HELLIER HITS EARLY FORM IN VORTEX NZ FORMULA FIRST

Hellier hits early form in Vortex NZ Formula First.

Labour weekend saw the opening round of the IRC series commence at TaupoMotorsport Park, with one of the heavyweight classes, the Formula First class, starting up right where they left off.

After dry test sessions the day previous, overcast clouds greeted the competitors for qualifying. The fifteen minute session saw the rise of a new contender to the title ranks, as the blue and orange machine of David Ruthven would take a spot on the front row, putting everyone on notice. The number one spot would go to the 2NZ of Ryan Hellier, with current champ Rowan Shepherd taking the 3 spot and Taylor Cockerton in fourth.

Points aren’t given in qualifying though and Hellier was out to assert his dominance on the 2013/14 title chase. After getting drafted by Shepherd on the final lap during race one, the second race of the weekend was all Hellier. The pilot in training would repay the compliment during race two, notching up his first win of the season with Rowan Shepherd in second.

The final race of the weekend saw the debut of the top ten reverse grid, which put Hellier, Cockerton and Shepherd mid pack. Not only that, but a sudden downpour five minutes before leaving pitlane saw differing strategies getting played out. As the lights went out Hellier saw his two main rivals from last year sit idle, both stalling on the line. This gave the 24 year old the incentive to push through the pack. By the half way mark, Hellier had shot through the pack to take the lead and pull away for the win. Ruthven would take the 2 spot, with Waiuku’s Cory Holmes continued to show his wet weather prowess in third.

With the next round midway through November, the teams will be going over their gear in preparation for the new layout at the cathedral of speed, Pukekohe Park Raceway.

Race by race:

Race 1

ROWAN SHEPHERD TAKES RACE WIN AS COCKERTON SPINS. It was action packed as usual as the Formula Firsts once again put on some great entertainment. Rowan Shepherd made a blistering start from row two to burst down the inside and take an early lead. Some of the rookies were a bit slow off the line understandably with young Faine Kahia dropping back from 9th to find himself near the back. The Sabre of Tim Fox would destroy its distributor early on meaning his day was over and Aaron Crighton also was unable to see the finish of the race due to an oil leak. There were plenty of battles throughout the race but some standout "big movers" where Dave Scammell, Ian Foster and Faine Kahia. Dave worked his way up from 15th to eventually finish 8th, Ian found himself as high as 4th until his plug lead decided to fall off on the last lap, eventually finishing 7th. Recovery of the day would have to go to Faine Kahia as he would make a poor start and fall back near the tail of the field but recovered to finish a fine 9th. Back at the front it came unstuck for Taylor Cockerton and Dave Ruthven on lap 3 as the two touched at the final turn which ended with Taylor facing the wrong way. Ryan Hellier would lead for most of the race until Rowan Shepherd charged on by with two to go posting the fastest time in the process thanks to a strong tow. Oliver Gordon, Cory Holmes and David Ruthven were chasing hard but in the end it would come down to the last lap between Hellier and Shepherd. Hellier had a sizable lead going through A1 for the final time but it would be Shepherd taking the win as he seemed to have power to burn on the final stretch. Rowan said he was "Stoked to take the win after yesterdays issues. We were scratching our heads yesterday with left hand turn wheel spin but after some big changes overnight we improved that". So the podium places would be a repeat of last years championship podium with Hellier second and Oliver Gordon 3rd. David Ruthven would finish 4th after some contact with Taylor and said he "was happy with the car and race result. Although it would have been nice to have finished where we started. I am looking forward to the final race where we will have a reverse top 10. Not sure how keen i will be if we see rain though!" Cory Holmes would come home 5th followed closely by leading rookie James Webb. Ian foster would eventually splutter home on 3 cylinders to finish 7th but happy to say "My new exhaust is awesome!" Dave Scammell would hold out a fast finishing Faine Kahia for 8th. Chris Symon would round out the top 10. Craig Greenwood and Ron Carter came in 11th and 12th respectively followed by Nic Pervan and young Brody McConkey. Bob Dillow and Taylor Cockerton would come in 15th and 16th. Fastest lap of the race: Rowan Shepherd 1.50:107

Race 2

RYAN HELLIER TAKES THE WIN IN RACE TWO. It was a similar battle up front for the second race with Hellier, Shepherd, Ruthven, Cockerton and Gordon fighting for the top 5 positions. Cockerton who is suffering from a faulty shock absorber (possibly a result of race one contact?) spun at turn 5 but managed a solid recovery to finish 5th and post the fastest lap of the race! Ian Foster was up as high as 5th at one point but had a rocker cover come loose causing him to drop out of the running altogether. Hellier would take the win from Shepherd by simply towing past down the back straight to win by 0.3 of a second. David Ruthven would come home 3rd to take his first podium of the season and was understandably happy with his race. Oliver Gordon would finish 4th ahead of the chasing Cockerton. Rookie sensation James Webb is showing the experienced drivers that a few more miles and he will be right there amongst it, coming home in 6th place. Cory Holmes was next in 7th and will be looking forward to the reverse grid race as he seems to be slightly struggling this weekend. Faine Kahia had another top 10 finish and posted a time that will see him on grid three for the reverse top ten. Chris Symon and Dave Scammell came in 9th and 10th ahead of a much improved Arron Crighton and Craig Greenwood. Ron Carter (13th) and Brody McConkey (14th) finished ahead of Nic Pervan followed closely by Bob Dillow. Tim Fox will be disappointed by his lack of pace as he was some 4 seconds off the pace and came in 17th. Ian Foster as mentioned had some issues to finish 18th ahead of Jacob Smith who is suffering from an oil leak but still managed to post the 10th fastest time of the weekend to set himself up for pole in the final race. Congrats the the Hellier team for another victory. We spoke to him after the race and said he was "lucky to get away with that one as we had an electrical fault with the master switch that kept cutting the power. Looking forward to the wet reverse race. There are some new guys up front and they are going to make it interesting". Rain is falling at the circuit and is likely to affect the drivers for the reverse top 10 race. Unofficial top ten gid for race 3 looks like this: 1 - Jacob Smith 1.52.250 2 - Ian Foster 1.52.202 3 - Faine Kahia 1.52.020 (Rookie) 4 - Cory Holmes 1.51.997 5 - James Webb 1.51.580 (Rookie) 6 - David Ruthven 1.50.811 7 - Ryan Hellier 1.50.538 8 - Oliver Gordon 1.50.333 9 - Taylor Cockerton 1.50.297 10 - Rowan Shepherd 1.50.107

Race 3

RAIN MASTER HELLIER TAKES FINAL RACE AND ROUND WIN. Coming from grid 7 in the first ever reverse top 10 race it was Ryan Hellier who emerged from the spray to complete the first lap in the lead. From there he would comfortably extend his lead and take his second win for the weekend and take a 25 point lead in the championship to the next round. The start of the race was not great for Rowan Shepherd or Taylor Cockerton. Shepherd would stall on the line and struggle to restart the car while Cockerton was proving bad luck does come in 3's as he made contact with someone on the opening lap and suffered damage. David Ruthven drove a superb race from grid 6 to battle his way through to 2nd place. David comes away from Taupo with a 2nd, 3rd and 4th netting him enough points to lie 3rd in the points. Cory Holmes started in 4th and was in second by the opening lap and fought hard to finish a fine 3rd. Oliver Gordon once again was consistent and came home 4th after sitting second for the majority of the race. Rowan Shepherd managed to recover from 17th place as they left the line and worked his way up to 8th with one to go before taking 3 cars on the last lap to record a 5th. Rowan recording the fastest laptime of the race. Speedsport scholarship rookie James Webb started the race in 5th and would round off a solid weekend with a 6th place finish as he looks to be the top contender for the rookie title this season. Ian Foster started on the front row but slowly dropped back as the quicker cars made their way to the front. Eventually Ian would finish 7th ahead of Craig Greenwood in 8th. Chris Symon started just outside the top 10 but moved forward in the race to finish 9th and take away some decent points for the weekend. Ron Carter once again rounded out the top 10. another standout performance from young Brody McConkey coming home in very tricky conditions to finish a fantastic 11th. Knowing how much his Dad (Bryan) loves the rain i'm sure he will be very proud of his sons results this weekend. official results not availble to comment on the full finishing order at time of writing but it was noted that Faine Kahia was running as high as 6th before he dropped down the order finishing outside the top 10. Next Round is Pukekohe in November. there will be plenty of action there as we head to the new layout for the first time.