COCKERTON TAKES 3 FROM 3 @ HAMPTON DOWNS FFIRST.CO.NZ RD5 REPORT

After putting the Weldwell New Zealand Formula First championship contenders on notice during the previous round at Taupo Motorsport Park, Taylor Cockerton put on a dominant show at Hampton Downs during round five.

An intense qualifying session on the Saturday, where the top six cars were separated by under a second, showed the packed crowed what could lay ahead. The driver second in the title chase, in the inov8.co.nz/Michael Shepherd Racing machine, Rowan Shepherd would take the top spot – just ahead of Cockerton in the Safety Step/Scorpion Racecars team. Third went to the consistently improving Oliver Gordon, with championship leader Ryan Hellier finishing the session in fourth.

Race one

With the Saturday afternoon track temps reaching over fifty degrees, the fifth round of the Formula First title chase was underway. Immediately, the 15 strong field was divided into groups of three, as the top seven cars split from the pack – headed by Oliver Gordon after his storming start.

The duelling amongst the top seven would carry on until the third lap of the race, when Aucklander Taylor Cockerton would take charge and never look back. The Safety Step machine could be seen clearing turn three with an ever increasing gap to his nearest competitor every lap. The fight to be the nearest competitor was a massive battle between championship leader Ryan Hellier, along with Rowan Shepherd, Oliver Gordon and Sabre Motorsport’s Tim Fox.

Though their battles epitomise the Weldwell NZ Formula First class, it also gave 15 year old Cockerton chances to capitalise on every minor error made within the pack. This handed race number one to the Safety Step 11. Second would go to Oliver Gordon, who by five hundredths held out Rowan Shepherd, with Ryan Hellier finishing in fourth. The top five was capped by Tim Fox, with Bramwell King continuously running there or thereabouts in sixth.

Seventh would go to Waiuku’s Cory Holmes. Suffering with a failed suspension component, Holmes could only watch as his fellow competitors gained time out of the corners. The 9 Ardex/All Subaru Partsworld machine had enough pace to keep ahead of both scholarship winners, Aaron Marr and Jacob Smith. Tenth would go to the yellow machine of Paul Butler, who kept ahead of one of the most intense duels in recent memory. The showdown between Bob Dillow and Ron Carter. Though Carter took race one, the war was not over between these two throughout the weekend.

Race two

Sunday’s first race would be almost an exact replica of race one. Though Cockerton would get a slow start, he would fight his way to the front and capitalise on errors made by his competitors, then make a break for it. The plan would continue to be successful for the Safety Step machine, as he would make positive gains throughout the race.

The battle for second overall was as good as ever, with both championship contenders putting on a show of driver skill amongst their fellow competitors, with the 2NZ of Ryan Hellier resetting the fastest lap on the final.

In the end though, it was Cockerton, capitalising on the close battle for second, who would take race two. Second would go to the Inov8.co.nz/MSR machine of Rowan Shepherd, with Ryan Hellier’s MetalMan/Elf oils machine placing just behind.

Oliver Gordon continues to prove he is one of the elite drivers this season, with another to four finish – just ahead of Dave Ruthven. Ruthven suffered with oil pressure problems during race one, but was back on pace for the rest of the weekend. An incident during the dying laps of the race would settle the 6 to 10 spots. A collision between Cory Holmes and Tim Fox would see Holmes go spinning, sending him to ninth overall.

Both Sabre Motorsport’s drivers would finish ahead of Holmes in eighth and seventh, while Bramwell King managed to avoid the action and pull away from the pack. Paul Butler would claim another top ten finish, as the other scholarship winner – Jacob Smith would DNF with a disastrous engine failure.

Papamoa’s Ron Carter not only took the scalp of Bob Dillow in race two, but also finished ahead of Formula First legend, Dom Kalasih. Kalasih, in the flame spitting Alvee, would cross the line just infront of Dillow and David Russell.

Race three

In the curtain raiser to the NZ Motor Cup, the final race of round 5 of the Weldwell New Zealand Formula First championship would go down to the wire.

Seemingly realising how the 11 Safety Step/Scorpion Racecars machine escaped their grasp over the previous two races, the pack including Oliver Gordon, Rowan Shepherd and Ryan Hellier took the initiative and put on the pace early in the race. In some of the best racing action of the weekend, the lead of the race would continuously change throughout.

With the white flag flying, it was still anyone’s race. But as the field fired out of the sweeper for the final time, although still close, Taylor Cockerton would hold on by the slightest of margins to take three from three. Rowan Shepherd would crucially take second, enough to tie for first place in the Weldwell NZ Formula First championship. Fellow championship leader, Ryan Hellier would claim third place – just eight thousandths of a second behind Shepherd.

Fourth would go to Oliver Gordon in the McIntosh Brothers/Totally Vets Sabre machine, while Bramwell King would take fifth overall, after an epic battle with both Cory Holmes and Tim Fox. Holmes, whose three wide pass into turn two could have been the move of the race, would end up sixth - with Fox in seventh.

Fellow Sabre Motorsport runner, Aaron Marr would finish just behind his team mate, while David Ruthven would end up ninth after placing as high as fourth. The yellow machine of Paul Butler had a fight on his hands to keep the streak of top tens alive, as Dom Kalasih was all over him during the race. In the end though, Butler would add to his top ten tally, claiming it by just under half a second.

In the duel between Carter and Dillow, Papamoa's Ron Carter would get the best of Feilding’s Bob Dillow for a third time. But going into Dillow’s home town for the next round, Bob and his hometown supporters will be out for blood at Manfeild Park, so expect the intensity of this epic battle to go to the next level during the NZGP weekend.

Five rounds. Fifteen races. 120 laps. The Weldwell New Zealand Formula First championship is tied. How will this affect the mentality of the two championship contenders going into one the biggest events of the NZ motorsport calendar? What will the constant threat of now four time winner Taylor Cockerton do to the title chase?

There’s only one way to find out. Head to Manfeild Park for round six of the Weldwell NZ Formula First championship, supporting the New Zealand Grand Prix, this weekend.