In just his first race outing in a single seater, Australian based Kiwi Jaxon Evans has won the opening round of the South Island Formula Ford Championship held at Timaru International Motor Raceway on Saturday. The 19 year old, living in Queensland, was fastest qualifier and then showed a dominant form, winning all three races.
It was a cold and wet early morning start for 20 drivers taking to the grid.
“That was good fun,” commented Jaxon Evans. “I’ve done a fair bit of wet weather racing, particularly in karting, which is very similar. I was able to beat Aaron (Marr) to the first corner then just focussed and stayed ahead.” And that was how the second race went as well.
However with a dry track it was Wanganui’s Aaron Marr that pressured Evans all the way from start to finish in the final race.
“He was pushing me the whole time and waiting to pounce if I made a mistake,” said Evans.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Marr, “particularly in the slippery conditions. We haven’t had much time to prepare for this season and I haven’t raced in the wet for two seasons so pretty happy with the results from the weekend.” Marr finished third in race one and second in three while in the second race he had to pit to fix a loose engine cover, sending him down the field to finish 13th.
Having been reunited with the car which he won the same championship back in 1991; Andy McElrea claimed three podiums for the weekend. “There’s a massive sense of Deja-vu,” commented McElrea. “I drove this at the Wigram Revival meeting a couple of years ago but it’s great to be back racing it.”
Two seconds and a third gave him second place overall for the weekend and the lead in Class 3.
Son Hunter McElrea, also making his Formula Ford debut, finished a credible third in Class 2 and ninth overall.
Ethan Anderson was impressive in just his second season in the series. “The car felt pretty good and it’s only my second race in the wet.” With an aim to finish on the podium at the end of the season Anderson was third in Class 1 and fifth overall.
Royce Bayer had two top five placings and is now fourth overall and leads Class 2 from Gary Lovie.
Also impressive was Tim Miles, one of the five Australian based drivers competing in the six round championship. Currently also competing in the Australian Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge, he placed sixth for the weekend and second in Class 3 behind McElrea.
The championship returns to the Timaru circuit (long track) on 14 November for the second round which also doubles as the first round of the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship.
