It was a perfect weekend for young Pukekohe driver Liam Lawson at the opening round of the New Zealand Formula 1600 Championship held in adverse conditions at Timaru International Raceway on Saturday. Also doubling as the second round of the South Island F1600 Championship (SIF1600), the 14-year-old set fastest lap in qualifying and won all three races. Local Christchurch driver Michael Collins was second fastest in qualifying and three times finished runner up to Lawson.
Eighteen drivers faced heavy drizzle and a slippery track for qualifying on Saturday morning followed by a very wet first race. Most drivers had a wet ‘set-up’ for race two on a wet but drying track and then raced the third on a completely dry circuit. It was the first time for Lawson at Timaru and only his second race weekend in a Formula 1600. Earlier in October Lawson had an abrupt ending to his F1600 debut in Christchurch. After qualifying fastest at the opening round of the SIF1600, engine trouble in the early stages of race one brought an ending to his weekend.
“We’re stoked with winning today,” commented Lawson. “It’s the best result we could hope for after what happened at Ruapuna. We came here wanting points and the best way to do that is to win, so really happy.”
Starting alongside Lawson, Collins always had the advantage of better initial grip and lead the field away in all three races. But Lawson always had the superior speed over Collins older Class 2 car.
” We always knew that Liam (Lawson) would be quick so not surprised by the results today,” said Collins.
Third overall for the weekend was Southland’s Ethan Anderson from Dyson Freeman and Grant Campbell. The trio had several close battles in all three races along with Jordan Michels who was looking strong for a top overall result only to be thwarted with engine trouble in the last race.
While Lawson takes an immediate lead in the national competition, Collins has extended his lead in the South Island championship from Ethan Anderson with Royce Bayer third.
For the second year running on offer for the winner of the national title will be the opportunity to attend an international ‘shoot-out’ to determine who wins a $US200K fully supported drive in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda in 2018.
Drivers and teams now head to Invercargill for the third round of the South Island championship 3-4 December, then two consecutive rounds supporting the 2017 Toyota Racing Series in Christchurch (12-15 January) and back in Invercargill (19-22 January).
Points table
South Island Formula 1600 Championship
OVERALL –
1 M. Collins 225
2 E. Anderson 186
3 R. Bayer 156
4 J. Michels 155
5 G. Campbell 154
6 D. Freeman 138
7 L. Lawson 124
8 S. Heffernan 117
9 T. Stiles 114
10 J. Oliver 103
CLASS 1 –
1 E. Anderson 214
2 G. Campbell 183
3 J. Michels 175
CLASS 2 –
1 M. Collins 240
2 R. Bayer 202
3 D. Freeman 194
CLASS 3-
1 J. Oliver 240
2 R. McKenzie 152
3 D. McKenzie 150
New Zealand Formula 1600 Championship
OVERALL –
1 L. Lawson 122
2 M. Collins 105
3 E. Anderson 81
4=D. Freeman 78
4= G. Campbell 78
6 R. Bayer 72
7 J. Michels 61
8 S. Heffernan 57
9 A. Collins 50
10 J. Oliver 49
CLASS 1
1 L. Lawson 120
2 E. Anderson 81
3 G. Campbell 78
CLASS 2
1 M. Collins 105
2 D. Freeman 78
3 R. Bayer 72
CLASS 3
1 J. Oliver 120
2 A. Downs 101
3 D. McKenzie 66
Results
Qualifying
1 30 Liam Lawson 01:17.781
2 94 Michael Collins 01:17.986
3 26 Dyson Freeman 01:18.471
4 23 Jordan Michels 01:18.690
5 70 Ethan Anderson 01:18.726
6 46 Grant Campbell 01:21.766
7 8 Stephen Heffernan 01:22.053
8 91 Trevor Stiles 01:22.225
9 90 Royce Bayer 01:22.425
10 22 Robert Toshach 01:22.698
11 14 Joseph Oliver 01:22.967
12 96 Anna Collins 01:23.599
13 27 Dave McKenzie 01:25.387
14 11 Dave Arrowsmith 01:26.293
15 56 Andy Downs 01:26.311
16 72 Roger McKenzie 01:27.640
17 44 James Dicey 01:28.286
18 52 Robin Williams 01:30.124
Race 1 (10 laps)
Position, Race #, Driver
1 30 Liam Lawson
2 94 Michael Collins
3 26 Dyson Freeman
4 23 Jordan Michels
5 70 Ethan Anderson
6 46 Grant Campbell
7 8 Stephen Heffernan
8 91 Trevor Stiles
9 90 Royce Bayer
10 22 Robert Toshach
11 96 Anna Collins
12 11 Dave Arrowsmith
13 56 Andy Downs
14 72 Roger McKenzie
15 44 James Dicey
16 52 Robin Williams
17 14 Joseph Oliver
18 27 Dave McKenzie
Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Liam Lawson
2 Michael Collins
3 Jordan Michels
4 Ethan Anderson
5 Dyson Freeman
6 Grant Campbell
7 Royce Bayer
8 Stephen Heffernan
9 Trevor Stiles
10 Anna Collins
11 Joseph Oliver
12 James Dicey
13 Dave Arrowsmith
14 Andy Downs
15 Robin Williams
16 Roger McKenzie
17 Dave McKenzie
18 Robert Toshach
Race 3 (12 laps)
1 Liam Lawson
2 Michael Collins
3 Ethan Anderson
4 Grant Campbell
5 Royce Bayer
6 Dyson Freeman
7 Stephen Heffernan
8 Trevor Stiles
9 Joseph Oliver
10 James Dicey
11 Dave Arrowsmith
12 Anna Collins
13 Andy Downs
14 Robin Williams
15 Dave McKenzie
dnf Jordan Michels
dnf Roger McKenzie
dns Robert Toshach
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