Hamilton racing driver Martin Short dominated Round 2 of the Zoagn NZ Formula Ford Championship held at Powerbuilt Raceway at Ruapuna, near Christchurch, over the weekend.Short completely dominated all three races in his Mygale after championship points leader Nick Cassidy (Auckland) suffered a weekend to forget, despite qualifying on pole position for the opening race. Second overall for the round was Damon Leitch (Invercargill) while Matt Williams (Christchurch) completed the top three podium.
“It was a fantastic weekend dominating all three of the races at Ruapuna,” said Short, who gained a valuable year of experience in the category last year as team mate to champion Richie Stanaway. “The team at TSR Racing did a fantastic job engineering the Zoagn Mygale and making it an absolute pleasure to drive.
“I was lucky that in all three races my starts were fantastic, leading into the first corner in every race. The car was very quick and comfortable to drive andI could easily pull away from the rest of the field.”
Saturday dawned with miserable wet and drizzly weather appearing to have set in for the day thus setting the scene for any possible upsets. Qualifying provided the first surprise even though championship leader Nick Cassidy claimed pole position. Joining Cassidy on the front row of the starting grid was a vastly improved Andre Heimgartner with a lap time just 0.239 secs behind with Matt Williams the leading Canterbury driver 1.3 secs further back. The remainder of the grid was formed by Martin Short, Damon Leitch, Brett Sullivan, Matthew Penrose, Tim Vickers, Henry Thomas-Kircher, Richard Vickers and Scott Manson.
As soon the lights went out for the start of Race 1 (8 laps) instant drama unfolded as Cassidy made a slow start while Heimgartner quickly capitalised to take the lead then ran wide on Turn 1 allowing Short to move to the front. Sullivan also overtook Heimgartner but the positions were quickly reversed on the second lap while Short extended his lead.
Short was soon hounded by Heimgartner until a spin by the latter saw Short cruise to an untroubled – well deserved debut Formula Ford win ahead Heimgartner, Leitch, Sullivan, Williams, Thomas-Kircher, Penrose and Tim Vickers. Cassidy and Richard Vickers both endured spins but recovered for 9th and 10th ahead of Scott Manson.
Race 2 was also 8 laps and saw immediate drama on Turn 1 as Thomas-Kircher was slower off the start allowing Short and Heimgartner to immediately challenge. As the cars exited the first corner, four into two did not work which saw Heimgartner and Thomas-Kircher spin with Cassidy dropping back as he picked his way out the melee. An unfortunate Richard Vickers was also eliminated by the same incident.
Various battles raged between Penrose and Cassidy then Tim Vickers and Sullivan while Short commanded the race from the front with local protégé Williams in hot pursuit. Eventually the first two maintained their order to the chequered flag ahead of Leitch, Cassidy, Penrose and Tim Vickers. Heimgartner, Sullivan and Manson filled the next three places.
Race 3 (12 laps) again saw the resurgent Short dominate from start to finish as he simply drove away to win by over five seconds. The fight for second place was another story as Matthew Penrose, Matt Williams, Nick Cassidy, Andre Heimgartner and Damon Leitch involved themselves in a major race-long tussle.
At mid-distance Leitch made a desperate lunge inside Cassidy at the Hairpin which saw Cassidy off the circuit and out of the race. With just a few laps remaining Leitch made two more similar moves inside Williams and then Penrose to claim second after a sterling drive. Penrose managed to hold on to third ahead of Williams, Heimgartner, Sullivan, Richard Vickers, Manson and Thomas-Kircher.
Championship Points after Round 2:
1. Damon Leitch (Invercargill) = 381
2. Martin Short (Hamilton) = 379
3. Matthew Penrose (Rangiora) = 317
4. Nick Cassidy (Auckland)) = 315
5. Andre Heimgartner (Auckland) = 285