Two wins from four races has given Palmerston North’s Blake Dowdall the initial overall lead of the 2025 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship after the opening round held at the Thunder Down Under meeting in Timaru.
In what will be a very tight championship, Dowdall now has a 24-point lead over Dylan Grant from Auckland with Christchurch’s Will Neale in third ahead of Australian rookie Lincoln Taylor. The event also doubled as the fourth round of the South Island Formula Ford Championship.
“Pretty happy with that,” commented Dowdall. “We can only be happy with the race car we have got at this stage in the championship. Speed on the straight was key to get passed heading into Turn 4.”
Will Neale set the pace on Friday afternoon qualifying fastest and picking up the $1,010.10 cash prize from the Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy. While the team struggled for speed, three podiums from four races has kept Neale in the hunt just 27-points off the lead.
“Been a bit of a struggle,” said Neale. “We had pace, obviously putting it on pole. One lap qualifying pace is different to race pace, and we are just struggling in a straight line. The competition is quick so pleased to get some good championship points.”
Grant drew first blood winning in the rain on Saturday morning from Dylan Petch and Neale. Fourth home was Taylor, who impressed enough over the weekend to be awarded the Napa Auto Parts Driver of the Day.
Dowdall started to stamp his mark on the series by winning the second race on Saturday afternoon from Neale followed by current national Formula Ford champion, Blake Knowles. Knowles was making a one-off appearance as part of the South Island Formula Ford Championship and proved to be very competitive.
Knowles was quick out of the blocks in the third race leading until the penultimate lap when a coming together with a hard charging Dowdall saw the former off the track ending his weekend and the latter dropping down to third. It was Taylor that benefitted from the incident taking his first Formula Ford race victory ahead of Dowdall, Toby McCormack, Dylan Grant and James Penrose.
“Really happy with the win coming from eighth on the grid,” said Taylor. “Got in a position to make some real gains when the opportunity came along.”
The final 12-lap feature race saw a number of lead changes between Dowdall, Neale and Taylor while Grant and 2020/21 national championship, James Penrose battled for a place on the podium.
Taylor had the lead heading into the final lap, but it was Dowdall who got passed to take his second win. Taylor crossed the line in second but a five-second penalty for jumping the start saw him drop to seventh giving second place to Neale followed by Grant, Penrose and Toby McCormack.
Following the final race, Petch’s results from Races 2, 3 and 4 were deleted after a technical breach was found in post-race scrutineering, a valve lift in his engine found to exceed the maximum by .028 of a millimetre.
The championship heads to the Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell for the second of four rounds in two weeks’ time with three races in support of the New Zealand Grand Prix on 7-9 February.
Available for drivers and teams is a $51,000 travel fund from the Tony Quinn Foundation. At each round there is a $1,010.10 cash cheque available for the fastest qualifier provided by the Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy.
NAPA Auto Parts will again offer prizes for Driver of the Day while Yokohama return to the series as the tyre of choice for Formula Ford Racing in NZ.
This summer sees a collaboration between Rodin Cars and MotorSport NZ to create a new pathway to Formula 1 with the NZFF champion and selected Formula Ford drivers invited to an all-expenses-paid, three-day testing and evaluation program with Rodin Cars in New Zealand. From there a driver who exhibits exceptional talent has the possibility to test with Rodin Motorsport in the UK with the possibility of securing a seat in one of Rodin’s F4 teams.
The final two rounds take place in the North Island with three races at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park which includes the Ron Frost Trophy race, 21-23 March and four races at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, which includes the 18-lap Morrie Smith Memorial Trophy race, 4-6 April 2025.
