WELDWELL NZ FORMULA FIRST REPORT: ROUND 6

After a history making round at the latest New Zealand motorsport venue, Hampton Downs, it was on to possibly the most historic of them all, as the Weldwell New Zealand Formula First class arrived at Pukekohe Park Raceway for “Mid-Summer Thunder” over the weekend.

Qualifying was a wide open affair, as half the field were bunched into one group, causing havoc for the drivers on a good lap, as they would have no-where to go once arriving on the pack – thus anyone with a half decent solo lap had a good chance of getting up front.

In the end it was current championship point’s leader Michael Shepherd in the Go Rentals/Inov8 Challenge who grabbed the first position on the grid, with Speedsport scholarship winner Aaron Hodgson taking second position. Third place went to the Gaskin Ford & Mazda machine of Jamie Gaskin, just infront of the ‘elder statesmen’ – Bryan McConkey in his H.R.S machine.

Race 1

The race began in typical Formula First fashion, as the field launched into the sweeper, setting them up for the back straight. Over the line for the first time though, it was Hodgson who would lead – with Gaskin in second, but it was clear to see the driver on the move. The Dodson’s Autospares/Squawking Magpie Wines machine of Andrew Vincent, who qualified tenth, was powering through the pack to catch his championship rivals.

With three laps down, Shepherd had worked his way back to the front, as Hodgson and Gaskin sat just behind in second and third. Vincent had moved up four positions at this time, and was well on his way to catching the front runners.

With around three laps to go - the ERL Alvee of Graeme Lett, who was also making massive gains through the field, and the two Sabre motorsport teammates of Oliver Gordon and Jonathan Coluccio, were involved in an incident through the first complex of corners at Pukekohe Park. This brought out the yellow flag, which meant Aaron Hodgson, who just managed to take the lead moments before, would lead the field with Shepherd in second and amazingly, the 15 year old third in the championship, Andrew Vincent running in third.

Unfortunately, after two laps under yellow, the race was red flagged with the 75% rule utilized, which meant the SpeedSport scholarship winner Aaron Hodgson would take his second victory this season – infront of Michael Shepherd and Vincent.

Race 2

Sunday morning brought cooler temperatures, but the racing was just as hot, as Michael Shepherd would lead the field over the line for lap one. With Vincent moving up to a fourth place grid spot for race two; he was biding his time behind the machines of both Jamie Gaskin and Aaron Hodgson. The return of two star drivers in the Formula First class, both Ryan Hellier and Tier one competitor Bramwell King, saw immediate effect, as Hellier stormed up through the field to be just behind the top four bunch, with King right behind him.

In the end the race would come down to Vincent, Shepherd and Hodgson, as they battled continuously over the next few laps. As they exited the hairpin for the last time though, the three were mere inches apart, and as the field came over the championship contenders were three-wide as they crossed the line in typical Weldwell NZ Formula First fashion. By 0.064 seconds, it would be the Squawking Magpie Wines/Dodson’s Autospares machine of Andrew Vincent who would take another victory this season, infront of Hodgson and Shepherd.

The next driver would be the aforementioned Ryan Hellier, with King and Gaskin following right behind – in the end, the top seven were separated by under one second.

Race 3

The heat was on both figuratively and literally for the race which would decide the round winner. One driver who would only see out one lap was the one from Phoenix, AZ. After engine woes all weekend, David Ruthven’s machine seemed to give up entirely, as the smoke engulfed every canal of the bright blue machine, forcing the university student to retire from the race early.

As the rest of the field entered lap two, once again it was the regulars up infront, with Shepherd leading the pack, as the rest were jostling for the perfect position for the run on the last lap. With a few laps to go though, a massive smoke screen could be seen going into turn one – as both the Gaskin Ford & Mazda Machine of Jamie Gaskin and the NZ Trailers/Daytona Indoor raceway car of Bramwell King were starting to bellow smoke from their engines.

This also made the entire sweeper a little more complex, as the two cars carried on before Bramwell King acknowledged the mechanical black with one lap to go.

As they exited the hairpin for the last time this season at Pukekohe park – nothing separated the top three once again as they climbed over the and onto the front straight. This time it was Michael Shepherd in the Go Rentals machine who would take the race win, with Andrew Vincent in second and Aaron Hodgson in third.

What this meant was the top three each shared a first, second and third position over the weekend, tying the points for the round, and therefore gaining no advantage over their championship rivals, showing how competitive this class has become.

With no advantage gained or lost over his rivals, Michael Shepherd carries his lead over to the next round of the Weldwell New Zealand Formula First championship, “Thunder in the Dark II” at Manfeild Park on the 6th and 7th of March.