Southlanders Shine In Formula F1600

Southland motorsport is in rude health at the moment with drivers from the province prominent in many different classes including Formula F1600.

Several Southlanders competed in the category at national level this season, some at only selected rounds, but those that did the full New Zealand

Championship acquitted themselves very well.

Invercargill driver Jordan Michels ended the season third overall and second in Class 1 while Ethan Anderson of Riverton was fourth overall and third in Class 1.

Stephen Heffernan of Invercargill was sixth overall in his first year in Class 1 ending the season fifth in the class. Young Joseph Oliver of Invercargill initially finished ninth overall and won Class 3, only to have an engine discrepancy discovered in a technical check at the final round at Manfeild which cost him dearly after an impressive season.

Others to compete at some point included Cromwell driver James Dicey – a Southland Sports Car Club member, Robin Williams of Riverton, Dave McKenzie of Invercargill and his brother, former Southlander Roger McKenzie.

Michels was “not too unhappy” with third overall. “We had a lot of mechanical gremlins – two distributors and a coil failure – and we fell to seventh in the points early on. We were on the back foot so to come back to third was really good.”

Michels rated Teretonga and Manfeild as two of his best rounds.

Anderson rated his highlights – a race win at Teretonga – “I was pretty stoked to win a National Championship race,” while the other was qualifying second at Taupo on his first appearance there after several people came together to get him to the North Island. That was “pretty awesome” for a driver for whom it was a battle financially to get to every race. “However, that is all part of it,” says Anderson.

After winning the National Class 2 title twice Heffernan battled a few problems in his new Class 1 Stealth. “We suspect a soft shock at the rear of the car. I’m happy enough though. I would like to give it a decent crack next year.”

Oliver had the Class 3 Championship in the bag only to suffer a cruel blow at Manfeild. A routine engine check by officials discovered an irregularity. It was an inadvertent error by the team which cost Joseph his points from the first race of the final round. He did not race in the other two races of the round but stayed to support his fellow competitors. The team made an even more sporting gesture after the discovery.

A competitor only loses points from the round at which any discrepancies are discovered but Oliver and his team wrote to officials to advise that the engine in question had been in the car throughout the championship and asking that all their points be removed. The team were also at pains to commend Motorsport New Zealand technical officials who acted very professionally at a difficult time.

While the error cost Oliver the championship he still rated his championship experience in just his second year of competition “enjoyable and a great experience. Taupo was the best, I had a good run there.”

Most of the Southlanders also contested the recently completed South Island Championship with Michels second overall, Anderson third and Heffernan fifth with the trio also taking the top three placings in Class 1. Dicey was second in Class 2 while ex-pat Roger McKenzie won Class 3. With most of the Southland contingent aiming to return next season there could be more success on the horizon very soon.