Goulburn's Wakefield Park Raceway is the venue for the opening round of the 2006 New South Wales (NSW) Formula Ford Series that will fire into action this weekend (March 25 & 26) and a competitive field of 20 cars are primed for battle.

Amongst the 20 cars nominated for the opening round, picking an outright favourite isn't an easy task as on paper there are close to 10 potential winners.

With a large chunk of the field from last year's series either moved up to the National Championship or to other avenues of Motorsport, this year's Series promises to one full of action and various race winners, after the last two years have been widely dominated by Joel Spychala (2004) and Paul Laskazeski (2005).

An exciting breed of newcomers have entered this year's Series headed by CAMS Rising Star Kristian Lindbom, along with Anglo Australian Motorsport team drivers San Pattis and Leigh Burgess, Bradley Cady, Chris Goodham, Glenn Welch and Alan Price.

Nick Lowe, who made his Series debut last year, has purchased the NSW Series winning Spectrum 10B of Paul Laskazeski's for his 2006 assault and should be amongst the pointy end of the field after showing plenty of promise in his rookie year.

Other drivers that should be up there fight at the pointy end of the field are likely to be Stephen Payne, Queensland based Kyle Wood, 2003 NSW Series winner Matthew Howard, Daniel Cotton, Andrew Taite and Colin Sieders with the latter in the ex David Reynolds 2004 National Championship winning Van Diemen RF03.

Victorian State front runner Taz Douglas will join the Series and hopes to be a competitive force aboard his # 92 Minda Motorsport prepared Van Diemen RF.

Daren Martin, who has updated to a Spectrum 06B, and Ken Birt are looking to start their years off on a strong note. Meanwhile, Icon Motorsport has nominated two Spectrum 06Bs cars with yet to be confirmed drivers.

Once again, the Simpson Race Products Rookie of the Year prize will be on offer and is won by the highest placed Rookie in the Series point standings.

The NSW Formula Ford Association has also announced a 'Masters' point score which will be fought out for drivers 40-years of age and older.

NSW Formula Ford Association director Jeff Senior is very much looking forward to another successful year ahead.

"This year looks to be very close in terms of the competition and it's going to be very enjoyable seeing who comes out on top throughout the Series," Senior said.

"With various unknown drivers in terms of quantity, along with a number of impressive driver's from last year it will hopefully be the nucleus for an exciting and hotly contended Series."

To keep up-to-date with all the latest news regarding the NSW Formula Ford Series visit their official website: www.FF1600.org.au

2006 NSW Formula Ford Series Calendar:
Round One: Wakefield Park Raceway - March 25 & 26
Round Two: Eastern Creek Raceway - April 29 & 30
Round Three: Oran Park Raceway - June 18 & 19
Round Four: Oran Park Raceway - July 29 & 30
Round Five: Wakefield Park Raceway - August 19 & 20
Round Six (Finale): Eastern Creek Raceway - September 23 & 24