Manson cleans up in South Island Formula Ford at Teretonga Park

Auckland’s Marco Manson has made his mark on the 2025/26 Yokohama South Island Formula Ford Series (SIFF) after the perfect points scoring round in Invercargill over the weekend. Teretonga Park hosted the third of five rounds which saw Manson qualify on pole claiming the $500 Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy Award. He then went on to win all four races and has now extended his overall lead back to Dylan Petch by 248-points with Zach Tucker maintaining third a further 10-points back.

“That was a really good weekend,” commented Manson. “It’s the first-time racing at Teretonga which is a pretty cool track, fast and narrow.”

Also to shine over the weekend was Maxim Kirwan, also from Auckland. Four top five placings including three seconds have moved the Aucklander into fourth overall while the consistent Jake Bryant has slipped to fifth after a technical issue in the final race dropped him down the order to tenth. His performance across the weekend was rewarded with the NAPA Driver of the Day Award.

“In the first race I got a good start and held the lead with some really close racing,” said Manson. “In the second and third races I was able to get a gap while in the final race Maxim (Kirwan) really came at me at the end.”

Petch has hung on to second overall after overcoming several obstacles over the weekend. First, he missed qualifying due to a transmission issue and despite having to start from the rear of the grid for the opening race on Saturday, he finished fifth. An engine issue in the second race resulted in no points, an overnight engine change and again starting from the rear of the grid. In the end he was able to salvage three top five results from the round and stays second in the series.

Zach Tucker is still looking for that elusive race win. He qualified just 0.206 second behind Manson and finished twice on the podium. Also competing at the round was Australian Michael Basso driving a Mygale with Nigel Barclay Racing Projects. Basso had consistent results in all four races and may well be on the grid of the NZ Formula Ford Championship in January.

Drivers and teams take a short summer break before the penultimate round in Timaru at the end of January and the final round in Christchurch in early March. With a maximum of 604 points available, Manson’s lead will be difficult for his rivals to claw back.

The South Island Formula Ford Club acknowledges the support from Team Hutchinson Ford. Available across the Formula Ford season is funding and support from both the Tony Quinn Foundation and the Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy, while Yokohama return as the tyre of choice for Formula Ford Racing in NZ and the NAPA Driver of the Day Award.