Manson takes control of NZ Formula Ford Championship in Timaru

Auckland’s Marco Manson has leapt up the leaderboard from fifth to first to take control of the 2026 NAPA New Zealand Formula Ford Championship supported by Ford after the second round was held at the Timaru International Raceway over the weekend. The annual Thunder Down Under meeting run by the South Canterbury Car Club has seen some classic wheel-to-wheel racing and a shakeup of the leader board with several drivers having contrasting weekends compared with a week ago at a wet opening round in Invercargill.

“Really good and pretty happy,” said Manson. “I think after last weekend after driving off the track I’ve got better at being calmer in the car which has to be good for championship points.”

Manson was awarded the Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy $1,010.10 cheque for fastest qualifier before going on to take three race wins and a second placing. Second for the weekend and now moving up from eighth to third overall is Maxim Kirwan who proved to be more than a match of Manson and a title contender.

“It’s been ok, it’s been solid,” said Kirwan. “Pretty happy overall, better than last weekend. The team has been putting in a good effort. I’ve been putting in a good effort, and we have worked quite well to get some good results this weekend.”

Dropping down to second overall was Australian rookie Seb Eskandari-Marandi who placed third, two fourths and an eight over the round.

“The weekend has been a bit up and down,” commented Seb Eskandari-Marandi. “We didn’t qualify too well but some good results. Struggled a little bit initially. The points are always good.”

Fifteen cars took to the track which also doubled as the penultimate round for the Yokohama South Island Formula Ford Championship.

Campbell Owens continued to collect points and holds onto fourth place ahead of Dylan Petch. A mechanical dnf in Race 3 has not helped his points haul dropping him from second to fifth.

Coming off a stella home round, Southland’s Jacob Begg continued to collect points in Timaru but not quite as many, dropping from third to seventh.

Australian Michael Basso picked up his first NZZFF podium and moves up one place to sixth. Despite a DNF in Race 1, Nigel Barclay Racing Projects teammate Toby Musico also picked up a podium third in the final race and has moved up to tenth overall.

William Beck has held on to ninth ahead of Olivia Lorenzen while after horror opening round, Toby McCormack has points on the board.

The final two rounds take place in the North Island with four races at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park which includes the Ron Frost Trophy race, 14-15 March and four races at the Taupo International Raceway, which includes the Morrie Smith Memorial Trophy race, 27-29 March 2026.

Rodin Cars is supporting the championship by giving the overall winner of the Championship, plus a wildcard, a three- day free test at their facility at Mt Lyford with the opportunity for further testing in a Formula 4 car in the UK as part of their Formula Ford to F1 programme.

The championship continues to be supported by Yokohama, the tyre of choice for Formula Ford Racing in NZ. The Tony Quinn Foundation provides a $60,000.00 Travel Fund to be shared between each entrant that competes in all four rounds of the championship. Included in this is the Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy Pole Award.

The Foundation will also offer, for the first time, $10,000 in cash for the overall champion.