The sixth and final round of the NSW Formula Ford Championship resulted in three different winners from the three races in an action-packed weekend at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway last weekend (September 23-24), but the one driver who had the last laugh was round winner Stephen Payne.

With the NSW Championship for 2006 already in the hands of Ben Morley, the battle for second was tightly fought between CAMS Rising Star Kristian Lindbom, Nick Lowe and Payne.  Payne won the round, Lindbom suffered a non finish in race two and Lowe was consistent enough to bank enough points to claim runner-up on the close of the weekend.

At the commencement of the finale it was Lindbom who made a mark on the season best 22-car field by topping the time sheets in the 15 minute qualifying session and taking out the first of three race races on the Saturday afternoon. Lindbom grabbed command of the second race on Sunday morning, but was involved in a turn two opening lap incident that eliminated several others in the field.

Although able to fix rear end damage sustained to his Borland Racing Developments Spectrum 010B, Lindbom was unable to take part in the complete restart due to race officials ruling that he had run out of time to repair the damage. In the third and final race Lindbom worked his way up to fourth after starting toward the tail end of the field in position 16.

Payne, the eventual winner of the third and final race, was ecstatic with his maiden Formula Ford victory: topping off an impressive year of racing at the pointy end of the field throughout all six rounds of the Championship.

“It’s certainly a wonderful way to end the year and I really had to work hard for the win as it was really close at the fall of the chequered flag,” expressed a jubilant Payne, who finished race one and two in third place.

“We have shown plenty of speed this year but have been unable to turn that into wins, but by the same token the competition has been very fierce and it’s quite an honour to record a victory amongst a field of so many quality drivers.”

In qualifying on Saturday morning Lindbom emerged on top with a best lap of 1:39.3832 around the 3.93km Eastern Creek circuit ahead of Payne, Kyle Wood, Leigh Burges, San Pattis, Nick Lowe, Anglo Australian Motorsport entrant Tom Tweedie, Morley (who was experimenting with tyres), Sieders and pole sitter of round two Glenn Welch, who rounded out the top ten.

The opening race (over a distance of 5 laps) late Saturday, involved a fiery battle between Lindbom and Kyle Wood for the lead, which was decided in the late stages of the final lap. For four of the five laps, Lindbom held a narrow gap over Wood, with the latter getting a run on Lindbom down the main straight and executing a pass in turn one to begin the final lap.

What transpired then, when Wood went to enter turn five, he, along with several other cars, slipped off the circuit due to an oil slick, allowing Lindbom (who managed to avoid the oil) to secure his first win in the NSW Championship.

Wood was able to return to the circuit in second place, narrowly ahead of Payne, followed by Sieders, Lowe, Tweedie, Burges, Matthew Howard, Morley (who had an off track excursion whilst placed in third on the second lap) and Welch in 10th.

A red flag was triggered for an incident on the opening lap of the second race (7 laps) on Sunday morning which involved Lindbom and five other cars. Lindbom was unable to avoid the carnage in turn two after contact was made with fast starter Sieders.

Officials were forced to bring out the red flag and a call for a complete restart, which was rescheduled to five laps. The likes of Lindbom, Howard, Tweedie, Daniel Cotton, Alan Price and Derryn Harrison were all unable to take part in the resumption due to the damage sustained in the turn two pile-up.

With the front all to himself (due to pole sitter Lindbom not taking part in the restart), second place starter Wood immediately shot to the lead and held down the front runner position until Morley worked his way into first early on in the second lap. From there Morley was never headed and took a solid 12th victory for the year.

Further down the order, Wood drove valiantly to hold onto second place after suffering rear end damage in the opening corner chaos of the first start, but later fell into the clutches of Payne who moved into second on the third lap. Soon after, whilst placed third, Wood drove off the track entering turn 11 on the fourth lap after succumbing to some terrible under steer.

At the completion of the second race Morley took a comfortable win ahead of Lowe and Payne in second and third respectively, Sieders in fourth ahead of Welch, Greg Woodrow, Chris Goodman, Pattis, Kyle Wood and another returnee Ryan Campbell in his Van Diemen RF00 completed the top ten.

The third and final race of the weekend was a five-way tousle for the lead between Payne, Wood, Morley, Lowe and Lindbom. Morley, Lowe and Payne all had their moments in the lead, but it was Payne that came out on top by the slimmest of margins – defeating both Lowe and Wood. Outside the podium place getters was Lindbom in fourth, followed by Welch, Tweedie, Morley (who endured another off track adventure whilst placed in third on the third lap), Burges, Woodrow and Pattis in 10th.

Final 2006 NSW Formula Ford Championship Point Standings (after six completed rounds):

1. Ben Morley – 480
2. Nick Lowe – 354
3. Stephen Payne - 344
4. Kristian Lindbom - 323
5. Kyle Wood - 292
6. Leigh Burges - 280
7. Glenn Welch - 254
8. Andrew Taite - 225
9. Matthew Howard - 214
10. San Pattis - 179

Simpson Rookie of the Year Point Standings:

1. Kristian Lindbom – 323
2. Leigh Burgess – 280
3. San Pattis – 179
4. Alan Price – 148
5. Chris Goodman – 118