Dylan Grant to defend title as North Island Formula Ford season gets underway at Hampton Downs

Dylan Grant makes a return to the grid of the Giltrap Group North Island Formula Ford Series (NIFF) to defend his title and add a third to his trophy cabinet. A competitive grid will line up for the first of six rounds as the 2024/25 season gets underway this Saturday. Hampton Downs Motorsport Park in the north Waikato hosts the Auckland Car Club meeting with a mixture of new rookies and returning experienced drivers and teams with an expected grid of 18 cars including Historic Formula Ford.

Returning are some very quick and seasoned drivers from last season that will provide Grant with some hot competition. Grant’s (Van Diemen RF03) consistent results over the six-round series, including six race wins, always had him in title contention and he returns with both race and track experience under his belt.

Blake Dowdall (Spectrum 015) who finished third overall and stood on the podium seven times including a race win at Hampton Downs, could prove to be his key rival for this season’s title.

NAPA Auto Parts Rookie of the Year, Toby McCormack, moves up from the NIFF Van Diemen RF01 scholarship car to a very competitive Spectrum 015 and testing has shown he is right on the pace.

Another Class 1 contender will be Reagan Edwards (Spectrum 015) who has also shown great pace. Leo Scott returns after a year off in his quick Spectrum 010 formerly used by Matt Payne to test in.

Slipping into the NIFF scholarship car will be rookie Fletcher Sloan fresh out of a Formula First season along with fellow Formula First rookie driver Jack Groenewald (Mygale SJ07A – ex Hayden Bakkerus chassis) and newcomer James Collie (Van Diemen RF91).

Also returning to the grid are Nick Buxeda (Van Diemen RF01), Shane Drake (Van Diemen RF92), and Kim Crocker (Van Diemen RF01).

The Giltrap Group return for their fourth season to help support the future stars of NZ motorsport while the Hampton Downs NZ Driving Academy will again be sponsoring the fastest qualifier at each round with a $500 cash prize. The award is part of the $60,000 Formula Ford prize pool from the Tony Quinn Foundation with funding for travel and testing opportunities with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing NZ. NAPA Auto Parts will again offer prizes for both Driver of the Day and Rookie of the Year and Yokohama return as the tyre of choice for Formula Ford Racing in NZ.

The six-round series will see two rounds each at Hampton Downs, Taupo International Motorsport Park and Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon with the final two rounds also doubling as the final races in the 2025 NZ Formula Ford Championship (NZFF).

This summer sees a collaboration between Rodin Cars and MotorSport NZ 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.

This Saturday will see a 25-minute qualifying session and the two 12-lap races and a 15-lap final race for the round.