Veteran Auckland driver Ken Smith captured one of the titles he had not achieved in his long career when he won the Formula Ford festival meeting at the Taupo circuit yesterday.
Smith led from the start of the 25-lap final race, but the event had to be restarted after a crash
on the first lap that included Miss New Zealand, Coralie Warburton.
She was racing a Formula Ford for the first time after a taste of motor racing in the Vodaphone Ford Ka celebrity series.
No one was hurt in the incident and the race was restarted, only to be aborted after 19 laps with another incident.
Smith, aged 59, led all the way in the festival race, chased hard by North Auckland driver Simon Gamble, who took second. In third place was 15-year-old Birkenhead schoolboy James Cressey.
Talented Palmerston North 13-year-old Chris Pither, in his first drive in Formula Ford, finished seventh, ahead of Auckland motor sport personality Ray Williams.
Wellington V8 Falcon driver Andrew Fauset continued his recent run of success to win the Dunlop Winter Cup for 2-litre and V8 Touring cars.
With a lap to go, Fauset snatched victory in the 35-lap race from 18-year-old Aucklander Jodie Vincent.
