Round 1 Report: King & McConkey take Maiden Wins, Shepherd takes Round Honours!

MCCONKEY AND KING TAKE MAIDEN WINS – SHEPHERD TAKES ROUND HONOURS

The opening round of the Vortex Formula First Championship took place at Taupo over the weekend with three different winners from the three races!

The weekend would be memorable for two of the young guns of the class with both Brody McConkey and Bramwell King taking their first national series race victories.

Ryan Hellier qualified on pole ahead of McConkey and King with the trio the only ones to get into the 1:50’s. Hellier’s time in qualifying proving enough to see him start from pole in all three races.

Race one saw the some very close racing from the top six with the lead alternating between Hellier and McConkey for the majority of the race. In his first race back after 3 ½ years Michael Shepherd would lead them into the final straight before McConkey pulled out of the tow to take a very popular win from Hellier and King. Shepherd would be pushed back to finish fourth. Brooke Reeve would be first rookie home in the Sabre followed by Jacob Smith and Ian Foster. Scorpions new recruit Elliot Andrew drove well finishing eighth and confirming that the rookie title will be an interesting championship to keep an eye on.

Bob Dillow drove well to finish ninth, managing to hold out Craig Greenwood and Chris Symon. 12th home was Arran Crighton ahead of Paul Butler, Nik Pervan and Ron Carter. Rookie Matt Podjursky was continuing to improve his lap times with each outing would finish 16th with Liam Foster, fellow rookies Robert Stevens and Amy Smith rounding out the field.

Fastest lap would go to Shepherd pushing him upto grid two for the remaining races.

Race two on Sunday would be eventful for all the wrong reasons with as many as three cars going off through the final chicane on the last lap causing a number of enquires that would not see an official result posted until the completion of the meeting. On the track though it was Michael Shepherd winning the restart after a red flag was deployed to clear Craig Greenwoods car after the suspension collapsed. Going into the final chicane it was Shepherd who locked up first triggering McConkey and King to also leave their braking a bit late and cut through the grass. Shepherd and Hellier would be the first through the chicane before Jacob Smith misjudged the gap and drove straight into the back of Hellier. Shepherd would go on to take the win but perhaps the move of the weekend was that of Brooke Reeve who was sitting in 5th spot going into the final turn only to carve his way through to finish second ahead of a recovering King, Smith, Hellier and McConkey.

Elliot Andrew would finish seventh ahead of Arran Crighton and Chris Symon with Bob Dillow rounding out the top ten.

Ron Carter and Paul Butler would have a great battle for 11th spot with Ron winning that battle. Nik Pervan just managed to hold out Matt Podjursky with young Amy Smith improving her times to beat home Robert Stevens and Ian Foster.

Ryan Hellier would take the honours of fastest lap.

Race three was a great typical Formula First race with as many as 12 cars running nose to tail for the majority of the race. Bramwell King would not need to worry about defending on the last lap after Shepherd was tagged from behind by Brooke Reeve, damaging the Sabres nose cone and forcing the rookie to drop from a possible podium to finish seventh.

Bramwell King would cross the line 1.5 seconds ahead of Shepherd taking his first win and proving that his Winter Series pace was perfect practice for the main game. Brody McConkey would finish his successful weekend in third ahead of Jacob Smith and Ryan Hellier. Elliot Andrew would be the first rookie home beating home the damaged Sabre of Brooke Reeve and Ian Foster. Aaran Crighton wasn’t far behind in ninth with Craig Greenwood tenth. Bob Dillow was second quickest in the final race and held out Chris Symon for 11th place. Ron Carter once again battled hard with Paul Butler with Matt Podjursky finishing just ahead of Nik Pervan, Liam Foster, Robert Stevens and Amy Smith.

Fastest lap went to Jacob Smith.

Michael Shepherd leads the Championship by one point from Bramwell King with Brody McConkey third.