Damon Leitch of Invercargill struggled with engine problems throughout Round 5 of the Zoagn NZ Formula Ford Championship at Manfeild in Feilding this weekend.

The cause of a down on power engine proved elusive for the team and the young Southlander soldiered on to three 5th placings over the course of the three races.

Leitch qualified 4th fastest in the extremely competitive field, just .357 of a second off pole position on the 3.03 kilometre circuit, a fine effort under the circumstances.

The first race of the round took place on Saturday afternoon and Leitch got the Zero Fees Stealth off the line in fifth place and tagged onto the train of cars in front. However as the race went on he gradually dropped away, an engine miss having developed. Leitch perservered with the car, eventually bringing it across the line in 5th place. "The car was handling well but we struggled with the misfire," Leitch said after the race.

With names like Hulme, Amon and McLaren engraved into the historic motorsport circuits around New Zealand – this weekend was the dawning of a new age, as the new generation has been given a ‘blank canvas’ – a chance to put the first strokes of ink onto what will no doubt be a colorful future, at the new Hampton Downs circuit.

The program’s main event included the likes of Evans, Bamber and Pentus – but it was the Weldwell NZ Formula First class, in many eyes, that stole the show over the weekend. As Aaron Hodgson, Andrew Vincent and Jamie Gaskin - along with the ‘old guys’ Michael Shepherd and the returning Ian Foster redefined the words ‘close racing’ continuously throughout the event.

After three sessions on the Friday to get acquainted with the circuit, the Saturday qualifying session showed how close the racing was going to be, with the shining example the third place position, as both Jamie Gaskin and Michael Shepherd ending up with the exact same time.

It seems like just yesterday the 2009/10 Formula Ford Championship was just beginning but here we are this weekend heading for the penultimate round at the fabulous Manfeild Park in Feilding. The reason we say fabulous is because that is how both drivers and spectators describe it each season because of a couple of important facts.

Firstly, the drivers love it owing to the variety of twists and turns with plenty of places to allow outbraking and overtaking while the spectators love it because they can see all the circuit from one location to appreciate all the on-track action. The ZOAGN New Zealand Formula Ford Championship provides just the sort of action spectators yearn for with plenty of slipstreaming, overtaking, nose to tail and side by side racing.

Going into Round Five it would be fair to say Hamilton’s Martin Short has the upper hand having amassed seven race wins from twelve races to lead the championship by 143 points. Nick Cassidy (Auckland) has collected four wins to hold 2nd while Matt Williams has one win to his credit to follow just 12 points behind Cassidy.

Hamilton racing driver Martin Short has extended his points lead in the latest round of the ZOAGN New Zealand Formula Ford Championship. Short won two of the three races and came 3rd in the other for Round 4 held at the Timaru International Motor Raceway over the weekend. Second overall for the weekend was Aucklander Nick Cassidy with a win and two 3rd placings while Christchurch’s Matt Williams completed the podium after gaining two 2nd places and a 6th.  

Saturday morning dawned with miserable wet and drizzling conditions requiring drivers to be on their toes in what could only be slippery conditions with poor visibility. It only took one lap of qualifying to show how difficult the track was as Andre Heimgartner contacted the wall coming onto the front straight damaging the front left suspension and giving his crew some serious work to make the start of the opening race.