While Burges wrapped up the NSW Championship with one round remaining, it was rookie Richard Goddard that got everyone’s attention after making a stunning debut.

Burges took out his fourth NSW Championship round victory of the year and did so in the best possible style by winning three from three races over the course of the weekend. Yet another dominating performance resulted in the Anglo Australian Motorsport driver wrapping up the NSW Championship as he now carries an unassailable lead heading into the final round.

Apart from Burges taking out the NSW Championship it was fellow Anglo Australian Motorsport driver Richard Goddard that showed that he has the makings of a future NSW Champion. At the age of only 17, and with no prior racing experience and only six testing days with the Anglo Australian Motorsport team to fall back on, Goddard finished the weekend with a second overall behind Burges.

Goddard actually control the race lead of the final race for the opening lap before being past by Burges. After that he was then locked in a race long battle with fellow Anglo Australian Motorsport driver Adam Leung and showed plenty of race craft and it was difficult to realise that it was his first ever race meeting of any type of race car. Goddard qualified fourth and finished both race one and two in third and second place.

Completing a 1 – 2 – 3 sweep on the podium for the Anglo Australian Motorsport team was current rookie of the year point’s leader Adam Leung who also claimed his second podium finish of the year. Leung ended up third in qualifying and then placed second in the opening race before finishing third behind winner Burges and Goddard in both race two and three.

Continuing on with his form from the previous NSW Championship round Alan Price had another strong weekend in what was only his second outing of the year. The Listec Race Cars driver was just one spot off the podium in all three races – fourth after he had earlier in the weekend qualified fifth.

The tight battle between Goddard and Leung was not the only tight battle over the weekend with little separating Derryn Harrison and David Chitty in all three races. It was a clean battle between the pair and in the end it was Harrison that got the upper hand by finishing fifth in the final race and Chitty not too far behind in sixth.

Making his return to Formula Ford for the first time since 2002 was Bill Gravanis. Reuniting with the Anglo Australian Motorsport team, Gravanis thoroughly enjoyed his weekend and finished the round with three top 10 finishes.

Craig Degotardi came out on top in the ‘Historic’ class battle by taking out the top honours in both race one and three and finishing second behind defending NSW Champion and current point standings leader Cas Galjaardt in the second race. Keeping Degotardi honest throughout the weekend was Galjaardt, Steve Weller and Graeme Degotardi.

In what was his first appearance of the year was budget racer and long-time NSW Championship supporter Dave Wood. The Van Diemen RF91 driver kept it clean during the course of the weekend and managed to maintain his consistency.

The slim hopes of Daniel Lewis winning the NSW Championship went out the window due to a spate of frustrating mechanical issues. Lewis started the weekend in the best possible fashion by scoring pole position in qualifying. However, it all went pare shaped after that when in the opening race he was running second only to be struck down by mechanical issue on the final lap and fail to finish.

Lewis made it back out on the circuit for the second race on Sunday but luck didn’t smile on him as on the opening lap his throttle jammed and he speared off the circuit. This race two incident caused engine damage and Lewis was unable to complete the remainder of the weekend.

Another driver to have an early exit was Tom Tweedie driving the Van Diemen RF86 owned by his father Bob. Tweedie, who had qualified sixth and finished race one in fifth, was unable to contest either race two or three due to a mechanical drama.

Heading into the fifth round of the NSW Championship Jason Liddell had enjoyed a consistent year and as a result was sitting fourth in the overall point standings battle. Liddell didn’t have the best of weekends and as a result he only scored points in the second race after he had finished in seventh. In both race one and three he recorded DNF’s and as a consequence has dropped down one spot on the overall NSW Championship point’s ladder.  
 
The sixth and final round of the NSW Formula Ford 1600 Championship is going to be held over the weekend of October 31 and November 1 at Oran Park Raceway (Narellan, NSW). This will also mark the final ever appearance of Formula Fords at the circuit as the popular and historic circuit is closing at the end of the year forever. There is early word that there will be between 25 to 30 Formula Fords entered for the round.

Latest NSW Formula Ford 1600 Championship point standings (after five completed rounds):
1 Leigh Burges - 412 points
2 Adam Leung 312
3 Daniel Lewis 250
4 David Chitty 213
5 Jason Liddell 204

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