Hot action in store as NSW Championship heads for home

Luke King leads the five-car Formula Ford division in the last round at Wakefield Park. [Photo by Priceless Images]

The weather might be a bit chilly, but the action is sure to be hot as the NSW Formula Ford Championship begins its second half at Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend (August 1-2). With three rounds remaining, drivers who haven’t scored as many points as they hoped still have time to catch up – but they need to start now as the championship heads for home. As usual, there will be a maximum of 90 points up for grabs in each class, and a point each for pole position and fastest race lap in the Formula Ford (Fiesta/Duratec-engine) and Formula Ford 1600 (Kent engine) divisions. Formula Ford has been a five-way battle royal from the opening round. Andrew Kahl (Spectrum 012) leads with 217 points, with Lachlan Gibbons (Mygale SJ07) second on 185. Chris Lazarevic (Spectrum 011B), Luke King (Mygale SJ09) and Anthony Colombrita (Spectrum 010) are all well in the hunt with 174, 170 and 169 points respectively.

Will Powers will defend his Formula Ford 1600 division lead at Sydney Motorsport Park. [Photo by Good Publicity]

In Formula Ford 1600, Will Powers (Spirit K08) has set his rivals a daunting task after racking up 280 points – only two shy of a perfect score. But second-placed Daniel Holihan (Mygale SJ08) has been improving throughout the series, and with the benefit of extra track time at Sydney Motorsport Park in the recent national series round he could spring a surprise this weekend. The Pre-2000 class is likely to be another close contest between the top three placeholders Andrew Crawshaw (Van Diemen RF91), Jason Liddell (Swift SC93) and Rodney Baker (Van Diemen RF92). Only 13 points span the trio, although they mightn’t have things all their own way with Formula Ford stalwart Jeff Senior (Swift FB91) and Stephen Payne (Van Diemen RF91) making their 2015 NSW Championship debuts. A change of leader is on the cards in the Historic class. Second-placed Grahame Burton (Hawke DL11) has his best chance of closing the 42-point gap to Jimmy Vernon, who will be absent this round. Meanwhile Norm Vesty (Zina Z10) will be making up for lost time after missing the past two rounds. Adding spice to the class will be 2015 series debutants Mark Lowing (Reynard 83FF) and Ross Firth (Van Diemen RF88). Practice sessions will held on Friday, with qualifying and the first race on Saturday, and two races on Sunday. Admission to Sydney Motorsport Park on Saturday is free, and on Sunday $15 for adults and free for children 12 and under.