Christchurch’s Dylan Petch’s experience shone through at the opening 2026/27 South Island Formula Ford Championship round at Levels Raceway in Timaru over the weekend.
Petch won all four races with Southland’s Nixon Cripps second for the round and Canterbury’s Seb Eskandari third. The first of five rounds proved to be very competitive right through the field, with a number of new rookie drivers keen to put their best foot forward early in the series
“Very pleased with that,” commented Petch, who switched to a Mygale SJ15A this season, bought as a Duretec-engined car out of Australia and converted by Petch over the winter to the NZ-spec Kent engine.
“It’s a great debut for the car and couldn’t have gone better.”
Hamilton’s Braxton Kraayvanger, fresh off winning the opening round of the North Island Series, went fastest in qualifying, picking up the Rodin Cars $500 cash prize, while Timaru’s Alex Sprague picked up a $250 cash prize for fastest Class 2 & 3 car.
Braayvanger led off the line in the opening Race 1 from Eskandari, Petch and Cripps but lost the lead to Petch on the fourth lap after he went wide. Petch then held the lead, crossing the line ahead of Eskandari, Cripps and Archie Dampier-Crossley, who picked up the NAPA Driver of the Day Award at the end of the weekend.
On Sunday morning, Petch won again; this time, Cripps took second ahead of Eskandari and Kraayvanger.
Race 3 delivered a similar result, with Kraayvanger leading for half the 12-lap race. Petch was patient and pounced at the right time, leading Cripps over the line with Kraayvanger third ahead of Eskandari and Dampier-Crossley.
Cripps had an exceptional outing, having moved up from karting this season. The 13-year-old finished all four races on the podium and is currently second overall.
In the final Race 4, Kraayvanger looked like he had won his first SIFF race, crossing the line ahead of Petch, Cripps and Alex Sprague. However, Kraayvanger was hit with a five-second penalty after jumping a Safety Car restart. This gave Petch the win and dropped Kraayvanger to third.
The Rodin Cars $500 cash prize for the round winner went to Petch, with Cripps receiving $300 for second and Eskandari $200 for third. Petch also picked up the $500 Team Hutchinson Ford top driver of the round award.
“We had some really good close racing,” said Petch.
“It all bodes well for both the South Island and national championships as there are a handful of serious close contenders.”
Also impressing early in the series was Alex Sprague, who was the first Class 2 car for the round, finishing all four races as did Conley Webley. The two battled closely in the mid-pack with Olivia Lorenzen and Marc Doran, who proved very competitive in his Class 3 Ray 86F.
The series now heads to the Euromarque Motorsport Park in Christchurch for the second round at the end of November.
The SIFF organising committee acknowledges Rodin Cars’ support with cash prizes for fastest qualifiers and round winners. NAPA continues to back the series with its Driver of the Day award, plus the Team Hutchison Ford prize for each round winner.
Race Results – Race 1 (10 laps)
- Dylan Petch (Mygale SJ15A)
- Seb Eskandari (Mygale SJ13A)
- Nixon Cripps (Spectrum 015)
- Archie Dampier-Crossley (Ray GR17)
- Alex Sprague (Van Dieman RF94)
- Conley Webley (Van Dieman RD93)
- Olivia Lorenzen (Mygale SJ07A)
- Braxton Kraayvanger (Spectrum 015)
- Marc Doran, (Ray 86F)
- Lily Flashman (Mygale SJ12)
- Gary Love (Van Dieman RF98)
Race 2 (10 laps)
- Dylan Petch (Mygale SJ15A)
- Nixon Cripps (Spectrum 015)
- Seb Eskandari (Mygale SJ13A)
- Braxton Kraayvanger (Spectrum 015)
- Archie Dampier-Crossley (Ray GR17)
- Alex Sprague (Van Dieman RF94)
- Olivia Lorenzen (Mygale SJ07A)
- Conley Webley (Van Dieman RD93)
- Marc Doran, (Ray 86F)
- Lily Flashman (Mygale SJ12)
- DNS Gary Love (Van Dieman RF98)
Race 3 (12 laps)
- Dylan Petch (Mygale SJ15A)
- Nixon Cripps (Spectrum 015)
- Braxton Kraayvanger (Spectrum 015)
- Seb Eskandari (Mygale SJ13A)
- Archie Dampier-Crossley (Ray GR17)
- Alex Sprague (Van Dieman RF94)
- Conley Webley (Van Dieman RD93)
- Olivia Lorenzen (Mygale SJ07A)
- 9/ Marc Doran, (Ray 86F)
- 10/ Lily Flashman (Mygale SJ12)
- 11/ Gary Love (Van Dieman RF98)
Race 4 (12 Laps)
- Dylan Petch (Mygale SJ15A)
- Nixon Cripps (Spectrum 015)
- Braxton Kraayvanger (Spectrum 015)
- Alex Sprague (Van Dieman RF94)
- Conley Webley (Van Dieman RD93)
- Marc Doran, (Ray 86F)
- Lily Flashman (Mygale SJ12)
- Seb Eskandari (Mygale SJ13A)
- DNF Archie Dampier-Crossley (Ray GR17)
- DNF Olivia Lorenzen (Mygale SJ07A)
- DNS Gary Love (Van Dieman RF98)
Header Photo: Euan Cameron
