Is there a future for Formula Ford?

[Russ Noble]

In recent times MSNZ has addressed some of these costs, and I agree that the potential for excessive spending needs to be more readily contained and it would be good to see a move before next season to restrict data loggers and shocks. And in the longer term go with the Honda motor as that has been developed to be on a par with the Kent with regard to performance, so no instant obsolescence for the Kent runners.

But is that really what's stifling the class?

There is a hell of a lot more population and hard core money in the NI than in the South....... But the top four serious competitors were South Islanders and the majority of them were running on minimal budgets. There is no reason a similar number of North Islanders couldn't have competed with them on equally minimal budgets.

In fact, looking at the population disparity between the Islands, one would think that if the SI can provide four competitors then the NI should have had a dozen! That would then start to give us half respectable grids.....

Think again, is it really a cost issue? If so, why hasn’t that stopped the SI guys as well….

Why is it that southerners currently find themselves the mainstay of, and leading competitors in, the FF class?? Certainly not because they are all spending megabucks, quite the opposite generally.

What is different between the North and South Islands?

The main thing that I can think of, is that we currently have a six round SIFF championship, which incidentally this year was won by Michael Collins with James Munro runner up. It is a competitive and close fought championship, and both these guys brought their cars back from the NI to compete in the final round the week before Taupo. As I have stated before, it is a serious championship and provides competitive seat time before embarking on the National Championship.

The northerners lack anything remotely similar.

That in my view is the major reason the North Islanders are not supporting the FF Championship. If there was a successful FF northern racing infrastructure outside the National Championship then there would be cars and competitors to draw upon. As it is there is nothing.

Sorry, I’m starting to sound like a broken record on this one, but it’s all too easy to say the demise of FF is due to excessive costs. The South Island has proved that this is not so. It’s the lack of racing in the NI that is the problem.

Now, how can that be addressed?

Does anyone even want to address it?