Round 6 Report Matt Gibson Formula First Championship

Round 6 Manfield
The last round at our home track Manfield has
been and gone and this time the weather was
great. Friday practise went well and we were
on the pace. The only problem I was having was
with my brakes. I kept locking them up. The brakes
would lock up in front so I would adjust the brakes
to the back. But then I would lock the brakes up at
the back. I finally found a happy medium which
allowed me to brake latter and deeper into the
corners. Saturday qualifying went great. I qualified the Firewatch Car on P2.

Race one on the Saturday was held late in the afternoon. This was a good thing but also a bad thing as the track had heaps of grip but the late afternoon sun made it hard to see around some corners; Even harder when you have oil splats over your visor. I grabbed a great start and was 1st into the turn one. But the great Formula First drafting lived up to its name and the leading bunch were right behind me. I got passed by two cars which dropped me back to 3rd. I stayed 3rd for most of the race dicing for 2nd place at anytime I got. I crossed the finish line in 3rd.

Race two I was again 1st into turn one. And again the other cars slipped there self into my draft and pulled me in. I got passed and dropped back to 3rd. The leader soon pulled a gap as me and the driver in 2nd were dicing every corner there was. This battling acted as a bad thing as the rest of the field caught us up. There were 6 cars all dicing for a podium. It came down to the last lap and I was in 3rd. Three cars into a hairpin doesn’t work and the guy on the outside usually comes off worse. And the guy on the outside happened to be me. One of the other cars wheels hit mine and bounced me off the track. I brought the car home in 8th. I was very disappointed with the result but that’s racing.

I started race three on position 3. By the turn one I was in 2nd. This time I slipped into the draft and passed for 1st. I lead until lap 2 where I got passed down the main straight. Manfield sure was granted with great Formula First racing as there were honestly 8 cars that could have won the race. 4th position was the furtherest I dropped back. The race was so close and intense my mum could not bear to watch. The last lap came across and I was in 3rd. I got passed by two cars who were in my draft into turn one. I followed them closely planning to pass them out of Dunlop (last corner) but I didn’t get a good enough drive of the corner and crossed the line in 5th.

We all had a great weekend and it was great not to have to drive far for once, and a bonus the weather held out. We have moved backed up to 4th in the Championship as well which is great to see.

Next Round 11th and 12th April (Easter Weekend) at Taupo. Matt Gibson