For anyone that's interested in the state of SIFF, this announcement just released.


Ace Hire South Island Formula Ford Championship

$30,000 for South Island Formula Ford Championship.

The SIFF Club has completed negotiations with long established Christchurch machinery hire company Ace Hire for naming rights of the SIFF Championship for the next three years at $10,000 per year. That amount is to go into a prize money pool to be distributed at the end of the season.

The SIFF Championship is a low cost single seater formula which, over its 30 plus year history, has been won by many drivers now successful on the international stage. As well as being a training ground for youngsters moving up from karts with their eye on Formula 1, it also has a core of regular competitors who enjoy the close and exciting open wheel racing that this class provides.

The SIFF Championship is divided into 4 classes and $6000 prize money will be allocated over these 4 classes based on points won by each driver. With this concept all drivers will receive prize money, how much, will depend entirely upon their points haul. Additionally $4000 will be paid out to the outright Overall Top 10 placed cars.

The way the prize money is structured is designed to boost the championship, reward the overall winner well and also provide tangible and excellent returns for consistent competitors who compete in all rounds of the series.

The Championship is run over six rounds, two each at Ruapuna, Levels and Teretonga, with points going down to 15th in each class. There are up to 40 eligible cars in the SI that have not raced for some years and it is hoped the generous prize money pool will draw them out, either in the hands of existing owners or maybe with new owners. One of the four classes is a pre93 class and that gives pre93 cars the ability to “double dip” in the points tally for prize money, so even these older and slightly slower cars have the ability to perform well in the prize money stakes. It is thought the prize money pool will also entice some North Island drivers to travel south to compete.

The SIFF Club expects to further strengthen the prize pool by attracting other companies as supporters for the individual rounds of the championship to provide prize money on the day. That round would then be known as “The (Supporters Name) Round of the Ace Hire SIFF Championship”

Ace Hire managing director Russ Noble says “The benefits to Ace Hire from the exposure associated with this long standing premiere South Island single seater championship will be considerable. That exposure can only be beneficial in creating greater awareness of Woolston based Ace Hire and its ideal location with regard to the Christchurch rebuild in the eastern suburbs.”

Ace Hire has a reputation in the building trade for reliable and well maintained equipment, this is a direct result of the experience Russ Noble has gained preparing and building his own race cars, and that same meticulous approach to equipment maintenance ensures that only very reliable gear is always available for hire.

The championship has had a very stable set of rules over the last 30 odd years and the certainty of at least $30,000 prizemoney also over the next three years means competitors can plan their campaigns with a high degree of confidence that there will be no significant unexpected changes in the near future.