Alex Crosbie’s defence of his New Zealand Formula Ford Championship is looking air tight after claiming all three race victories at Taupo today.
Hot on his heels is Sebastian Manson who has kept pressure on all weekend to take second place on all three occasions.
Dylan Grant also continues his fine form with two fourths and a third, continuing his fine form from last weekend.
Grant and Crosbie are yet to resume their intense battles we saw at Hampton Downs, Grant running on older tyres to prepare for the South Island rounds as competitors are only allowed three full sets over the four rounds.
Daniel Brown is also in the mix, taking third in Race 2 to remain in contact on the championship ladder.
Blake Knowles is the other competitor to score a podium with third in Race 1. His luck ran out there, however, collected by Leo Scott whose brakes failed in Race 2 before mechanical difficulties saw him heartbreakingly miss a podium on the final lap in Race 3.
He’ll be one to watch tomorrow, fueled by his misfortunes despite already having demonstrated he has the speed and ability to race near the front.
Other racers also performing include Blake Dowdall, William Neale, Hayden Bakkerus, Mason Potter, William Byers and Dylan Petch, all involved in some intense midfield battles across each race.
It was Manson who announced himself on scene earlier in the day, a superb qualifying performance seeing him get the better on Round 1’s two front runners Crosbie and Grant to start on pole position.
He had solid company with the championship leader alongside with Grant keeping the pressure on from third next to Knowles. Leo Scott also qualified well after a tough outing at Hampton Downs, narrowly getting the better of Daniel Brown for fifth.
Race 1
Crosbie was immediately to the front in Race 1, a flying launch seeing him take the lead into Turn 1 with Manson immediately responding and pressuring for the lead.
Knowles was also a fast started to pip Grant off the line to drop into third with Brown slotting into fifth with Scott not taking the start, Dowdall instead now running sixth.
One of Round 1’s top performers, Zach Blincoe, also missed the start with an oil leak
Manson regained the lead heading onto the main straight to begin Lap 2 with Crosbie quick to apply the pressure, the two building a slight gap to Knowles in third.
The battle for fifth was just as tight as that ahead, Dowdall applying intense pressure to Brown in the opening stages with quick rookie Caleb Byers also applying pressure to the duo.
Lap 4 was where Dowdall pulled off a superb move to take fifth, taking the long way around the outside at Turn 1 for position.
Up front the battle remained tight, Crosbie and Manson exchanging the lead between themselves with Knowles 1.5 seconds behind having also built a small gap to Grant in fourth, the quartet now well clear of the pack.
The gap to the runaway duo up front was quickly closed from the intensity of their battle, just half a second separating the four with three laps to go.
A thrilling run to the line was on the cards, the race poised nicely heading into it’s final stages.
Manson had done great by this point to hold off the charge behind, taking great lines and holding his nerve to keep the #1 behind despite running side-by-side at times.
As expected from a defending champion, however, Crosbie caught Manson by surprise, taking an unexpected inside line around the hairpin to lead heading into the final lap.
Order was to be restored from here, the top four all maintaining position over the final lap for Crosbie to take the flag ahead of Manson with Knowles rounding out the podium, leaving Grant to settle for a hard-fought fourth.
Race 2
Saturday afternoon’s Race 2 saw Manson back on pole with Crosbie alongside, teasing at a repeat of the scintillating battle which Race 1 saw.
Manson got the start right this time around, taking the lead into Turn 1 whilst Grant was swallowed by the pack with a difficult launch from third.
A Lap 1 incident saw Scott losing his brakes heading into a right hander attempting a pass for fourth, Knowles the unlucky victim with nowhere to go in third and being collected by the #99.
A Safety Car was called for with Manson holding the lead over Crosbie, Brown now sitting third over Dowdall with Byers and Grant behind.
Manson got the Lap 4 restart done well, Crosbie following with Brown half a second back holding third with Dowdall immediately pressuring behind.
Crosbie was back to business taking the outside line at the hairpin, Manson holding his line to retain his lead. Later that lap, however, the lead did change, Crosbie taking a quick line through the final turns to take position.
The battle for third continued to be tight with the leaders now clear up the road, Dowdall threatening Brown with a train led by Byers close behind.
Dowdall did get the move done on Lap 5, taking the final podium spot with a great run mid-lap before pulling clear and beginning to go about hunting down those ahead.
Grant also worked past Byers at a similar point, minimising his losses to move up to fifth.
With three laps remaining the battle for sixth is where the action was, Mason Potter, Dylan Petch, William Neale, Byers and Hayden Bakkerus locked in a tight fight, the latter emerging ahead to take sixth off Byers before pulling clear of the chasing pack.
Up front Crosbie had run away to put two seconds on Manson, Brown now also having worked back to Dowdall to return to third with Grant hot on their tail.
Crosbie took the flag by 2.3 seconds over Manson whilst Brown kept his nerve for third.
Grant worked his way back to fourth with an excellent last lap pass on Dowdall, straight-line speed giving him the inside line into the final turns to allow the move to be completed.
Neale also drove a sublime final lap, getting sixth off Bakkerus with Potter, Byers and Petch rounding out the top 10.
Race 3
Manson and Crosbie started evenly, the pole-sitter Manson leading into Turn 1 as he had the previous race.
The speed of the two was immediately apparent, the duo quickly putting a gap on Knowles who had got the better of Grant off the second row to sit third with Brown close behind.
Crosbie continued to work outside lines, as he has all day, Manson well aware of his rival’s tactic by now and holding firm by running a wide inside line.
With the duo once again locked in a fierce fight after three laps, Knowles closed in, bringing Brown and Dowdall along for the ride.
The defending champion finally got the pass done on Lap 4 on the final corners, the field now all nose-to-tail with Neale setting the fastest lap in 7th.
That was topped the next lap by Blincoe, who was running 8th, showcasing just how tight the field was.
Clear air was what Crosbie needed, and that’s what he got, a massive push on Lap 6 to pull just under a second clear.
With small gaps appearing between each of the front four the battle for fifth remained tight, Brown leading a train of Dowdall, Blincoe and Neale, Petch gaining ground and working forward to sit 9th from 13th on the grid.
Grant had kept contact with Knowles heading onto the final lap until disaster struck for Knowles, the youngster robber of a podium with mechanical difficulties seeing him swallowed up by the battling pack behind.
Crosbie went on to take his third win of the day over Manson, Grant counting his blessings to be on the podium.
Blincoe earned a hard-fought fourth, getting the better of Brown, Neale, Dowdall and Petch who had done well to chase done those ahead.
Potter and Byers rounded out the top 10, leaving Knowles a frustrating 11th after what has been a brilliant day of racing for the youngster.
Formula Ford returns for two more races tomorrow, the first at 11.27am and the latter at 3.24pm.
Header Image: Geoff Ridder
