Tom Alexander returns to the Promains Formula Open New Zealand grid for the fourth round of the championship at Pukekohe Park Raceway 25th & 26th February for the final classic and historic meeting at the iconic track.
Other racing and business commitments have kept the former Toyota 86 and Australian Super Utes Champion out of the series so far the season, but he relishes the opportunity to get back behind the wheel of the Black Bull Racing Tatuus FT50. The last time Alexander was in the car was in April at Manfield where he had an epic battle all weekend with James Watson in the Swift DB4 Formula Atlantic that had the crowd on their feet with excitement.
That battle will no doubt resume at Pukekohe but with the added interest of Liam Sceats back in his Tatuus FT50 fresh from five rounds of the CTFROC in the Tatuus FT60. Liam will be superfast given his extensive seat time and his extremely impressive performances in the CTFROC. Given those performances Liam is expected to be the man to beat.
Add to the mix series new comer 17 year old Kaden Probst, despite being new to racing cars the ex- Karter is superfast having beaten Watson at Ruapuna and will surely be in the mix at Pukekohe. Add in former TRS racer Sam Mac Neill in yet another of the Tatuus FT50’s and there will be some intense racing at the front.
Of course you can never write off Kenny Smith who will be in the ex-Marcus Armstrong Tatuus FT50. Ken was hoping to campaign his 1990 NZIGP winning Ford BDA powered Swift DB4 but in reality even though it is almost ready Kenny wants some extensive testing in it to make sure it is perfect for its return to racing. As he says it has been apart for 25 years so it will take time to sort and set up. If experience is anything to go by when he does finally bring it out it could be a real weapon. Look what he did to the F5000 field when he got his Lola T332 sorted.
That is not to say that others won’t be in the mix as Zac Christiansen proved at Skope the Tatuus FT40’s that contests the Jim Palmer cup (sponsored by The Fitness Portal) are extremely fast in a straight line and given that this meeting will be using the Pukekohe long back straight could upset the FT50’s and the Atlantics. Keeping Christensen honest in the Jim Palmer Cup will be Leo Francis the ex NZ Formula First Champion also using the straight line advantage of the F40 to best effect.
Add to the mix Fergus Crabb who is getting quicker each outing and turned on a stellar performance at Ruapuna, this time he will have his dad as his team mate with Richard climbing back into the teams second FT50 for this round.
The Formula Atlantic brigade is getting stronger with the addition of a couple of new cars, in particular young Ethan Sillay with the Reynard 93H Formula Atlantic that set a pole position lap time at Skope before detonating an engine. At time of writing they were hoping to have a replacement installed but were not overly hopeful. Another new comer to the series Ollie Gee was hoping to make it back from business commitment’s in Australia to campaign his Swift DB4 Atlantic.
With the other two Atlantics in the field it will be good to see Grant Rivers return to the track after missing Skope with his immaculately presented ex-Pope racing Swift DB4 and hopefully we will see Gary Rush get the troublesome Swift sorted. Poor Gary seems to have upset the electronics God’s as his Swift DB4 seems to continually suffer ignition ailments. It seems impossible to replicate the issue on the dyno but whenever it sees a race track the problems resurface. Lets hope a new Link computer solves Gary’s issues.
So if you want to see some of the country’s fastest wings and slick cars perform one last time at the fastest track in the southern hemisphere you need to get to Pukekohe Park Raceway for the 60th anniversary of this fabulous place. It is fitting that Mr Jim Palmer who was the first man ever to drive the track and finished 3rd in the first GP to be held there will be the guest of honour at this meeting.
So come along on Saturday we will be having a drivers parade at lunchtime where you will get to see and meet some of our great drivers and motorsport personalities from the past. The morning will consist of qualifying with the first round of racing in the afternoon. Sunday there will be two more rounds of racing with the afternoon being the feature race for the Promains Formula Open New Zealand Championship.
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