CLIFF FIELD - 2007/2008 FORMULA FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPION

Cliff Field drove three measured races at Manfeild over the weekend to take the honours in the 2007/2008 Formula First National Championship. Field led Ian Foster by 96 points coming into the meeting and only had to finish 6th or above in each race to clinch the title. A fifth placing in Saturday's race improved the equation for Field and left him needing only two tenth placings on Sunday - a task he performed with ease to collect his first national title.

Qualifying Despite warnings of inclement weather, Saturday stayed dry throughout, allowing qualifying to proceed as per normal. With points being close between Field, Foster and Stanaway, the qualifying session was going to be important in determining who would have to work hardest for their results. Foster was once again on the pace and showed determination by netting the pole position by 69 hundredths from Field. A resurgent Michael Shepherd was third on the grid another tenth or so behind. Ryan Hellier, who has shown amazing improvement throughout the season, placed his car fourth on the grid ahead of Matthew Stubbs and Matt Gibson. Richie Stanaway and Mitchell Evans had worked together in qualifying, but the results weren't as good as they'd hoped, both being in seventh and eighth respectively. David Ruthven, another to have shown massive improvement throughout the season, was placed 9th on the grid ahead of Michael Neville.

Field's position left the Aucklander placed ideally to cruise to the title, whilst Stanaway would have a lot of work to do to close the gap to Foster.

Race 1 At the lights, Field and Foster led the pack away down into turn 1. Field was obviously taking it conservatively as by the time the leading group reached the third corner, he had already dropped back to 6th place. In the front pack, Stanaway, Foster, Shepherd, Evans, Gibson, Stubbs and Field all jostled for track position - lap after lap. At one stage Field took the lead, only to relinquish it almost immediately.

Stanaway did not take long to get to the front of the pack and he proceeded to control the race pace, particularly at Higgins, where he slowed the field down in an attempt to pull a gap under acceleration down the back straight. Foster had been as far back as fifth at one stage but with a few laps remaining he made his intentions clear by aggressively moving forward into the front three. However, Field soon took the position back coming out of turn 1.

On the last lap, Stanaway lead from Shepherd and Field. Field held third all the way down the back straight but then opted for the safe route when both Foster and Stubbs drafted alongside. Stanaway took the win from Shepherd, Foster, Stubbs, Field and Evans. Gibson, Hellier, Ruthven and Dom Kalasih rounded out the top ten.

Race 1 had been another classic Manfeild Formula First battle. The margin covering the first 8 cars was less than .9 of a second.

Race 2 The rain forecast for Saturday finally arrived on Sunday morning. Although the track was not left with standing water, conditions were very tricky with some sections of the circuit being noticeably wetter than others.

As the field left the grid, Foster and Field once again got the jump on the rest as they entered turn 1. As the pack entered turn three, all hell broke loose. Stanaway had gone up the inside of Gibson, only to clip the inside curb - which pushed his car into Gibsons. Both cars spun but carried on - although Stanaway would ultimately not finish due to a flat tyre he'd picked up in the tangle. In fact, Stanaway was probably lucky to have retired with the flat tyre as he was shown a black flag just a moment earlier for his part in the clash with Gibson. Stanaway was happy to shoulder the blame for the incident and promptly apologised to Gibson after the race.

All the commotion behind them had left Foster and Field with a sizeable gap back to third place - now occupied by Shepherd. Michael was soon onto the tail of Field who dutifully pulled out of the way to let the flying Palmerston North Analyst through. Stubbs had also made his way through the first lap mess and was pressuring Field until he got it wrong approaching Higgins corner, performing a nicely executed 360 spin in his Hydraulink Sabre and carrying on.

Shepherd had set his sights on Foster and was closing the gap rapidly. Field was content to sit back and watch the duo battle. If Shepherd was to win the race, Field would take the title with one race remaining - a scenario that was not lost on Field;

"I could see Michael pushing Ian all the way. When he slipped into the lead I got quite excited and almost fell off the road on the approach to Higgins. It was at that point that I decided I should concentrate on my own race and forget about what was happening ahead of me! I am sure I would not have looked too good if I'd thrown it off the road while touring around slowly."

As it was, Foster took the lead back with two laps remaining and held it to the end. Shepherd had been confident of taking the win but had made a small mistake into the hairpin which had then set him up badly for the run to Higgins and the back straight - as he explained;

"I got it wrong at the hairpin and that left too much of a gap on the run down to Higgins, I tried to close it by braking late but locked up and lost more time to Ian on the exit. I thought about going for it through Dunlop but didn't in the end".

Evans had worked his way through the earlier trouble and brought his Sabre home in Fourth place, one of his best finishes of the season. Behind Evans were Gibson, Neville, Bradley McDonald, Hellier and Stubbs. Paul Butler rounded out the top ten.

Race 3 Foster's win in race two had left the slightest of chances for a title win, although Field would now have to have a DNF (Did Not Finish) and Foster would have to win the race. Despite some suggesting Field should start from pitlane (to avoid the possibility of being knocked off track at the start of the race) he took his position of 2 on the grid for the start. The rain was now falling quite hard and the track was very wet.

Even though both Foster and Field made a poor start, it was still much better than the majority of the field. Shepherd had stalled his car after realising he had a fuel problem on the warmup lap, Hellier (on the second second row) had made a slow start also, which held some of the field up. Gibson was the only other competitor who had got off the line with any pace - in fact he led both Foster and Field into the first corner, although Foster re-took the lead almost immediately.

Field's tactics were made known to everyone as soon as he rounded the infield hairpin in third place. Approaching Higgins, the Aucklander pulled his Alvee over the left of the track and let four battling cars pass him - obviously content to drive a safe race away from any groups or distractions.

At the front, Stanaway had closed in on Foster, and after two or three laps found his way past. Behind the battling duo were Hellier, Stubbs, Gibson and Evans. There was then a gap of a few seconds back to Field, who in turn had Neville a second or so behind him. Stanaway and Foster were embroiled in a tough battle with no more than one car length separating them at any stage. Hellier managed to pull clear of the next bunch, leaving himself driving with a clear view in the now very wet conditions.

Behind Hellier, Gibson, Evans and Stubbs were battling furiously until Evans' developed a problem and dropped back - eventually retiring from the race.

On the last lap Foster pressured Stanaway hard, but it was Stanaway who took his second win for the weekend. Foster had thought about trying for a pass but had decided it was too risky given the circumstances, deciding instead not to challenge Stanaway at the last corner;

"I thought about it, but it probably wasn't going to be on in the last corner, I thought nah, don't do it, it's too risky", he said of his decision not to fight too hard.

Hellier brought his car home in third place, his highest ever championship finish - capping off a remarkable run of improvement throughout the season.

Behind Hellier, Stubbs had got the better of Gibson by a mere 77 hundredths of a second - after a race-long fight.

Field crossed the line next - in doing so clinching the 2007/2008 National Championship. His elation was evident as he punched the air in celebration accompanied by the applause of those lining the pit wall.

Michael Shepherd, who had had to drive past the safety car at the rear of the field after stalling, drove probably one of the most remarkable races in recent history by finishing just behind Field in 7th place. His fastest lap was almost a second clear of the next fastest lap by any other driver.

Behind Shepherd came Neville and Butler. McDonald rounded out the top ten.

Field was jubilant in the pit lane and was greeted by virtually the entire field who had stopped as they entered the pits to shake his hand. The Aucklander was clearly touched by the experience;

"What can I say? That was one of the most humbling things I have experienced. It's not hard to see why so many love the people involved in Formula First. To have virtually all my fellow competitors stop in the pit lane to shake my hand was just an incredible feeling. To take the title is one thing, but to realise that there are so many others happy for me doing so is truly humbling. I am honoured."

Field was also treated in an appropriate fashion on the podium when both Stanaway and Foster took the opportunity to ambush him with the customary champagne spraying - a contest in which Field definitely came off second best.

2007/2008 Formula First National Championship - Final Standings 1 Cliff Field, Auckland, 1549 Points 2 Ian Foster, Auckland, 1501 3 Richie Stanaway, Tauranga, 1368 4 Matthew Stubbs, Masterton, 1186 5 Michael Shepherd, Palmerston Nth, 1170 6 Matt Gibson Wanganui, 836 7 Ryan Hellier Auckland, 799 8 Bradley McDonald, Wanganui, 722 9 Mitchell Evans , Auckland, 707 10 Michael Neville, Auckland, 673 11 Paul Butler, Auckland, 661 12 Bryan McConkey, Paraparaumu, 651 13 Simon Hardy, Tauranga, 601 14 Dave Scammell, Feilding, 529 15 David Ruthven, Auckland, 521 16 Robin Bennett, Kaukapakapa, 512 17 Ben Poulsen, Feilding, 506 18 Graeme Lett, Wanganui, 479 19 Dom Kalasih, Wellington, 345 20 Andre Heimgartner, Auckland, 298 21 Darren Henderson, Palmerston Nth, 288 22 James Stead, Auckland, 235 23 David Meszeros, Tokoroa, 228 24 Ayrton Brant, Auckland, 223 25 Trevor Kernohan, New Plymouth, 205 26 Graeme Rundle, Auckland, 133 27 Tim Hamilton, Australia, 86 28 David Russell, Wellington, 61 29 Mike Lovell, Wellington, 56 30 Zayne Martin, Tauranga, 28 31 Matthew Stewart, Auckland, 17