The second round of the New Zealand Formula 1600 Championship turned out to be an early birthday present for Aucklander Josh Bethune (pictured). Turning 15 on Tuesday, Bethune (Mygale) won two of three races at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park just outside of Christchurch over the weekend and finished runner up in the third. This was enough for him to win the Wigram Cup and take a four-point lead in the national championship over Callum Hedge (Mygale) with Bailey Paterson (Van Diemen Stealth) in third.
Second, for the weekend was 13-year-old Hedge from Auckland who won the opening race and twice finished second to Bethune while local rookie driver Paterson claimed third place three times.
Saturday wasn’t our day but Sunday was,” commented Bethune. “Once I got past (Hedge) it was a matter of focussing on want was ahead and not looking in my mirrors.”
The round also doubled as the fourth round of the South Island F1600 Championship in which local Bailey Paterson continues to lead from Jordan Michels (Mygale), Ethan Anderson (Van Diemen Stealth) and Bethune.
“It was a pretty good weekend for us,” commented Paterson. “I’m happy with the car setup, the motor is strong but still some more to work to bring down the gap.”
A top field of 24 cars took to the grid as part of the support categories for the opening round of the Toyota Racing Series at the Lady Wigram Trophy meeting. Drivers faced damp conditions for qualifying on Saturday morning with drivers having to decide on a wet or dry setup. Hedge immediately set the fastest time early in the session, ending up 1.4 seconds quicker than Bethune and laying down a challenge for the rest of the field.
Hedge easily won the opening race from Bethune and Paterson held in dry conditions but Bethune got the better of him in Sunday’s two races. The final feature race saw the top two neck and neck for 12 laps while creating quite a gap on the rest of the field.
“We have pretty good speed but in the end Josh’s (Bethune) car had more speed when our car went off in the last race,” said Hedge.
Southland’s Jordan Michels had what he described as a character-building weekend after leading the national championship heading into the round.
“We had a DNF in the final race as a result of the engine overheating,” commented Michels. “I’m gutted for everyone around me who have put a copious amount of effort in to get me on track.” He has slipped to fifth overall on the points table behind fellow Southlander Ethan Anderson.
Not only was the field one of the biggest for a number of years but it also had depth with many battles happening throughout the three different Classes of F1600 participating in the championship.
While the battle up front was for Class 1, Australian based Kiwis Tim Miles (1991 Van Diemen) and former NZ Formula Ford title holder (1990/91) Andy McElrea, (1988 Van Diemen) were making a one-off appearance in the series and took the round win for Class two and three respectively.
Making his debut appearance in single seater racing was Australian Tommy Smith (Mygale). With a background in kartsport, Smith has been testing in NZ as well as taking in two F1600 rounds before heading back to Australia and competing in Formula 4.
“It’s been a really good weekend,” commented Smith. “It’s been great getting a feel for racing these cars, being in a big field and learning to pass.”
In the South Island Championship, Robert Toshach (Spectrum 08) continues to lead the Class 2 category from Noel Atley (Swift) and Derek Wilson (Swift 92F). In Class 3, Nelson’s Matt Butchart (Van Diemen RF88) has taken over the lead from Joseph Oliver (Crossle 55F) with Andy Downs (Lola 642E) third.
Drivers and teams now head to Invercargill for the third round of the national championship that again doubles as the fifth and penultimate round of the South Island championship.
2017/18 New Zealand Formula 1600 Championship
Overall Championship Points (Provisional) after 2/5 rounds (Top 10)
Place, number, name, car, points
1 #32 Josh Bethune Mygale SJ07 198
2 #17 Callum Hedge Mygale SJ08 194
3 #86 Bailey Paterson Van Diemen Stealth 174
4 #70 Ethan Anderson Van Diemen Stealth 171
5 #23 Jordan Michels Mygale SJ13 156
6 #36 Kurt Peterson Van Diemen Stealth 126
7 #22 Robert Toshach Spectrum 08 115
8 #91 Ben Stiles Van Diemen Stealth 114
9 #47 Matthew Butchart Van Diemen FR88 95
10 #8 Stephen Heffernan Van Diemen Stealth 86
2017/18 South Island Formula 1600 Championship (Top 10)
Overall Championship Points after 4/6 rounds
PLACE, DRIVER, POINTS
1 Bailey Paterson 390
2 Jordan Michels 341
3 Ethan Anderson 333
4 Josh Bethune 323
5 Kurt Peterson 290
6 Robert Toshach 267
7 Steve Heffernan 212
8 Ben Stiles 196
9 Callum Hedge 194
10 Matt Butchart 191
Results
Race 1 – (10 laps)
1 Callum Hedge
2 Josh Bethune
3 Bailey Paterson
4 Ethan Anderson
5 Jordan Michels
6 Kurt Peterson
7 Ben Stiles
8 Tim Miles
9 Cameron Freeman
10 Andy McElrea
11 Stephen Hefferman
12 Robert Toshach
13 Tommy Smith
14 Derek Wilson
15 Matt Butchart
16 Grant Campbell
17 Jack Noble-Adams
18 Simon Spencer-Bowe
19 Joseph Oliver
20 Noel Atley
21 Tony Fitzpatrick
22 Andy Downs
23 Roger McKenzie
24 Dave McKenzie
Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Josh Bethune
2 Callum Hedge
3 Bailey Paterson
4 Jordan Michels
5 Kurt Peterson
6 Ethan Anderson
7 Tim Miles
8 Ben Stiles
9 Tommy Smith
10 Jack Noble-Adams
11 Robert Toshach
12 Andy McElrea
13 Matt Butchart
14 Simon Spencer-Bowe
15 Grant Campbell
16 Joseph Oliver
17 Noel Atley
18 Tony Fitzpatrick
19 Andy Downs
20 Dave McKenzie
21 Stephen Hefferman
dnf Cameron Freeman
dnf Roger McKenzie
Race 3 (12 laps)
1 Josh Bethune
2 Callum Hedge
3 Bailey Paterson
4 Ethan Anderson
5 Kurt Peterson
6 Tim Miles
7 Ben Stiles
8 Jack Noble-Adams
9 Andy McElrea
10 Stephen Hefferman
11 Tommy Smith
12 Robert Toshach
13 Matt Butchart
14 Simon Spencer-Bowe
15 Joseph Oliver
16 Noel Atley
17 Andy Downs
18 Tony Fitzpatrick
19 Dave McKenzie
20 Cameron Freeman
dnf Grant Campbell
dnf Jordan Michels
dnf Roger McKenzie
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