1NZ ASSERTS HIS DOMINANCE @ TAUPO – FORMULA FIRST RD3 REPORT

After a big break for the Christmas/New Year season, the Vortex Formula First championship was welcomed to Ricoh Taupo Motorsport Park by nothing but sunshine on the Friday test sessions.

The fine weather continued through Saturday’s qualifying session, where the top two in the championship chase, Rowan Shepherd and Cory Holmes, would take over the front row. Third place on the grid would go to the blue machine of David Ruthven, with fourth to sixth separated by under a tenth of a second – Auckland’s Taylor Cockerton taking the 4 spot, with Oliver Gordon and Sabre Motorsport’s Chris Symon taking fifth and sixth respectively.

The first race of the weekend run under fine conditions had drama even before the lights went out, as Championship contender Taylor Cockerton’s up and down season would continue, as a fuelling issue would see him withdraw from the inaugural race of the round on the warm up lap. Same would go for the Speedsport Scholarship runner of James Webb, who wouldn’t make the start due to mechanical dramas.

As the lights went out, the duo at the front would make haste, with Waiuku’s Cory Holmes leading through the infield, only for Shepherd to take the lead in a drafting manoeuvre down one of the longest straights in the country.

From then on it was all Rowan Shepherd, with 1NZ INOV8 machine pulling over four seconds over his nearest rival at the end of the race. The battle for second was somewhat closer, as a final corner, final lap overtake would see the blue beast of David Ruthven take the 2 spot from the in form Cory Holmes.

Oliver Gordon, Chris Symon and the legendary Dave Scammell, who would power his way from 11th, filled out the six. Seventh would go to Rookie sensation Brody McConkey, with Faine Kahia, Arran Crighton and Nik Pervan completing the top ten.

Bob Dillow would continue his consistent improvement lap time wise, taking the 11th overall, whereas the returning Jacob Smith would make minor error early on which saw him spin his way to the rear of the field.

Sunday’s first race saw the wet weather roll in, much like the last time the Vortex Formula First championship was at Ricoh Taupo Motorsport Park. In a bold move, the current Formula First champ would be one of only two to roll out on the ‘dry’ tyres – with David Ruthven following suit.

Dry tyres or not, it wouldn’t matter as the 1NZ would clear away from the chasing Taylor Cockerton to take the second race of the weekend, with rising star Faine Kahia firing his way from ninth to third overall. David Ruthven, Chris Symon and Jacob Smith would follow close behind, with experience winning over youth for seventh spot – as Ian Foster would cross the line ahead of McConkey.

Another final lap, final corner manoeuvre would involve Cory Holmes, but this time an unfortunate collision between himself and the hard charging James Webb would see both end up near the rear of the field, initially fighting for eighth. Webb with the spin, Holmes with a Motorsport NZ infringement notice and a 30 second fine.

Arran Crighton would continue his top ten pace in ninth, with Oliver Gordon uncharacteristically rounding out the ten, infront of Dave Scammell.

During the break between Vortex Formula First events, the weather cleared up, but with moments to go, amazingly, the clouds rolled back in – giving teams a slight headache on which set of tyres to run – again.

This time round it would be David Ruthven and Brody McConkey on the wets, with the rest of the field hoping for minimal rain. As the lights went out, the championship trio of Shepherd, Holmes and Cockerton would take over the race, pulling away from the field early on. But then, the rain came. A heavy downpour saw the front runners lessen the their pace – apart from the INOV8 machine of Rowan Shepherd. Shepherd would make the move from third to first midway through the event, with Cockerton chasing close behind.

The #6 machine of Cory Holmes would slowly fall off the pace, giving the duo at the front a chance to dice it out until the final turn. That’s exactly what would happen, as a braking zone duel on the final lap wouldn’t come off for the Safety Step Scorpionracecars machine of Taylor Cockerton, giving the race and the clean sweep to the 1NZ of Rowan Shepherd.

The All Subaru Partsworld/Look Flooring/BNT Scorpion chassis of Cory Holmes would take the 3 spot, keeping him close in the big picture, championship chase. Fourth would go to the blue machine of David Ruthven, with Junior Dragster star Brody McConkey continuing to turn heads with a top five finish.

Coming in sixth overall would be the green machine of Oliver Gordon, with Symon, Smith, Kahia and Ian Foster rounding out the top ten. Arran Crighton and James Webb would take the 11 and 12 spots respectively, with Dave Scammell holding out Bob Dillow after fighting it out for the 13th place throughout the event. Nik Pervan and Tim Fox would round out the field.

With mere weeks until the Vortex NZ Formula First championship heads to HamptonDowns as support for the premier open wheeler category in New Zealand, the ToyotaRacing Series – the pressure could potentially be turned to 11. With the lights shining bright and some of the biggest names in international junior motorsport all in one spot, it’s sure to be one mega weekend. Be sure to head down and check it out!