Matthew McCutcheon has rounded out the 2020/21 Giltrap Group North Island Formula Ford series with a Hampton Downs clean sweep.
The Auckland teenager comes away from the championship with the overall title, the Stephen Gillard Trophy and the Class 2 trophy.
McCutcheon set the tone for the weekend in qualifying held on Sunday morning. His pole position time – a 1.10.332s – was eight-tenths quicker than Liam Sceets.
McCutcheon would then run away from the challenging pack in race one, finishing over ten seconds clear of second place.
That left Sceets, Kyan Davie and Bree Morris to duke it out for the final spots on the podium.
Morris bided her time and cunningly made a push for second on the run to the line, edging out Sceets by 0.102s. Davie was a further eight-tenths back in fourth.
Similar margins of victory ensued for McCutcheon in the final two races of the meeting.
Starting from pole position each time, McCutcheon dashed away from the field in races two and three.
Morris backed up her second-place finish in race one in race two, though this time crossed the line a more convincing three seconds ahead of Davie.
Race three ended prematurely when Sceets buried himself in the gravel at the Golden Homes hairpin. Davie and Morris then came to blows at turn one, leading to race control to red flag the race.
With results brought back one lap, McCutcheon finished nine seconds clear of Davie and Morris.
Davie’s steady results in his rookie NIFF season earned him second overall and winner of the Class 1 title.
Morris’ final solid round left her in the top three of the overall standings, with Sceets and Flynn Mullany rounding out the top five.
NIFF organisers will now work on forming a calendar for the 2021/22 season.
Most of the field will now turn their attention to the final round of the New Zealand Formula Ford championship, which will be held at Ruapuna on May 1.
