When the drivers line up for the third round of the NSW Formula Ford 1600 Championship this weekend, it will be a special occasion; and the circuit has certainly had plenty of memorable moments. One of the best races ever seen in the NSW Championship at Oran Park Raceway was back in 2004 when the then undefeated Joel Spychala was brought to his first and only defeat of that year by Victorian Greg Woodrow in what was a spectacular battle.

There is no doubt that close racing will ensue throughout this weekend’s round of the championship as current championship point standings leader Daniel Lewis and round one dominator Leigh Burges fight it out.

The battle between Lewis and Burges will be made easier with last round winner at Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway, Queenslander Kyle Wood, not contesting this round due to being unable to source the necessary budget to compete.

It shapes to be an interesting battle between Lewis and Burges especially when you consider that both drivers have a good track record around the 2.62km Oran Park Raceway circuit. Back when Burges last contested the whole NSW Championship in 2006, he was very competitive and was right up there with top three contenders, and Lewis enjoyed two podium finishes last year.

 While the focus will be on both Lewis and Burges at the pointy end of the field, you cannot discount the likes of newcomer Adam Leung and second year Formula Ford driver Russell Newell. Although early on in his learning curve, Leung has shown plenty of promise, as he demonstrated with his third place finish during the opening round at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway, and is no doubt looking to get amongst the podium contenders yet again. Newell had a second round that he would like to forget, as anything that could have gone wrong did, and he has his sights set on bouncing back to form and running back up at the pointy end of the field.

Queensland youngster Brendon Nelson made an impressive debut in the NSW Championship during the last round with a third place finish on the podium and the Anglo Australia Motorsport driver is one driver to keep an eye on.

Another newcomer to this year’s NSW Championship is David Chitty, driving the ex Bruce McCabe RF98 Van Diemen, and in the opening two rounds he has shown marked improvement and is very much looking forward to competing at the Oran Park circuit and working his way into top five contention and continuing his learning curve.

The likes of Jason Liddell, Derryn Harrison and father-son duo Don and David Holland are all capable of challenging for top five positions and that will be their aim for the weekend.

In the ‘Historic’ class Cas Galjaardt leads the way and the defending NSW Champion for the class is expected to be kept honest by drivers such as John Pymble, Bill and Norm Vesty and Stephen Weller. Making his debut in the NSW Championship with the ‘Historic’ class this weekend is Martin Dunlop and it will be interesting to see how he performs.

Returning to the NSW Championship for the first time this year are Garry Watson and Tim Berryman. Watson, a former top three contender in the NSW Championship, will run in the ‘Historic’ class and he is certainly going to be amongst the top 10 runners, while Berryman returns to Formula Ford for the first time since 2004 after spending sometime in Formula 3.

The sixth and final round of the 2009 NSW Formula Ford 1600 Championship is to be held back at Oran Park Raceway on the weekend of October 31 and November 1 and it will mark the last ever appearance from the Formula Fords before the circuit closes forever at the end of this year.

This weekend’s third round of the NSW Formula Ford 1600 Championship will see both qualifying and race one fought out on Saturday, followed by race two and three on the Sunday.

-ENDS RELEASE-