula First mechanic Selby Allison replacing pistons and barrels on Cliff Field's car. Field's took the fastest lap time, a 1:14.39 - fast enough to take pole for race two. Field's car however required attention after it had lost close to a litre of oil during the race. The decision was made to replace all four pistons and barrels for tomorrow's events.

The grid will be shuffled hugely for race two with the winner Foster possibly starting as far back as 9th, while Field will start from pole, with Simon Hardy in second. Series leader Shepherd has also slipped down the grid, although his exact position is yet to be determined. Young also drops down the grid significantly after starting second in race 1.