Seb Manson has claimed all four race wins at the opening round of the 2023/24 Yokohama South Island Formula Ford Championship presented by Team Hutchinson Ford. The Euromarque Motorsport Park in Christchurch hosted the round as part of the Wigram Revival meeting which also saw Manson lift the Wigram Cup, a prize for the last 12-lap race. The round win catapults Manson (Spectrum 015) into a commanding lead of the 18-race, five round series, 54-points ahead of Dylan Petch (Ray GR20) who finished runner-up.
“A very good weekend,” commented Manson. “The car was good, just working on the driving in each race, so it’s been a good start to the season.”
Setting quickest time in qualifying won him a $500 Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy cash prize and first on the grid for the opening 10-lap race on Saturday.
“Qualified fastest which was good and got off the line well for the first race and led to the finish,” said Manson. “Will (Neale) definitely gave me a good challenge both in the race and all weekend. Was able to get to the front in Race 2 having started from P2 and Race 3 was similar.”
Behind Manson was a fight over podium places between Dylan Petch, Will Neale (Van Diemen Stealth), last season’s champion Blake Knowles (Van Diemen RF05) and Caleb Byers (Ray GR21). All four capable of standing on the podium with Petch the most consistent over the weekend with two second and one third places.
“Really happy leaving the weekend in that position,” said Petch. “It all went pretty well and really happy to be battling with the top four. This round was the one I was least confident about so thrilled to get a good result.”
In the final 12-lap Wigram Cup race, Manson led off the line initially with Neale, Knowles and Petch in the hunt. A safety car intervention after rookie Izaak Fletcher (Ray GR20) went off the track saw the field bunch up for a one-lap dash to the chequered flag. While Manson got a jump on the field at the restart and held on for the win, Petch slipped past Neale for second with Knowles in fourth followed by Byers.
Despite his off-track excursion in the last race, Fletcher made an impressive debut, twice finishing in the top-five.
Manson was awarded the NAPA Auto Parts prize for ‘Driver of the Day’ as well as winning Class 1 (post 1999 including Stealth) while Ryan Low (Van Diemen RF90) was first in Class 2 (1989 to 2000).
At the end of the season Team Hutchinson Ford Prize package will be awarded for the overall Class 1 and Class 2 winners. This year sees an exciting prize for the NZ Formula Ford Championship Class 2 winner after moving the Stealth cars into the Class 1 category. Toyota Gazoo Racing have put up an FT50 test for the winner of Class 2 to encourage these entry level drivers and cars back into Formula Ford.
The series heads to Timaru for the second round this coming weekend with Manson taking nothing for granted.
“It is going to be tough this coming season with the number of good rivals,” said Manson.
Overall Points after Round 1/5
1/ Sebastian Manson 302
2/ Dylan Petch 248
3/ Caleb Byers 194
4/ Will Neale 187
5/ Blake Knowles 175
6/ Jake Bryant 172
7/ Dan Kelly 153
8/ Izaak Fletcher * 148
9/ Ryan Low 138
10/ Jacob Cunniffe 127
11/ Jack Noble-Adams 123
12/ Michael Hey 118
13/ Jacob Begg * 109
14/ Simon Hunter 108
15/ Nigel Arkell 22
*Rookie
Race results
Race 1 (10 laps)
1/ Seb Manson, Spectrum 015
2/ Will Neale, Van Diemen Stealth
3/ Dylan Petch, Ray GR20
4/ Blake Knowles, Van Diemen RF05
5/ Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
6/ Jack Noble-Adams, Ray GR21
7/ Jake Bryant, Van Diemen RF94
8/ Simon Hunter, Mygale SJ08A
9/ Caleb Byers, Ray GR21
10/ Dan Kelly, Van Diemen RF94
11/ Ryan Low, Van Diemen RF90
12/ Jacob Cunniffe, Swift SC96K
13/ Michael Hey, Van Diemen Stealth
14/ Jacob Begg, Van Diemen RF92
15/ Nigel Arkell, Van Diemen RF90
Race 2 (10 laps)
1/ Seb Manson, Spectrum 015
2/ Blake Knowles, Van Diemen RF05
3/ Will Neale, Van Diemen Stealth
4/ Dylan Petch, Ray GR20
5/ Caleb Byers, Ray GR21
6/ Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
7/ Jake Bryant, Van Diemen RF94
8/ Dan Kelly, Van Diemen RF94
9/ Jack Noble-Adams, Ray GR21
10/ Ryan Low, Van Diemen RF90
11/ Jacob Cunniffe, Swift SC96K
12/ Michael Hey, Van Diemen Stealth
13/ Jacob Begg, Van Diemen RF92
14/ Simon Hunter, Mygale SJ08A
Race 3 (12 laps)
1/ Seb Manson, Spectrum 015
2/ Dylan Petch, Ray GR20
3/ Caleb Byers, Ray GR21
4/ Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
5/ Jake Bryant, Van Diemen RF94
6/ Dan Kelly, Van Diemen RF94
7/ Ryan Low, Van Diemen RF90
8/ Jacob Cunniffe, Swift SC96K
9/ Michael Hey, Van Diemen Stealth
10/ Jacob Begg, Van Diemen RF92
DNF Blake Knowles, Van Diemen RF05
DNF Will Neale, Van Diemen Stealth
DNF Jack Noble-Adams, Ray GR21
DNF Simon Hunter, Mygale SJ08A
Race 4 (12 laps) – Wigram Cup
1/ Seb Manson, Spectrum 015
2/ Dylan Petch, Ray GR20
3/ Will Neale, Van Diemen Stealth
4/ Blake Knowles, Van Diemen RF05
5/ Caleb Byers, Ray GR21
6/ Simon Hunter, Mygale SJ08A
7/ Jack Noble-Adams, Ray GR21
8/ Jake Bryant, Van Diemen RF94
9/ Dan Kelly, Van Diemen RF94
10/ Ryan Low, Van Diemen RF90
11/ Jacob Cunniffe, Swift SC96K
12/ Michael Hey, Van Diemen Stealth
13/ Jacob Begg, Van Diemen RF92
DNF Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
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