Seb Eskandari has emerged as the winner of the 2026 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship’s penultimate round held at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in the North Waikato over the weekend.
The close fight for the national title continued over four races, with Marco Manson holding on to the overall lead by a reduced margin over Eskandari, with Maxim Kirwan in third, followed by Campbell Owens and Dylan Petch.
The weekend again provided some classic Formula Ford racing, and while several top competitors lost their momentum, the leaderboard stays the same, albeit for the points between drivers heading to the final four races in a fortnight’s time.
Again, Manson proved fastest in qualifying despite making contact with another car, limping into the pits with damage to his front-left wheel, and retiring from qualifying.
Having gained the Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy $1,010.10 cash prize for the fastest lap, he then went on to win the first three races but retired out of the final 15-lap Ron Frost Memorial Trophy race, which was won by rival Maxim Kirwan.
“I got a good lap in early in qualifying,” said Manson.
“I managed to hold onto it and got pole for the first race. That’s three of the four pole cheques so far, which is really cool.”
Manson won the opening race on Saturday afternoon from Campbell Owens, Seb Eskandari and Dylan Petch. Third overall, Maxim Kirwan, was the first to retire due to an engine issue, resulting in no key championship points scored.
“That was a really good race,” said Owens.
“I started off fourth after an issue in qualifying. Another issue off the start, so had a pretty average launch, but managed to hold my ground around turn one and two, and got up to second, which I defended until the end, so happy with that.”
Again, the first thing on Sunday morning saw Manson take victory from Owens, with Kirwan slotting into third ahead of Toby McCormack and Dylan Petch, with Eskandari sixth.
“That was an OK race for us,” said Petch.
“We finished P5 by 0.001 of a second over Seb (Eskandari), just got him on the line. We are struggling with our starting position, so we’re having to make moves on the first few laps.”
Manson again took the checkered flag in a 11-lap Race 3 race after coming under sustained pressure from Kirwan. Contact between Toby McCormack and Toby Musico resulted in a Safety Car period, which took the pressure off Manson and took the win from Kirwan, followed by Eskandari, Musico, Jacob Begg and Izaak Fletcher.
“I got off the line very slow and dropped back a little bit, but managed to claw my way back through,” commented Eskandari.
“Then, between the safety car periods, I was able to gain another position to finish P3. Pretty happy with the race.”
Despite not finishing the opening race on Saturday, Kirwan improved through Sunday’s racing, taking out the prestigious 15-lap Ron Frost Memorial Trophy race in the afternoon.
“We started off pretty tough with an engine issue in the opening race, meaning a DNF,” said Kirwan.
“We had a quick car all weekend, qualifying third fastest and then taking the win in the final race.
“I had a good start and held position with both Marco (Manson) and Campbell (Owens) battling ahead of me. I was able to get by both of them in Turn 1 and kept the lead. Seb (Eskandari) was on my tail, but we both raced cleanly until the end. Very happy to take the win.”
Kirwan, Owens, and Manson battled through most of the race, which ended with Manson retiring after a move on Owens for second at the Turn 8 hairpin. With no points scored by Manson in the final race, he still heads to the final round in two weeks, 27-29 March 2026, at Taupo Motorsport Park with a 51-point lead over Eskandari, with Kirwan 40 points further back and 16 ahead of Owens.
The event also doubled as the fourth round of the 2025/26 Giltrap Group North Island Formula Ford Series (NIFF), which has seen a change in the overall leaderboard.
Owens has continued his form from the previous round in Manfeild, now leading Jack Groenewald by 45 points, with William Beck moving into third and Toby McCormack fourth. Eskandari picked up the NIFF NAPA Driver of the Day award, James Collie took Class 2 honours, while Oliver Sentch retired after Race 2 with an engine issue.
Rodin Cars is supporting the championship by giving the overall winner of the Championship, plus a wildcard, a three-day free test at their facility at Mt Lyford, with the opportunity for further testing in a Formula 4 car in the UK as part of their Formula Ford to F1 programme.
The championship continues to be supported by Yokohama, the tyre of choice for Formula Ford Racing in NZ. The Tony Quinn Foundation provides a $60,000.00 Travel Fund to be shared between each entrant who competes in all four rounds of the championship. Included in this is the Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy Pole Award.
The Foundation will also, for the first time, offer $10,000 in cash to the overall champion.
[unmad id=”7539″]
NAPA NZ Formula Ford Championship Overall Points after 3/4 rounds:
- Marco Manson 683
- Sebastian Eskandari 632
- Maxim Kirwan 592
- Campbell Owens 576
- Dylan Petch 518
- Mathew Basso 470
- Jacob Begg 459
- Izaak Fletcher 428
- Toby Musico 393
- William Beck 384
- Toby McCormack 351
- Olivia Lorenzen 286
2025/26 Giltrap Group North Island Formula Ford Series Overall Points after 4/5 rounds (Top 10)
- Campbell Owens 749
- Jack Groenewald 704
- William Beck 618
- Toby McCormack 614
- Oliver Sentch 561
- Shane Drake 504
- James Collie 351
- Olivia Lorenzen 309
- Maxim Kirwan 269
- Sebastian Eskandari 236
Race results: Race 1 (12 laps)
- Marco Manson, Spectrum 015
- Campbell Owens, Spectrum 015
- Seb Eskandari, Mygale SJ08A
- Dylan Petch, Van Diemen RF93
- Toby McCormack, Spectrum 010
- Toby Musico, Mygale SJ08A
- Jacob Begg, Ray GR21
- Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
- Mathew Basso, Mygale SJ08A
- William Beck, Spectrum 010b
- Ollie Sentch, Van Diemen Stealth
- Jack Groenewald, Mygale SJ07A
- Olivia Lorenzen, Mygale SJ08A
- DNF Maxim Kirwan, Spectrum 015
- DNS James Collie, Van Diemen RF91
Race 2 (12-laps)
- Marco Manson, Spectrum 015
- Campbell Owens, Spectrum 015
- Maxim Kirwan, Spectrum 015
- Toby McCormack, Spectrum 010
- Dylan Petch, Van Diemen RF93
- Seb Eskandari, Mygale SJ08A
- Toby Musico, Mygale SJ08A
- Mathew Basso, Mygale SJ08A
- Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
- William Beck, Spectrum 010b
- Jack Groenewald, Mygale SJ07A
- James Collie, Van Diemen RF91
- Olivia Lorenzen, Mygale SJ08A
- DNF Jacob Begg, Ray GR21
- DNF Ollie Sentch, Van Diemen Stealth
Race 3 (11-laps)
- Marco Manson, Spectrum 015
- Maxim Kirwan, Spectrum 015
- Seb Eskandari, Mygale SJ08A
- Toby Musico, Mygale SJ08A
- Jacob Begg, Ray GR21
- Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
- Campbell Owens, Spectrum 015
- Dylan Petch, Van Diemen RF93
- Mathew Basso, Mygale SJ08A
- William Beck, Spectrum 010b
- Olivia Lorenzen, Mygale SJ08A
- James Collie, Van Diemen RF91
- Toby McCormack, Spectrum 010
- DNF Jack Groenewald, Mygale SJ07A
- DNF Ollie Sentch, Van Diemen Stealth
Race 4 (15-laps)
- Maxim Kirwan, Spectrum 015
- Seb Eskandari, Mygale SJ08A
- Toby McCormack, Spectrum 010
- Toby Musico, Mygale SJ08A
- Jacob Begg, Ray GR21
- Dylan Petch, Van Diemen RF93
- Campbell Owens, Spectrum 015
- William Beck, Spectrum 010b
- Mathew Basso, Mygale SJ08A
- Jack Groenewald, Mygale SJ07A
- Olivia Lorenzen, Mygale SJ08A
- James Collie, Van Diemen RF91
- DNF Izaak Fletcher, Ray GR20
- DNF Marco Manson, Spectrum 015
Header Image: Geoff Ridder
