Invercargill driver Jamie Conroy has extended his advantage in the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship with just one round remaining after competing at Manfeild Park in Feilding this weekend.
Conroy will carry a provisional 97 point lead into the final round after another clean sweep, his fourth of the season, at Manfeild. He has now won thirteen of the fifteen races held to date.
As with all the North Island races in the series the twenty-two year old was completely new to Manfeild but was quickly on the pace, just failing to take pole position during a qualifying session that started on a damp track that progressively dried on Saturday morning. Conroy wasn’t happy with the balance of the Mygale and a stop to reset tyre pressures in the changing conditions cost him time but he still qualified second fastest, just .104 of a second behind main championship rival Michael Collins of Christchurch.
Second place on the grid proved a bonus however when he won the start of the opening race over 10 laps on Saturdayafternoon. “All the traffic crosses the spot where the second qualifier starts so I had the advantage of better grip,” explained Conroy. The twenty-two year old went on to chalk up his eleventh victory of the championship, beating Collins across the line with Aaron Marr of Wanganui third. The following morning Conroy
The feature race of the round was the Morrie Smith Memorial Trophy, a trophy named in honour of Ken Smith’s late father Morrie. Conroy had enjoyed racing against Ken for the first time last weekend at Hampton Downs. Prior to the race Greg Woodrow, the Mygale Australia boss, suggested a few things the team could try with the set up of the car and Conroy was much happier with the balance in the feature event. After being third initially as he battled a slipping clutch off the line, Conroy took the lead on lap three and pulled away to win convincingly by more than six seconds from Marr with Yardley third and Collins fourth.
“We had a few dramas,” said Jamie, as he reflected on another successful weekend. “We struggled with our set-up and the car wasn’t balanced but Greg’s suggestions helped. I’m absolutely stoked though. We have won every race where the motor has been running as it should and our points now give us a little bit of breathing space at the final round.”
The final round of the championship takes place at the Taupo Motorsport Park over the weekend of 8/9 March.
Jamie Conroy’s Formula Ford campaign is supported by Horgan Farms, Evolution Motorsport, Progressive Engineering Southland Ltd, Waikato Milking Systems, Gulf, John Deere, Gallagher, SP Tools, Hydraulink, George Wilson Sales Ltd, Sievwright Auto, PPG, E Hayes, Southern Wide Real Estate, Radcliffe Electrical and R & A Williams.
