Manfeild - NIFF Round 5

It wasn't far to the track this weekend for a change. On Friday we had just a short 20-minute drive to go testing - which beats a six-hour haul if you ask me. Round 5 of the North Island Formula Ford Championship was back at Manfeild, our home circuit, and we had a clear job: keep the championship fight alive.

Practice and Qualifying

Over the test day we made some major changes to the setup we'd carried out of Hampton Downs, and found our best window in the second session to go fourth fastest. A solid base to build the weekend on.

Heading into qualifying we knew the NZFF boys would be on newer tyres, which put us at a disadvantage all weekend. The session itself was busy - I spent it hunting for anyone I could grab a tow off, but with cars all over the track playing exactly the same game, a clean tow was hard to come by. We did enough to line up sixth on the grid.

Race 1

We went forward quickly off the lights, slotting into fifth and running off the back of the front train of cars. Whether it was the tyre difference or something else, our lap times started to fall away through the race, and we dropped back into our own little pack of three with myself sitting seventh. Then it got rough - under double waved yellows there was a slower car we all had to back off for, and a car behind decided that was the moment to make up time. He sailed straight into the back of me, bending the rear arms of the car. We limped through the final lap slower than usual, but a two-car crash up ahead let me grab fifth back at the very last corner.

Race 2

We didn't have time to tune the car the way we wanted for this one - all of it had gone into repairing the damage from Race 1. Despite that, we thought we were on for a good result after launching straight into fourth off the line and running with the front bunch. But the car slowly went away from us again, and we ended up in the same pack as the race before, coming home seventh.

Races 3 & 4

On Sunday we got into Races 3 and 4. Overnight we played with our gear ratios to better suit the strong and weak points around the track. Again we found our way up to the front, and this time we held it there for a few laps - we thought we'd cracked the code to find the time we were after. But once the first car got past me after those opening laps, I slowly got shuffled down the order again to finish seventh.

Formula Ford sets its grids using a format called scratch - your grid spot comes from the fastest time of the whole weekend, not just qualifying. A lot of cars went quicker in Race 3, which shuffled me back to eighth for Race 4. The whole race I was swapping places and going two or three wide at least once a lap. We battled from lap 1 to lap 12 with five cars in the pack - it sounded like a swarm of angry bees out there. I found myself second in the bunch and crossed the line seventh once again.

The meeting didn't shape up the way we wanted or expected. We've reviewed a few elements of the weekend more deeply since, and I think we know why - I'll have my eyes forward and ready for next time.

Next up I'm beyond keen to head to Taupo for the V8 Supercars round. It looks like it'll draw a huge crowd, with awesome facilities set up by both Formula Ford and Supercars. What will it be like? You'll see. I'll also have loads of stickers to give away in the Formula Ford paddock all weekend - so come and grab one to throw on the toolbox.