Manson makes his mark on the South Island Formula Ford Series

Auckland’s Marco Manson has made his mark on the 2025/26 Yokohama South Island Formula Ford Series (SIFF) at the opening round held at Timaru International Raceway over the weekend. Manson qualified on pole taking home the $500 Hamptons Downs NZ Racing Academy cash prize, then won three of the four races and now leads the series from fellow rookie drivers Maxim Kirwan and Zach Tucker.

“I’m pretty happy with that,” said Manson. “It’s my first time racing at Timaru. It’s a very cool, very fast track.”

It wasn’t all straight forward for Manson (Spectrum 015) with the experienced Dylan Petch (Van Diemen RF93) winning the opening race of the five-round series. Although Manson was first crossed the line, it had been a tight race with Petch right to the end with the former receiving a post-race five-second penalty for a code of driving conduct infringement.

“It was a rookie mistake,” said Manson. “It’s all about learning. The competition is really good and I’m learning a lot from racing with Dylan (Petch).”

Manson will have to keep an eye on Petch this season who is proving to be quick right from the start. The Canterbury based driver qualified second fastest, just 0.130 behind Manson and despite winning a race and finishing second in the final 12-lapper, he sits fourth overall just one-point behind Tucker after having to retire out of the Race 2.

Taking advantage of others’ mistakes was Maxim Kirwan (Mygale SJ08A). The Auckland driver finished three times on the podium picking up the NAPA Driver of the Day $300 voucher and sits 38-points behind Manson on the points table. He has a 24-point advantage over third placed Zach Tucker (Van Diemen RF05) who twice finished third at the round.

Despite the size of the field, it was quality racing throughout pointing to a very competitive season ahead. Also on the podium over the weekend was Reagan Edwards (Spectrum 015) and Izaak Fletcher (Ray GR20) while consistent finishes from Jake Bryant (Van Diemen RF94) sees him fifth overall.

Teams and drivers now prepare for the second round in Christchurch with the Wigram Revival meeting 22–23 Nov 2025 hosted by the Canterbury Car Club celebrating classic and historic racers that would have raced at the original Wigram Aerodrome circuit.

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.