Pukekohe school boy Taylor Cockerton had the perfect weekend at Teretonga Park, Invercargill winning all three Ace Hire South Island Formula Ford Championship races. The points haul now moves him into second place in the championship behind leader Cantabrian Michael Collins.
“I’m absolutely stoked to get three wins from the weekend,” commented Cockerton. “It’s the best that we can do and we go away with maximum points for the round.”
The fifth round of the series was held in hot conditions testing both drivers and engineers in choosing the correct setup. Fastest in qualifying on Saturday morning, Cockerton led all three races from start to finish, with-holding pressure from the pursuing pack.
The first race on Saturday afternoon was marred by a safety car period in order to retrieve Trevor Stiles #33 car from the kitty litter. However with the cars backed up behind the safety car on the front straight, Steve Edwards had to take avoiding action to slow down and skewed his car into the bank just under the control tower. This brought out the red flag, stopping the race while a rather damaged Mygale race car was retrieved and the bank repaired.
“I was determined to get a good restart after the safety car,” commented Cockerton. “ I needed the gap to drive my own race.” Cockerton held the lead through to the chequered flag with Collins passing Christchurch’s Caleb Cross for second on the final stretch.
Sunday morning’s race two saw Cockerton out on his own for the 10 lap duration. Cross held second but was continually pressured by Collins followed by Michael Scott and Aaron Marr with Ryan Yardley bringing up the rear of the top six. While Marr got by Scott, Collins eventually made his move on Cross passing on the front straight. However this proved unfortunate as Marr found a gap and passed Collins, while Cross held onto second.
“It’s the way it works,” commented Collins. “If you make a move on the outside (heading into turn 1) you open the door for someone else on the inside, and Marr took that opportunity.”
The final race on Sunday afternoon was a new 20 lap feature race. While Cockerton held the lead to the end Cross was able to keep up and pressure the leader until his tyres started to lose grip. At this stage most of the field were suffering from a similar fate. Scott took third in front of Marr.
Behind the leading pack, a great battle had ensured between Stephan Heffernan and Ethan Anderson for fifth place.
“We had a great battle,” commented Heffernan. “Ethan has come a long way over the series and I had to let him go after my right rear brake went off.”
Collins, who had held third for the first five laps broke his gear lever and had to drive in third gear finishing in eighth and collecting valuable championship points.
Leaving the series and heading home to the UK is #33 Trevor Stiles. “I’ve had an absolute ball,” he commented. “Thanks to all the boys, especially to Derek Wilson for his help. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself.” Stiles has been a consistent performer throughout the series but unable to participate in championship points due to ineligibility.
Cockerton takes over the lead in Class 1 from Cross and Marr while Collins continues to lead Class 2 and Doug Price Class 3. The final Ace Hire Series round takes place in March at Timaru.
The weekend also doubled as the third New Zealand Formula Ford Championship round which is now lead by Cross from Scott and Yardley. Drivers will head to the next national round in Taupo in a fortnights time.
The South Island Formula Ford Club acknowledge the support of Ace Hire (Chch), Avon Tyres, Arai Helmets, Motorsport Solutions (NZ) and Newfield Autos (Invercargill).
