Watson dominates FONZ at Taupo

James Watson was in a class of his own at the opening round of the Promains Formula Open New Zealand series held last weekend at the Taupo Motorsport Park as a support category for the 6^th Annual Historic Grand Prix. Watson set a new FONZ and Formula Atlantic record of 1:24:629 a whole second faster than his own record from last year.

Guest driver Kaleb Ngatoa ran the ex-Dean Hall/ Craig Baird Swift DB4 Formula Atlantic but was plagued all weekend with fuel issues which effectively ended any chance of a much anticipated contest between him and series regular James Watson.

Tony Quinn in his Reynard Formula Atlantic took to the grid, although by his own admission he was there just to drive and help with his recovery.

Kenny Smith, in the ex-Marcus Armstrong Tatuus FT50, also made a return to the grid although an electrical problem robbed him of a qualifying time, so he had to start at the back for race one. Like Quinn, Kenny is still recovering from broken ribs and a shoulder operation from nearly a year ago.

Zac Christensen dominated the Jim Palmer Cup class in his FT40 leading home Leo Francis (FT40) in the only other car in that class. Gary Rush (Swift DB4 F/Atlantic 1600) had a mixed bag of results but it appears he has finally solved the electrical issue that has plagued the car since its new engine was installed and had a great time working his way from the back of the grid showing the advantage the Atlantic has over the FT50’s on this track.

Grant Rivers (Swift DB4 F/Atlantic 1600) and Geoff Harriman (FT50) resumed their tight battle from last season at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon and ended up equal on points for the meeting. Young Ethan Sillay (Reynard 93H F/Atlantic) showed great promise in his newly acquired Reynard but a shortage of a selection of gear ratios hindered his progress for the round but he still finished fifth in class for the weekend just three points behind series new-comer Kaden Probst (FT50).

The series now heads south to the Skope Classic meeting at the Mike Pero Motorsport Park, Christchurch 3-5 February 2023.

Jim Palmer Cup
#	Competitor	Vehicle	Series Position	Total Points
21	Zac Christensen	Tatuus FT40 F/TRS 1800	1	159
14	Leo Francis	Tatuus FT40 F/TRS 1800	3	91
15	Tim Fox	Swift SE3 FF2000	2	56
47	Paul Couper	Tatuus FT40 F/TRS 1800	4	0
	Hayden Bakkerus	Tatuus FT40 F/TRS 1800		0
97	Harry Mac Donald	Tatuus FT40 F/TRS 1800		0
26	Kerry Spackman	Tatuus FT40 F/TRS 1800		0
	Total			306

Graeme Lawrence Cup	POINTS TOTAL
#	Competitor	Vehicle	Series Position	Total Points
19	Sam MacNeill	Tatuus FT50 F/TRS 1800	1	117
31	James Watson	Swift DB4 F/Atlantic 1600	2	112
29	Liam Sceats	Tatuus FT50 F/TRS 1800	3	85
83	Joshua Andrews	Tatuus FT50 F/TRS 1800	4	73
99	Fergus Crabb	Tatuus FT50 F/TRS 1800	5	57
2	Kaleb Ngatoa	Swift DB4 F/Atlantic 1600	6	49
37	Kaden Probst	Tatuus FT50 F/TRS 1800	7	37
16	Ethan Sillay	Reynard 93H F/Atlantic	8	34
2	Bree Morris	Swift DB4 F/Atlantic 1600	9	34
3	Geoff Harriman	Tatuus FT50 F/TRS 1800	10	26
27	Gary Rush	Swift DB4 F/Atlantic 1600	11	20
94	Grant Rivers	Swift DB4 F/Atlantic 1600	12	18
11	Kenny Smith	Swift DB4 F/Atlantic	13	12
50	Fraser Windleburn	Swift DB4 F/Atlantic	14	5
24	Tony Quinn	Reynard 93H F/Atlantic	15	4
81	Ollie Gee	Swift DB4 F/Atlantic 1600	16	2
22	Tom Alexander	Tatuus FT50 F/TRS 1800	17	0
	Total			685