Round 1 Report: The season begins with OctoberFAST!

After what for some was a long break and for those that competed in the Winter Series a short break the start of a new season arrived with the drivers and teams back in the Manawatu for the opening round of the 2015/16 HiQ Components New Zealand Formula First Championships.

The Manawatu Car Club hosted Oktoberfast meeting was a one day affair with qualifying and three races all held on the Sunday.

Most drivers took the opportunity to test on both Friday and Saturday prior to the Championship start to get their cars setup and tuned to their liking before the lights went out and a new season of wheel to wheel racing began.

Bob Dillow would strike the worst luck on Friday afternoon when his engine lost power during testing resulting in a busy Saturday swapping engines to enable him to be on track on Sunday morning with little testing under his belt..

The driver line up for Qualifying on Sunday morning took on a similar look to last season although missing were a few regular front runners, Ian Foster who was focusing on son Liam Foster for this round, Ryan Hellier who I believe will only compete in selected rounds this season and Jacob Smith who has left the series to compete in the Toyota TR86 Championship this season also missing was Robert Steven from last season’s Sabre team lineup.

Additions to the grid were young rookies Liam Lawson the latest Sabre Motorsport Speedsport Scholarship winner and Cameron Dance also running under the Sabre team banner and a welcome return to Chris Symon after a partial season off last year…

Qualifying on Sunday morning was held in fine but cool conditions, Bramwell King, Brody McConkey and Craig Greenwood were the early pace setters before last years and multiple time NZ Champion Michael Shepherd put in a quick lap with time almost up to take the first pole of the season with a 1:24.450 ahead of Brody McConkey, Bramwell King and Chris Symon showing great speed in his first meeting back in fourth place. Fifth would go to Brook Reeve ahead of rookie Cameron Dance having a great first championship qualifying run, next was Taupos Craig Greenwood in seventh, Liam Foster showing good speed in eighth ahead of Speedsport Scholarship driver Liam Lawson ninth and Matt Podjursky rounding out the top ten. Arran Crighton was next followed by Ron Carter, Elliot Andrew in the brand new ScorpionRaceCars chassis then Nik Pervan, Dave Scammell, Bob Dillow, Alex Hawley and Amy Smith.

Race 1 and it was Déjà vu as the lights went out and a new Championship season began with the front pack storming down into turn 1 with crew and spectators alike on tip toes and with breath held to see who would come out on top as the field streamed into Splash on lap 1.

The front seven cars pulled a slight gap over the pack in the early laps the battle for front running intense as positions changed numerous times down the back straight the cars slipstreaming into a strong headwind… Michael Shepherd led the early laps while a group of cars right on his tail consisting of Brook Reeve, Brody McConkey, Bramwell King, Chris Symon, Cameron Dance and Craig Greenwood battled out the minor placings.

Brook Reeve took over the lead briefly before running wide at the exit of Higgins putting his outside wheels on the grass and undoing his good work in establishing a slight gap to the chasing pack. His efforts weren’t done though as he would fight back to be in contention as the pack streamed down the back straight for the penultimate time with Chris Symon having patiently worked his way to the front and with Symon leading the pack Reeve moved up alongside as the cars entered Pepsi only for the slightest touch between the two cars to unbalance Reeves car into a half spin off the track this gave Symon a slight lead that he would hold until the flag for a popular win ahead of Michael Shepherd, Brody McConkey, Bramwell King (who would later receive a time penalty for passing under yellow dropping him two places) ahead of top Rookie Cameron Dance then came Craig Greenwood then a recovering Brook Reeve. The second group home also after an epic battle saw Arran Crighton prevail ahead of Matt Podjursky, Speedsport Scholarship driver Liam Lawson and Liam Foster. Then there was another gap back to Dave Scammell leading home Nik Pervan and Bob Dillow ahead of Amy Smith and Alex Hawley. Ron Carters engine expired in the early laps and Elliot Andrew also retired on the first lap with gear selection problems in the brand new ScorpionRaceCars machine…

Race 2 saw Michael Shepherd starting from pole again ahead of Brody McConkey. Chris Symon and Craig Greenwood moving up the grid to 3rd and 4th respectively by virtue of a good lap times set in race 1. Ron Carter was missing from the grid due to his engine suffering a failure in race 1.

Shepherd made a lightning start to lead by several car lengths into turn one, Brooke Reeve also quick away to jump into third through splash. Brody McConkey quickly caught Shepherd down the back straight and although Shepherd led over the line to end lap one McConkey was quicker into turn one and grabbed the lead but leading was never going to be easy into the strong head wind down the back straight and both Shepherd and Reeve passed McConkey into Pepsi with Bramwell King, Chris Symon and Arran Crighton swarming all over him too. This group was followed by the next pack led by Cameron Dance, Liam Lawson, Craig Greenwood, Liam Foster, Matt Podjursky and Elliot Andrew.

Brooke Reeve led the next lap from McConkey, Shepherd and King, before King made a great pass from 4th into the lead but again the head wind down the straight saw Brook Reeve slingshot past into Pepsi again and back into the lead. This pattern continued with the front group of six easing away from the chasing cars. Bramwell King held onto a tenuous lead in the final laps as the chasing bunch jostled for position and led the final sprint down the back straight with Brook Reeve and Chris Symon snapping at this heals, Symon made a run on the outside but Kings momentum was enough to hold him out but Reeve lunged out of Pepsi and almost took the win King holding on by a mere 0.027 sec. Shepherd was third ahead of a resurgent Chris Symon in fourth. Brody McConkey was next in fifth ahead of Arran Crighton sixth, a slight gap back to Craig Greenwood all alone in seventh and another gap back to a tight finish between three young chargers in Liam Lawson 8th, Matt Podjursky 9th and Liam Foster in 10th a mere 3/10ths covering the group.. The next group of three consisted of Elliot Andrew, Bob Dillow and Dave Scammell in 11th, 12th and 13th respectively. Nik Pervan, Amy Smith and Alex Hawley completed the field, Cameron Dance Suffered a rear suspension failure coming out of the hairpin while looking good and lying in 8th and finished a lap down in the pit lane.

Race 3 saw the same front rows as in race 2. Michael Shepherd making another good start led away from McConkey, Reeve, King, Symon, Crighton and Greenwood. The early laps were a lot closer though than race two with a train of eleven cars forming and the front runners unable to break away this time… Michael Shepherd led the early laps with the others bunched up sometimes four wide in the turns waiting for the right time to try a move and although minor positions changed every few corners most of the front pack settled into their work and waited, it was almost like watching a cycling peloton as the race unfolded and the crowd waited for the last lap when they knew the action would heat up big time! Reeve led across the line briefly but Shepherd again eased back past into turn one and controlled the pace from the front occasionally backing the cars up behind him before putting in a quick sprint in the effort to break the tow to the following cars.

The tension rose as the last laps approached and the cars of McConkey, King, Reeve, Symon and Crighton climbed all over Shepherd no one wanting to make the break too early and lead the last lap though and this appeared to play into Shepherds hands as he again controlled the pace and then sprinted out of Higgins for the last time Reeve and King were the closest but with Shepherd on the pole line the only way around was on the outside and they just didn’t have enough to live out there through Pepsi and Shepherd held on to record his first win of the new season from Reeve, King, McConkey, Symon, Crighton, Liam Lawson, Liam Foster, Cameron Dance and Matt Podjursky rounding out the top ten. The next group consisted of Scammell, Pervan, Andrew and Greenwood then a gap back to Alex Hawley ahead of Amy Smith and a recovering Bob Dillow who had gone off battling at Higgins the laps before battling for eleventh…

Shepherds consistency over the weekend resulting in the Round win and the overall Championship lead ahead of Brook Reeve and Chris Symon in third but judging by the closeness of the racing during the opening round this season again promises to be a thriller and I’m sure one that will go down to the wire again…

HiQ Components 2015/16 Championship Top Ten Standings after Round 1;

Michael Shepherd 202

Brook Reeve 179

Chris Symon 178

Brody McConkey 163

Bramwell King 157

Arran Crighton 132

Liam Lawson 117

Craig Greenwood 115

= Cameron Dance 108

= Matt Podjursky 108