ALL ALLISON AGAIN - ROUND 5 RACE REPORT

Selby Allison took three wins from three starts at Manfeild over the weekend to extend his points lead in the Formula First National Championship back out to 53. Allison approached round 5 at Manfeild determined to gain the upper hand after having had his points lead narrowed to just 29 at the previous round in Pukekohe.

Selby Allison leads the pack down into Higgins corner during race 1. Qualifying Allison’s mindset was evident when he placed his self-built Alvee on pole by a staggering margin of .86 seconds. Although lap records can not be given for qualifying, Allison’s time of 1:23.486 was faster than the current Manfeild lap record by close to .3 of a second.

The session started off in dry, cloudy conditions and it was Allison who was first to put in a good time. Shortly afterward, Caine Lobb moved up the time sheets to momentarily hold second place - his time being beaten less than a minute later by Allison’s main title rival, Ian Foster.

The field started to bunch up around half way through the session and it was then that times again started tumbling. Rain was threatening and all drivers were keen to get the best lap they could before the weather intervened. Just before light rain started to fall, Allison crossed the line to better his own time of 1:24.0 with a staggering 1:23.4. Having seen his lap on his on-board timer, Allison immediately pulled into the pits - happy that his time would not be challenged.

Foster’s time was good enough for second, but a lot had changed behind him. Three time series champion Michael Shepherd had moved into third, follwed by Sabre Team driver Matthew Stubbs, Caine Lobb and Dom Kalasih. Bryan McConkey was seventh, followed by Speedsport Star of Tomorrow Scholarship winner Alastair Wootten. Simon Hardy and Bradley McDonald rounded out the top ten.

David Ruthven has a big moment behind Robin Bennett during race 1. Ruthven continued on to finish 16th. Click for larger image. Race 1 Allison led the pack into the first turn with an aggressive looking Foster tucked in behind. The pack dutifully fell in behind for the first few laps, but as the race developed, the jostling for position soon allowed the leading duo to open up a small advantage.

At the front, Foster worked hard on pressuring Allison, but could not force the points-leader into a mistake – Allison eventually edging away to win by 1.5 seconds. It was Alastair Wootten who claimed the final podium spot after driving an excellent race to move his way through the field. The Gulf Harbour youngster had slotted into fifth almost immediately and looked to be biding his time behind Shepherd and team-mate Lobb. Lobb’s Hydraulink sponsored Sabre appeared to drop off the pace after lap 5, leaving Wootten and Shepherd to battle it out. The two drivers engaged in a cut-and-thrust battle for the next few laps as each attempted to out-position the other. Wootten re-took the position when it mattered and held on to beat Shepherd by half a car length.

Lobb managed to bring his car home in fifth, albeit another three seconds behind. Bryan McConkey crossed the line next, followed by Stubbs, McDonald and Kalasih. Simon Hardy limped home in tenth with an engine that had run a main bearing, the Tauranga youngster suffering yet another disappointing weekend.

Eleventh fell to Chad Ace, who was followed home by Sabre team-mate Jamie McNee. Next came Dave Scammell, Robin Bennett and Ben Poulsen.

David Ruthven finished sixteenth after having provided some excitement early in the race when he braked too late and narrowly avoided running into the back of Bennett at Higgins corner. Ruthven did well to avoid the collision and quickly gathered himself back up to finish not far behind the rest of the pack. Darren Henderson brought up the rear after having suffered a catastrophic engine failure, culminating in a broken crank.

Both Hardy and Henderson’s issues were sufficient to sideline them for the remaining races.

Chad Ace takes a novel approach to exiting the infield hairpin. Race 2 Sunday’s first race got off to an action-packed start when Matthew Stubbs gently nudged the rear of Dom Kalasih’s car on the approach to the first turn. Kalasih spun and the resulting panic saw Bradley McDonald eliminated on the spot with a broken steering arm. Chad Ace also lost his nosecone in the middle of it all. Several drivers had taken avoiding action, with the end result being an unusually spread-out field. Allison, Lobb, Wootten and Shepherd had all made it through ahead of the accident and sped off in a more typical tightly-packed bunch. Ian Foster had not made the best of starts and had found himself in the middle of the first turn fracas – leaving him with a lot of work to do.

Allison once again appeared to be unbeatable at the front and quickly set about controlling the race. The Wanganui-based Automotive Engineer soon built himself a gap of two seconds which he would maintain through till the end. Foster found his way back to the chasing pack and timed his charge to perfection to take a hard-fought second place. Caine Lobb’s engine worries appeared to be sorted and he was able to chase Foster all the way to the line, whilst also successfully fend off team-mate Wootten. Shepherd’s engine had lost power half way through the race leaving the Palmerston North driver’s Innov8 sponsored Challenge languishing 11 seconds behind the leaders – a very uncharacteristic position for the former class champion. Remax sponsored driver Matthew Stubbs crossed the line sixth behind Shepherd, ahead of Jamie McNee, Kalasih, Dave Scammell and David Ruthven.

Bennett crossed the line next, ahead of Poulsen.

Bryan McConkey had finished well up the field but had found himself excluded after failing to acknowledge a black flag. McConkey had allegedly passed Michael Shepherd under a yellow flag shown for the first corner incident.

Race 3 Another surprise awaited the field for race three when Allison bogged down badly at the start – exiting the first corner in 7th place. Foster and Lobb disputed the lead for the first few laps whilst Allison concentrated on making up for his poor start.

Michael Shepherd struggled with an under-performing car. Such was Allison’s speed, that within three and a half laps, he found his Century Batteries sponsored machine back at the head of the pack. However, this time Foster was not going to let Allison get away and set about attacking the points leader at every opportunity. Time and time again Foster pushed his Kaeser Compressor sponsored machine down the inside under brakes – taking the lead - only to have Allison re-take it later on the lap.

The frantic battled continued right through the final lap as Foster held the lead down the back straight. As the two cars headed into the final corner, Allison pulled out of the slipstream and attempted a daring manoeuvre around the outside. Foster had positioned his car to make it as difficult as possible for Allison, but it wasn’t enough and, much to the crowd’s excitement, Allison was able to make the pass and take the win by the narrowest of margins. A perfect weekend for the championship leader.

Alastair Wootten had a strong weekend with two thirds and a fourth placing. Further back, Wootten and Lobb had fought their own battle, this time with Wootten taking the honours. Bryan McConkey crossed the line in fifth, ahead of Stubbs, Shepherd, McDonald, Kalasih and McNee.

David Ruthven beat Scammell to the line, ahead of Bennett, Poulsen and Ace - who had spun earlier on.

Allison was understandably happy with his round 5 efforts.

“I’m very happy to have achieved another three from three this weekend. The performance of the car has been pleasing to say the least - given that my adjustable jetting system has not been in operation since Pukekohe.”

With three rounds remaining, Allison leads the points table on 1015 points from Foster on 962 and Shepherd on 844. The next round of the Championship takes place on 10/11 February in Taupo.