Josh Bethune is the 2017/18 South Island Formula 1600 Championship title holder after an eventful round at Timaru International Raceway on Saturday. Qualifying fastest, coupled with a fourth in race one and winning the final two races of the season was enough to hand the Auckland teenager the title while his closest rivals faced misfortune.
Heading into sixth round, it was Christchurch’s Bailey Paterson who had a 33-point lead over Southland’s Ethan Anderson with Bethune another two points further back. Misfortune was to come Paterson’s way with an on-board fire after finishing third in the opening race.
While leading the race, Paterson’s engine started to cut-out through the corners. As the problem got worse, he slipped down the order and crossed the line in third spot. The situation deteriorated on the cool down lap when the car caught on fire. This looked like it would end both his weekend and championship hopes.
Such is the camaraderie within the F1600 category; fellow competitor Steve Heffernan lent Paterson his car for the second race of the round. While needing to finish the race in ninth position or better to win the title, this was not to be. While leaving the pits for the start of the race another competitor rear-ended Paterson finally ending both his race weekend as well as this title bid.
While Bethune went on to win race 2, Anderson held a narrow lead in the championship heading to the final race of the summer. However, with Anderson retiring out of the race on the opening lap, Bethune went on to win his second race of the round along with securing the overall title.
“It’s been a pretty good first season,” commented Bethune. “After not finishing the opening race (of the season) as well as two others I thought our title chances were over. However, we have had plenty of good races and showed some real consistency. The highlight was winning the Wigram Cup at the Ruapuna round, particularly with the heritage that comes with it.”
Second in all three races at Timaru was Aucklander Kurt Peterson. This gave him enough points to finish second overall with Anderson third.
“I’m definitely thrilled with the result,” commented Peterson. “We’ve had some really good races and made good progress over the season. It is a bit unexpected as we thought we would bring the car out of the shed, blow the cobwebs off it and see what happens.
“We were always just back from the front pack but as the season progressed we were able to race with them and then compete with them which has been fantastic. I’ve certainly gained more confidence as season went on.”
With three different Classes competing within the series, Bethune also wins Class 1 while Robert Toshach had already secured Class 2 before the final round.
While Toshach has shown extraordinary consistency over the six rounds he had his first DNF (did-not-finish) at Timaru after he cracked primary exhaust in qualifying and missed the opening race. Southland’s Noel Atley won the round and finished second overall in Class 2.
The Historic Class 3 battle continued between Nelson’s Matt Butchart and Southland’s Joseph Oliver. Oliver finished all three races ahead of Butchard but the latter had enough points in the bank heading into the round winning the overall Class three title by just two points.
2017/18 South Island Formula 1600 Championship (Top 20)
Overall Championship Points after 6/6 rounds
PLACE, DRIVER, CAR, POINTS
1 Josh Bethune Ray 598
2 Kurt Peterson Stealth 550
3 Ethan Anderson Stealth 521
4 Bailey Paterson Stealth 514
5 Robert Toshach Spectrum 447
6 Steve Edwards Mygale 366
7 Matt Butchart VD RF88 349
8 Jordan Michels Mygale 341
9 Joseph Oliver Crossle 326
10 Callum Hedge Mygale 324
11 Steve Heffernan Stealth 289
12 Simon Spencer-Bower Stealth 218
13 Noel Atley Swift 203
14 Andy Downs Lola 642E 197
15 Ben Stiles Stealth 196
16 Dave McKenzie Begg FM3 166
17 Jack Noble-Adams Stealth 155
18 Cameron Freeman VD RF92 132
19 Derek Wilson Swift 114
20 Tommy Smith Mygale 109
Race results
Race 1 (10 laps)
1 Ethan Anderson
2 Kurt Peterson
3 Bailey Paterson
4 Josh Bethune
5 Steve Edwards
6 Michael Collins
7 Stephen Hefferman
8 Joseph Oliver
9 Matt Butchart
10 Noel Atley
11 Andy Downs
12 Dave McKenzie
13 Robin Williams
DNS Robert Toshach
DNS Anna Collins
DNS Graham Dickie
DNS Simon Spencer-Bower
Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Josh Bethune
2 Kurt Peterson
3 Ethan Anderson
4 Robert Toshach
5 Steve Edwards
6 Joseph Oliver
7 Anna Collins
8 Noel Atley
9 Matt Butchart
10 Andy Downs
11 Dave McKenzie
DNF Robin Williams
DNS Simon Spencer-Bower
DNS Bailey Paterson
Race 3 (12 Laps)
1 Josh Bethune
2 Kurt Peterson
3 Robert Toshach
4 Steve Edwards
5 Joseph Oliver
6 Matt Butchart
7 Anna Collins
8 Andy Downs
9 Noel Atley
10 Dave McKenzie
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