SELBY ALLISON - 2006/2007 FORMULA FIRST CHAMPION

Selby Allison claimed the New Zealand Formula First Championship in style at Manfeild over the weekend, with two wins from three starts. The Wanganui Formula First veteran won the second and third races after being beaten to the post in race one by determined title rival Ian Foster. Allison and Foster were once again the class of the field, taking the top two positions in each race.

Qualifying Despite threatening to do so, the weather did not come into play in qualifying, as the track stayed dry throughout. From the outset, Foster and Allison set the bar high. Foster’s pole position time of 1:23.712 was done on only his third lap. It was good enough to best Allison by just over 1/10th of a second. Both drivers realised that they done their best laps early on and had pulled into the pits by lap 8.

Paraparaumu resident Bryan McConkey has enjoyed something of a resurgence in the latter half of the season and he continued his good run of form qualifying his Kapiti Roadmakers sponsored car third on the grid ahead of Sabre driver Matthew Stubbs. Dom Kalasih was another who enjoyed a good session - ending up in fifth.

Taupo’s John Young was next on the grid, in only his second meeting of the season, followed by Speedsport Scholarship Winner Alastair Wootten, Michael Shepherd and Stefan Webling. Wanganui youngster Bradley McDonald rounded out the top ten.

Dave Scammell punched well above his weight again by qualifying his older KRD chassis in 11th. Scammell was followed by Jamie McNee, David Ruthven, Robin Bennett, Chad Ace and Darren Henderson. Ben Poulsen completed the 17-strong field.

Missing from the event was Simon Hardy. Engine problems at Pukekohe in the previous round were found to be more serious than first thought, causing the Tauranga speedster to miss the last round.

Race 1 Right from the lights, Foster’s plan was evident - attack Allison at every opportunity and hopefully force him into a mistake.

However, despite Foster’s tactics, he could not force Allison into playing his game and the two set about swapping the lead multiple times over the course of the race. No quarter was given and the two rivals left minimal room for one another during passing manoeuvres.

Ian Foster leads the pack in race 1 on Saturday. Click for larger view.

With the furious racing going on ahead of them, the rest of the field was able to stay in touch with the leaders for much of the race. However, four cars eventually broke away - Foster, Allison, McConkey and Wootten.

McConkey and Wootten were having their own tight battle but seemed reluctant to get involved in the tustle ahead of them - neither driver wanting their actions to affect the outcome of the championship.

The top four stayed in a tight group all the way to the flag.

On the last lap Foster made a dramatic pass around the outside on the last corner to take the win from Allison by less than .2 of a second. McConkey took the final podium spot from Wootten by the tiniest of margins. The gap back to fifth had increased to 2.5 seconds by the time the chequered flag waved.

Taking the fifth place spot was Stefan Webling - who had driven a great race to come from ninth on the grid. The fight for the lead of the second bunch had been just as fierce as at the front, with fifth place being fought out amongst a whole gaggle of cars. Shepherd, Webling and Young had all had turns at the lead of the chasing pack - and it was only on the last lap that Webling secured the spot.

Shepherd came home just behind Webling in sixth, ahead of Bennett, Scammell and Ruthven.

Eleventh place fell to Bradley McDonald, who had been unlucky to have had his race ruined after minor contact with Shepherd. Next came McNee, Henderson and Pouslen.

Matthew Stubbs crossed the line next - his race being hindered by a spin into the tyres exiting Dunlop - finishing the race minus his nosecone. The Masterton youngster had been running as high as fifth.

Chad Ace rounded out the finishers in 16th.

Dom Kalasih was the only retirement of the race - having pulled into the infield with mechanical problems on lap 7.

Race 2 Allison was determined to drive away in race two, having made comments early in the morning that he was not willing to fight with Foster in the same manner as they did during race 1.

“I plan to get to the front and stay there this time”, he said prior to getting into his car for the first race of the day, “it will be a different ball game this time”.

Selby Allison leading the race 1 pack into the infield. Allison took 17 wins from 24 starts on his way to the title. Click for larger view.

Whether or not the pressure was getting Allison is debatable, but he made an uncharacteristic mistake on the warm up lap and spun exiting the infield esses. For a moment it looked as if he was having trouble getting his car restarted, but thankfully for him it fired up and he was able to take his rightful position on the grid.

The warm up spin might have been a bit of a wake up call for Allison - it certainly appeared that way as soon as the lights went out.

Although the racing was as tight as ever, Allison lead for most of the race and took the win relatively comfortably, albeit by a small margin, from Foster. Foster had used every trick in the book to fluster Allison and upset his rhythm, but Allison’s resolve held up under pressure and he held on to take the win.

Once again the top two were joined by another pairing throughout the race, although this time Wootten’s place had been taken by Stubbs. It was McConkey who once again claimed the last podium spot, edging out Remax sponsored Stubbs at the line.

Shepherd secured fifth spot in his Go Rentals Challenge chassis, this time after driving a masterful race with an under-performing engine. Shepherd was followed home by Wootten, Kalasih, Young, Webling and McDonald.

Robin Bennett crossed the line 11th, followed by Scammell, Ruthven, McNee and Chad Ace.

Ben Pouslen was the only DNF, stopping with engine woes on the fourth lap.

Darren Henderson had failed to start, after also suffering engine problems in race 1.

Race 3 With 75 points available to the winner of the last race, Allison’s 69 point gap over Foster was not enough to guarantee victory.However, with the size of the field as it was, Allison would only have to finish the race to secure the title.

At the start of the race Allison had other plans and quickly took his Century Batteries sponsored Alvee to the front. In what was almost a carbon copy of race 2, Allison staunchly held his ground and defended Foster for the full 8 laps to take a well deserved victory - and the Formula First National Championship - punching the air in celebration as he crossed the line.

Foster took second from Wootten, McConkey, Shepherd, Stubbs, Young, Kalasih, Ruthven and McDonald. Next came Webling, Bennett, Ace, Scammell, McNee and Poulsen. Darren Henderson once again scored a DNF, with engine troubles ending his race early.

Allison’s title victory was a popular one, with most of the Formula First fraternity quick to congratulate the Wanganui Automotive Engineer on his achievement. Allison has done a lot for many of the class’ competitors over the years and for many, his title win was seen as a well-deserved reward.

Allison’s record for the season speaks for itself. Out of 24 races this season he has amassed 17 wins, three 2nds, one 3rd, one 5th, one 6th and one 9th.

Congratulations Selby Allison - 2006/2007 Formula First National Champion.

2006/2007 FORMULA FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL STANDINGS

1st. Selby Allison - Wanganui - 1666 Points 2nd. Ian Foster - Auckland - 1589 Points 3rd. Michael Shepherd - Palmerston North - 1288 Points