Perfect weekend for McCormack as Dowdall increases lead in NZ Formula Ford Championship

Toby McCormack was on-form at the penultimate round of the 2025 Napa Auto Parts New Zealand Formula Ford Championship, qualifying fastest and winning all three races at Hampton Downs over the weekend. Series leader, Blake Dowdall had a mixture of results but was able to extend his lead over Will Neale from 38 to 80-points with McCormack moving into third ahead of Lincoln Taylor and James Penrose.

“It’s been a great weekend,” said McCormack. “We’ve done a few laps around Hampton Downs, so I know the track well. We have been working with Mike Borland from Australia who gave us some setup tips that we went with. From the first practice the car was amazing to drive which meant we had the perfect weekend.”

The weekend also doubled as the fifth round of the Giltrap Group North Island Formula Ford (NIFF) Series with McCormack now having overhauled a 12-point deficit to Blake Dowdall to head into the final round with a 35-point advantage with four races and double points for the final feature race on offer.

Having won the Hampton Downs NZ Racing Academy $1,010.10 cash prize for the fastest lap in qualifying, McCormack was able to take the lead early all three races.

“I was able to get a good start and just kept my head down and focused on putting in some quick laps while the others were fighting behind me,” said McCormack.

In the opening 20-minute Race 1 on Saturday afternoon, a crash on the first lap eliminated Dylan Grant and Will Neale and dropped Dowdall to the rear of the field on the restart. Rookie Marco Manson carried on his impressive form from the previous NIFF round earlier in the month and moved into second ahead of James Penrose, Lincoln Taylor, Leo Scott and Jacob Begg who was proving to be very competitive.

While Dowdall continued to move through the field, Taylor and Scott took each other out while competing for fifth position bringing out the safety car for the second time.

On the restart McCormack went on to take his first championship win ahead of Manson, Penrose with Dowdall securing fourth ahead of Begg, Campbell Owens, Jack Groenewald and Shane Drake.

The second race on Sunday morning was more straight forward with McCormack winning from Penrose, Manson, Taylor and Will Neale who kept his championship hopes alive after securing no-points in Race 1, to finish ahead of rival Dowdall.

The final Ron Frost Memorial feature race saw McCormack leading after the first lap. He eventually created a substantial gap on the field which was fighting over the remaining podium places in yet another classic Formula Ford race.

While Penrose seemed to be in a secure second position, a safety car period for the removal of Leo Scott’s broken car saw the field bunch up. Taylor took his chances and moved into second with six cars including Taylor, Penrose, Neale, Dowdall, Grant and Manson swapping podium positions. In the end, Neale finished second on the line, again ahead of Dowdall in fifth, with Manson in third ahead of Penrose.

Heading into the weekend just 73-points covered the top four competitors which has now expanded to 120 with four races remaining at Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon in ten-days’ time 4-6 April 2025), including the 18 lap Morrie Smith Memorial Race.

The competition continues to get stronger across the field. Leo Scott unfortunately did not finish two races while fighting for a top five position. Jack Groenewald earned himself the NAPA Auto Parts Driver of the Day for showing a big turn around in speed. Fellow rookie Campbell Owens was twice in the top ten while Jacob Begg was hunting for his first podium.

The winner of the 2025 national championship will be eligible for six Superlicence points towards participating in the Repco Supercars Championship. The recently announced return of the Superlicence sees drivers requiring 15 points, earned over the past five years, to be eligible to race in Supercars.

Prizes on offer include a $51,000 travel fund made available by the Tony Quinn Foundation. NAPA Auto Parts will again offer prizes for Driver of the Day while Yokohama return to the series as the tyre of choice for Formula Ford Racing in NZ.

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.