Dowdall edges ahead in North Island Formula Ford Series

Thrilling Formula Ford racing at its best saw overall points leader Blake Dowdall edge ahead after the fourth round of the 2024/25 Giltrap Group North Island Formula Ford Series (NIFF) was held at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park over the weekend. It wasn’t straight-forward for Dowdall at the one-day Auckland Car Club meeting, with rival Toby McCormack pressing him all the way. While Dowdall set fastest lap in qualifying, claiming the $500 Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy cash prize and went on to win the first two races, McCormack was able to clinch the final 15-lap feature race.

“We came here to extend our points lead which we have done,” commented Dowdall. “We are always chasing a clean sweep, but Toby (McCormack) got me in the end so credit to him for his win (Race 3).”

“It was a pretty good weekend,” said McCormack. “I managed to be with Blake (Dowdall) right from the start, but didn’t quite have the speed in the first two races. We managed to pull through for the win in the third which I’m pretty happy with.”

While Dowdall and McCormack fought over the top two placings, third in each of the races was rookie Marco Manson who also claimed the NAPA Auto Parts Driver of the Day Award.

“I got a mega start in the first race,” said Dowdall. “I was initially concerned about Marco (Manson) and Leo (Scott) but was able to get away although Toby (McCormack) put the pressure on and raced really hard. He was getting a really good run off the last turn so our finishes were really close.”

“That was a pretty good battle with Blake from start to finish,” said McCormack. “We were crossing the line side by side on each lap but he got the better run off the final corner to win (by 0.020 seconds).”

Manson finished third ahead of Leo Scott, Reagan Edwards, Shane Drake, Jack Groenewald and Fletcher Sloan.

The second race of the day was even closer with Dowdall winning by 0.007 seconds.

“It was so close at the end,” said Dowdall. “It is so good to race against someone as good as Toby who you can trust so the racing is clean.”

Again, Manson finished third ahead of Scott with rookie Campbell Owens in fifth followed by Drake, Tony Graham, Groenewald and Sloan.

Both Dowdall and McCormack dropped down the field at the start of the final 15-lap feature race and had to battle back to the top. A safety car and eventual red flag for an incident saw the field bunch up again for a restart.

“I got a really good restart,” said Dowdall. “It was another hard race with Toby and he got a good draught and got by on the last lap and I came under pressure from Marco (Manson).”

“On the last lap I got a good run and got in front,” said McCormack. “Once in the lead I essentially did a quali lap and got through for the win.”

Third place again went to Manson this time followed by Drake, Owens, Groenewald, Graham and Kim Crocker.

The fifth and penultimate round takes place 21-23 March 2025 and will be part of the third NAPA Auto Parts NZ Formula Ford Championship round, again at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park.

The series is supported with part of a $60,000 Formula Ford prize pool from the Tony Quinn Foundation with funding for travel. NAPA Auto Parts has prizes for both Driver of the Day and Rookie of the Year and Yokohama continues as the tyre of choice for Formula Ford Racing in NZ.

This summer sees a collaboration between Rodin Cars and MotorSport New Zealand to create a new pathway to Formula 1 with the NZFF champion and selected Formula Ford drivers invited to an all-expenses-paid, three-day testing and evaluation program with Rodin Cars in New Zealand. From there a driver who exhibits exceptional talent has the possibility to test with Rodin Motorsport in the UK with the possibility of securing a seat in one of Rodin’s F4 teams.