Auckland’s Marco Manson has made his mark on the 2025/26 South Island Formula Ford Championship (South Island Formula Ford Championship) after the perfect points-scoring round in Invercargill over the weekend.
Teretonga Park hosted the third of five rounds, which saw Manson qualify on pole, claiming the $500 Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy Award. He then went on to win all four races and has now extended his overall lead back to Dylan Petch by 248 points, with Zach Tucker maintaining third a further 10 points back.
“That was a really good weekend,” commented Manson.
“It’s the first time racing at Teretonga, which is a pretty cool track, fast and narrow.”
Also to shine over the weekend was Maxim Kirwan, also from Auckland. Four top-five placings, including three seconds, have moved the Aucklander into fourth overall, while the consistent Jake Bryant has slipped to fifth after a technical issue in the final race dropped him down the order to tenth.
His performance across the weekend was rewarded with the NAPA Driver of the Day Award.
“In the first race, I got a good start and held the lead with some really close racing,” said Manson.
“In the second and third races, I was able to get a gap, while in the final race, Maxim (Kirwan) really came at me at the end.”
Petch has hung on to second overall after overcoming several obstacles over the weekend. First, he missed qualifying due to a transmission issue, but despite starting from the rear of the grid for the opening race on Saturday, he finished fifth.
An engine issue in the second race resulted in no points, an overnight engine change, and again starting from the rear of the grid. In the end, he was able to salvage three top-five results from the round and stayed second in the championship.
Tucker is still looking for that elusive race win. He qualified just 0.206 seconds behind Manson and finished twice on the podium.
Also competing at the round was Australian Michael Basso, driving a Mygale with Nigel Barclay Racing Projects. Basso had consistent results in all four races and may well be on the grid of the NZ Formula Ford Championship in January.
Drivers and teams take a short summer break before the penultimate round in Timaru at the end of January and the final round in Christchurch in early March. With a maximum of 604 points available, Manson’s lead will be difficult for his rivals to claw back.
Overall Points after Rnd 3/5
- Marco Manson 877
- Dylan Petch 629
- Zach Tucker 619
- Maxim Kirwan 601
- Jake Bryant 577
- Izaak Fletcher 513
- Reagan Edwards 486
- Jackson Culver 323
- Cameron Freeman 300
- Toby Musico 213
- Jacob Begg 210
- Matthew Basso 166
- Archie Dampier-Crossley 141
- Dyson Freeman 33
Race results (Position, Driver, Chassis)
Race 1:
- Marco Manson, Spectrum 015
- Jake Bryant, Van Dieman RF94
- Zach Tucker, Van Dieman RF05
- Maxim Kirwan, Spectrum 015
- Dylan Petch, Van Dieman RF93
- Jacob Begg, Ray GR21
- Reagan Edwards, Spectrum 015
- Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
- Matthew Basso, Mygale
- Cameron Freeman, Van Dieman RF92
- DNF Dyson Freeman
Race 2:
- Marco Manson, Spectrum 015
- Maxim Kirwan, Spectrum 015
- Jake Bryant, Van Dieman RF94
- Zach Tucker, Van Dieman RF05
- Matthew Basso, Mygale
- Reagan Edwards, Spectrum 015
- Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
- Jacob Begg, Ray GR21
- Cameron Freeman, Van Dieman RF92
- Dyson Freeman
- DNF Dylan Petch, Van Dieman RF93
Race 3:
- Marco Manson, Spectrum 015
- Maxim Kirwan, Spectrum 015
- Jake Bryant, Van Dieman RF94
- Dylan Petch, Van Dieman RF93
- Reagan Edwards, Spectrum 015
- Jacob Begg, Ray GR21
- Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
- Matthew Basso, Mygale
- Zach Tucker, Van Dieman RF05
- Cameron Freeman, Van Dieman RF92
- DNF Dyson Freeman
Race 4:
- Marco Manson, Spectrum 015
- Maxim Kirwan, Spectrum 015
- Zach Tucker, Van Dieman RF05
- Dylan Petch, Van Dieman RF93
- Reagan Edwards, Spectrum 015
- Jacob Begg, Ray GR21
- Matthew Basso, Mygale
- Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
- Cameron Freeman, Van Dieman RF92
- Jake Bryant, Van Dieman RF94
- DNF Dyson Freeman
Header Image: Dave Loudon
