WOOTEN TAKES 1 HOUR ENDURO VICTORY

Alastair Wootten completed his Formula First “Speedsport Star of Tomorrow” Scholarship in style at Manfeild on the 5th May by taking victory in the annual 1 Hour Enduro. Wootten was never really challenged - in a field that included past Scholarship winners Shane van Gisbergen (now driving in Toyota Racing Series) and Andrew Waite (second in the 06/07 Formula Ford Championship) - and took a relatively easy victory by close to a full lap.

At the start line it was first-time racer Graeme Lett who led the field away at the handicapped start. Lett held the lead in his Wanganui Engine Rebuilders sponsored Alvee for the first five laps before a small spin cut his margin to David Ruthven, who was himself driving a newly acquired Challenge chassis. Ruthven pounced shortly afterwards to hold the lead for a number of laps before the field started to bunch up.

Championship runner-up Ian Foster ran with Wootten from the back of the grid early on, but his race would only last a few laps before his fan belt pully worked loose, causing his engine to overheat. Unfortunately for past Enduro winner Foster, this spelt the end of his race and he was forced to park his Kaiser Compressor sponsored Challenge before the first pit stops had even been completed.

Graeme Lett debuted both his driving and car at the 1 hour. The Wanganui engine reconditioner drove brilliantly to finish fourth. The Sabre team cars, driven by Matthew Stubbs, Wootten, van Gisbergen and Waite ran together for quite some time until Stubbs spun and lost ground. This left Wootten, Waite and van Gisbergen to themselves.

As the first pit stops started, it was once again the Sabre team who dominated. Their quick refuelling was a key advantage and helped extend their lead over the rest of the field.

Waite and van Gisbergen ran together after the first stops for several laps until Waite’s car started to show tell-tale signs of an engine problem. Waite eventually retired with a missing intake manifold stud.

Van Gisbergen’s luck was not much better and he retired on the same lap with a suspected broken gear linkage.

All this left Wootten in the lead with Stubb’s Remax sponsored Sabre in second. Positions they would hold through to the finish.

Bradley McDonald (TradeZone sponsored Challenge chassis) inherited third due to Waite’s and van Gisbergen’s misfortune - and he ran strongly to cross the line a mere 6 seconds behind Stubbs.

Ian Foster's Scorpion Racecars crew practice a fuel stop prior to race start. Foster retired early with a loose fan belt pully. Lett, running in his first ever Formula First race, drove brilliantly to finish in fourth place - ahead of Ruthven and the dual driving pair of Phil Abel and David Scammell.

Abel’s and Scammell’s race had been entertaining in itself. Abel drove the first stint, but shortly after the hand over to Scammell, a throttle linkage problem saw Scammell drive a large chunk of the race without complete throttle control. Scammell did a great job to nurse the car home in sixth.

Stefan Webling was the other casualty of the race. A gearbox problem ending his day early on.

Wootten’s victory capped off a successful year for the Gulf Harbour youngster. He qualified on pole and won his first race at round 1 in Taupo, took rookie of the year honours and captured a lap record (Taupo). He now moves onto Formula Ford for the 2007/2008 season.

Report: Cliff Field