"Disappointing!" Southland driver Damon Leitch was quite polite when asked about his weekend at Teretonga as he contested Round 3 of the Zoagn NZ Formula Ford Championship.

Leitch, the round winner at Teretonga last year, arrived at his home race leading the championship. However it all turned sour at the first corner of the first race and the weekend never improved.

Damon had qualified 6th on the grid and was on a typical charge around the outside at the first corner when he was unceremoniously pushed off the track by another competitor. That sent him into the tyre wall at the circuit's fastest corner. It was a big hit, the telemetry on the car showing the Zero Fees Stealth was travelling at 110mph at impact.

That was the end of the race for the Invercargill driver, the car coming back to the pits badly damaged on the back of a recovery truck.

It was a "massive hit" in the words of the battered and bruised Leitch who was checked over trackside by ambulance staff.

The next morning Leitch fronted for the second race of the weekend, badly bruised and nursing a very sore back. However those in the large home crowd would have been unaware of his discomfort as he set about his work. Once again his race was to be shortlived. This time another competitor made an error and it was Damon who was caught up in the carnage, his race again ending with a badly damaged car.

Leitch was back on track for the final race but the Zero Fees Stealth was in poor shape. "The front was working real well but the back end was sliding a lot," explained the driver as he recounted the race later. "I had no front brakes either." An accidental touch with another competitor resulted in a drivethrough penalty, ironic considering he had been an innocent victim in the previous two races. After taking the penalty Leitch cruised home in 9th place.

A dejected Damon could only describe his weekend from hell as "disappointing" as the team regroups for Round 4 of the championship at Timaru next weekend.

Damon's campaign in the 2009/2010 Zoagn Formula Ford Championship is supported by Zero Fees, Allied Petroleum, Mobil 1, Toll Tranzlink, EH Ball ITM Building Supplies, Ray White Real Estate, BNT Motorsport, Kingsford-Smith Motor Painting Ltd, Advantage Signs, Caltex Invercargill Oil Shop, Turntru Machining, Discount Tyres, PPG, Total Trade Tools, Teng Tools, Collingwood Foodcentre, Macaulay Ford, Office Shop, Steve Rhodes Feature Cars, McIntyre Dick & Partners, Highway Services, Knight Of New Zealand, Clive Wilson Ltd, Wurth, i-cue, Newfield Autos, Arrow International, Southern Paints, Yunca Heating & Gas and Leitch Motorsport.

Media: Damon Leitch  Photo: SportProMedia