Manfeild - NIFF Round 3, 2023

We were off to Manfeild, our home track, for the third round of the NIFF Championship - just one week after we finished racing at Taupo. For this one we'd switched out the engine that had been giving us some issues and gone back to the engine we ran the season before, chasing a cleaner shot at the weekend. We felt ready heading into the test day on Friday.

Practice and Qualifying

On the first run we quickly noticed this engine felt more free than the other one. That seemed odd at first, because we'd only managed a 1:13.64 - but after a chat with some other drivers we realised the track was a lot slower than usual, and we were actually in for a good shot this weekend.

Unfortunately Callum couldn't be with us this weekend, so it was just myself and Dad working the setup. After a couple of frustrating sessions where we were a little lost with shock settings, we found our feet and felt confident jumping into race day.

We hit the track in qualifying and went straight to the top of the timing on the first lap of the session. We struggled a bit with tyre pressures and temps, but managed them well enough to jump on the back of another car near the end of the session and post a 1:12.862 - good for P3 on the grid.

Race 1

We lined up on the grid in P3 and waited for the lights to go green. No places changed off the line, but I ended up losing a spot early on and ran fourth for the majority of the laps. Then a crash within the pack put one of the drivers ahead of me out of the race and moved me up to third, where I'd sit across the line - just four tenths off the winner.

Race 2

Race 2 had its share of drama, including a car with an electrical issue that brought out the safety car. As I've said before - safety cars breed safety cars. After the restart, heading into the last lap, I was hanging off the back of the pack sensing something was going to happen. And it did. Four cars into Turn 1 doesn't work, and that's exactly how it played out, sending a car flying off the track and into the gravel on the final lap. I crossed the line next time around in P5, which moved me up to P2 in the championship after day one of the meeting.

Race 3

Before Race 3 the rain came down and the track was soaked. We softened the car up a little and got ready to send it. I got off the line well and moved straight into second, and thought the race was on from there. We didn't quite know how much softer to go, so the car was still relatively hard and slightly off the mark - but I was fast right away, and that was enough to bring home a P3 in the wet.

Race 4

Race 4 was where all the fun was. After the last session we decided to make the car softer for the wet, but while we were waiting on the grid the heavy central muscle cars dried the track out. So we dropped the tyre pressures right down and just sent it. To our surprise the car was fast with that setup, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 6. I made a move I probably shouldn't have, which threw me into a battle for the rest of the race. We fought our way back onto the front three but couldn't quite convert the pace into a win. By the end other cars had gone quicker, and we finished just 0.039s off the fastest lap.

Overall the meeting went well. It gave us confidence going forward and earned more points toward the championship, closing the gap to first down to 38 points. The next NIFF event is a way away in March, so we plan to do some testing over the Christmas break to make sure we've got the best chance possible of winning it.