STUBBS TAKES SERIES WIN, ANDREWS STEALS THE SHOW.

In a weekend punctuated by incidents and accidents, Matthew Stubbs claimed a narrow victory over Ritchie Andrews to take the Manfeild Winter Series title in Feilding on 16th September. Despite trailing Cliff Field coming into the last round, Stubbs put in a gritty performance throughout Sunday (and was the benefactor of some bad luck for Field) to previal over Andrews in the last race - taking the series win by the narrowest of margins.

Field, who was considered favourite to wrap the series up on Sunday, was forced to withdrawl from the event after two successive brake failures. The first ocurred on Saturday during unofficial practice, with the second taking place in qualifying on Sunday. Field (Auckland) had just set a pole position time of 1:23.899 when he lost brake pressure at the end of the front straight and crashed into the tyre barriers at speed. The impact left the Alvee driver unhurt but his car suffered extensive damage and was not repairable in time to contest the day's racing.

Field's withdrawl had left Stubbs in a commanding position. The Masterton youngster had placed his car second on the grid in qualifying - essentially leaving him at the head of the pack in Field's abscence. His nearest rival, Andrews, was a healthy points gap behind. Consistent finishes in the top four were all that was required from Stubbs to take the title. However, things would not quite go to plan.

Qualifying A huge field of 20 cars took to the track for qualifying. Notable entries were Richie Stanaway (Speedsport Scholarship Star of Tomorrow winner), Bryan McConkey (his first appearance in the Winter Series) and David Ruthven (back after missing two rounds).

It was Field who set the early pace claiming pole with a lap of 1:23.899 - the Aucklander suffering brake failure shortly after. The lengthy delay involved in moving Field's damaged car ruined the remainder of the session, meaning that the early session times would stand as final.

Rather predictably, Stubbs was second on the timesheets, with a time of 1:24.379. Next came Stanaway, followed by McConkey, Matt Gibson, Andrews, Michael Shepherd, Stefan Webling and Daryl Currie. Simon Hardy had an uncharacteristically bad qualifying session to find himself tenth on the grid.

Race 1 In typical Formula First fashion, race one would prove to be a nail-biter. Stubbs, Andrews and Stanaway headed the pack for much of the race, but it was McConkey who was to take the victory. The vastly experienced McConkey bided his time for the first four laps before making his move, passing several cars on the way, to head the pack with two laps to go.

As the pack raced down the back straight on the last lap, it looked like McConkey's plan had fallen apart. He had been overtaken by Andrews and was on the verge of losing second to Stubbs. As the cars exited the final corner, McConkey appeared to have greater speed and eventually snuck by Andrews to take the win by a tiny 4 hundredths of a second. Stubbs came next a further 3 tenths behind.

Stanaway put in an awesome effort to finish fourth in his first ever car race, just heading out Gibson. Next across the line was Webling, followed by Shepherd, Michael Neville and Bradley McDonald. Ryan Hellyer rounded out the top ten.

Race 2 The second Formula First race of the day got underway in treacherous conditions. Race one winner McConkey elected not to start the event, leaving one space empty on the grid.

The start was hectic, with McDonald spinning exiting the first corner, leaving his car parked on the inside of the track. Further back in the pack, Zayne Martin collided with the back of Ben Poulsen's car, removing his own brake master cylinders in the process. As Martin exited the corner, the stricken car of McDonald was unsighted and Martin made heavy with the TradeZone sponsored Challenge.

McDonald was clearly in pain and did not exit his car, so the decision was made to stop the race. Medical checkups later revealed that the Wanganui youngster had suffered a broken foot. Thankfully, Martin was uninjured.

Upon the resumption of the race, it was Gibson who threw down the gauntlet and pulled a gap, holding onto it through to the flag - recording his first Formula First win in dominant fashion.

Stanaway backed up his race one result with another outstanding finish, this time taking second, ahead of a resurgent Webling.

Next came Andrews, whose fourth place had been enough to give him the points lead over his main Rival Stubbs. Stubbs had run a terrible race and had spun twice - finished in a lowly 11th place. His lacklustre performance handed the lead to Andrews with one race to go - albiet by a slim margin of just 11 points.

Neville had another good result, finishing in 5th, followed by Hardy, Sam Reindler, Hellyer and rookie Mitchell Evans. Ben Poulsen took the tenth spot.

Race 3 With the series victory on the line, race three was expected to be a tough affair. The crowd was not to be disappointed.

Right from the outset it was clear that Stubbs intended to win. All Andrews had to do was finish second or higher and the series was his. However, both Stubbs and Andrews neglected to factor in Webling, who was flying in his ex John Young Challenge.

Stubbs had made a great start and was quickly into the lead, pulling a small gap. Andrews was hot on his heals, but as the race developed, Webling came into play, dicing with Andrews. The dicing between Andrews and Webling only served to strengthen Stubbs' lead. The Masterton driver slowly creeping away to eventually take the win by a big margin of over a second.

All eyes turned to second place. If Andrews could finish second, he would take the series win.

Andrews held the upper hand as the cars headed down the back straight for the last time. Webling had positioned himself to get a great slipstream from Andrews and proceeded to make a move just as the cars approached the final corner. Both then disappeared out of view behind the tyres. The crews on the pitwall were noticeably quiet, anticipating the outcome. Their anxiety was shortlived however, and as the cars came back into view, it was Webling who held the advantage. But Andrews was not going to give up and mounted another concerted attempt to draft past Webling before the two crossed the line.

At the line it was anyone's guess, but unfortunately for Andrews, he had come up short by less than .1 of a second. Heartbreak for the youngster was jubilation for Stubbs, who had just taken the series win by a mere 4 points.

Behind the leading three, it was Gibson who drove a great comeback race, after running wide at the hairpin, to finish fourth ahead of Stanaway.

Hardy had a better run to finish sixth, ahead of Reindler, Evans and Hellyer. David Ruthven took tenth place - his best result of the meeting.

Manawatu Car Club Winter Series 2007 1st Matthew Stubbs 2nd Ritchie Andrews 3rd Matt Gibson