Chris Symon has put one hand on his maiden New Zealand Formula First championship trophy, clean sweeping the penultimate round of the season at Pukekohe Park this weekend.
The Palmerston North racer opened up his weekend with pole position, beating out his nearest title rival Liam Foster by seven-hundredths.
Symon then perfectly executed each of the three races, often waiting until the final moments to make his push for the victory.
With one round left to play out in Taupo next month, another strong weekend by Symon where he avoids any DNFs will see him put an end to his runners-up streak.
In race one, Symon sat in Leo Scott’s tow up and over the hill on the run to the chequered flag.
Calculating the margin he had to toy with, Symon reeled in Scott, flung himself to the outside line and sneaked over the finish stripe in front.
Foster would retire on lap seven, citing mechanical trouble as the reason for his withdrawal. That saw Symon’s seven-point championship led extend out to 92.
Series rookie Zach Blincoe came home with third ahead of Louis Sharp, who would also post the race’s fastest lap.
After his race one victory, Symon said that his strong championship position wouldn’t affect his mentality of approaching every race with the goal of winning.
Thus in race two, rather than choosing to sit behind Blincoe, Symon put on yet another late and bold move to steal the victory at the chequered flag.
The margin between Symon and Blincoe was a measly 0.081s. Though surprisingly, that would be the weekend’s largest gap between first and second.
As was the tale in race one, a mechanical gremlin in the dying stages cost Foster a chance at victory. He would eventually ease over the line in fifth.
The final race of the weekend was perhaps the most enthralling.
No less than seven cars were within two car-lengths of the lead as they charged out of the hairpin and over the hill for the final time.
Symon would cling on by the skin of his teeth, edging home Foster by 0.049s.
Scott claimed third by 0.002s over Hayden Bakkerus with fifth back to seventh fanning out across the line in a fantastic conclusion.
The final round of the 2020/21 season will be at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park over April 16-18.
