Motorsport is a numbers game, from lap times to positions, it’s all about numbers! Over the season, our Formula First Expert, Jonathan Morton, has been gathering, recording and analysing data to bring you some of the impressive numbers the NZ Formula First Championship produces.
25 Drivers lined up over 24 races and between them completed 3086 laps and covered 9807km, consuming 2043L of fuel! Of those 25 drivers, only 2 finished all 192 laps of the championship and 3 drivers came agonisingly close, finishing 191 laps.
The engine in Conrad Clarks SpeedSport Scholarship car completed 595 laps across all practice, qualifying and race sessions equating to 1700km and 4,337,000 crankshaft rotations, all without rebuilding, replacing or machining over the season.
One of those drivers to finish every lap was our eventual champion, Callum Crawley. Crawley also finished every race inside the top 10, second to Liam Foster who scored 23/24 top 10s. Crawley and Foster would also be 1-2 in the top 5 stats too, with 20 and 19 respectively. The gong for the most podiums was shared between Kalen Ngatoa and Crawley, both with 15.
The class had 8 different race winners across the season, including 6 first time winners. Kaleb Ngatoa collected the most wins, climbing the top step of the podium 6 times over the season while Liam Foster took 5 and Crawley 4.
1148 passes took place over the season, with an epic 61 passes taking place in just one 8 lap race at Manfeild during Race 13 of the championship. The driver making the most moves was Liam Foster who gained a mammoth 51 places averaging 2.13 positions a race, but it was his father, Ian, who averaged the most at 3.31 positions in the 5 races he competed in. Crawley moved forward in 20/24 races while Amy Smith was the only driver to move backwards in more races than she moved forward.
Crucial components of winning a race are lap speed. In qualifying Reece Hendl-Cox was the only driver to top multiple qualifying session, taking 3 poles. Hendl-Cox’s lap speed continued into the races where he and Liam Foster both recorded 6 fastest laps with Billy Frazer being the next closest with 3. When it came to leading laps though, no one could beat Kaleb Ngatoa who led 50 laps compared with Liam Fosters 39 and Callum Crawleys 27. Conrad Clark led the least, crossing the line first just 2 times on his way to his solo victory in Race 14.
Scoring more points than anyone else over a round is critical to winning a championship. Ngatoa would take 3 round wins and 5 round podiums while Crawley took 2 round wins but 7 round podiums.
See below for full driver-by-driver stats:
Qualifying
| # | Driver | Start Avg | Qual Avg |
|
5 |
Reece Hendl-Cox |
3.38 |
3.57 |
|
11 |
Conrad Clark |
6.08 |
6.00 |
|
14 |
Billy Fraser |
8.17 |
10.00 |
|
15 |
Kaleb Ngatoa |
3.71 |
3.13 |
|
16 |
Blake Evans |
10.38 |
9.86 |
|
18 |
Andrew Tierney |
17.50 |
17.50 |
|
21 |
Flynn Mullany |
12.00 |
12.00 |
|
21 |
Shaun Logan |
14.54 |
14.38 |
|
22 |
Craig Greenwood |
14.17 |
13.75 |
|
23 |
Brody McConkey |
4.92 |
3.75 |
|
24 |
Louis Redshaw |
14.11 |
14.17 |
|
25 |
Travis Day |
11.07 |
11.60 |
|
28 |
Chris Symon |
3.72 |
4.17 |
|
31 |
Nathan Sudiono |
12.83 |
13.00 |
|
33 |
Ron Carter |
17.33 |
16.00 |
|
33 |
Dave Scammell |
13.22 |
14.00 |
|
40 |
Paul Butler |
16.44 |
15.33 |
|
41 |
Alex Hawley |
12.75 |
12.00 |
|
47 |
Ian Foster |
14.83 |
13.00 |
|
48 |
Liam Foster |
5.88 |
8.13 |
|
55 |
Amy Smith |
6.50 |
6.50 |
|
60 |
Taylor Hurst |
7.42 |
7.38 |
|
63 |
Bob Dillow |
13.00 |
13.33 |
|
79 |
Callum Crawley |
4.92 |
4.00 |
|
92 |
Cameron Dance |
16.44 |
15.33 |
Distance/Laps Completed
| # | Driver | Total Laps | Manfeild KM | Taupo KM | Hampton KM | Pukekoke KM | Total KM |
|
5 |
Reece Hendl-Cox |
159 |
216 |
220.5 |
67.2 |
0.0 |
503.7 |
|
11 |
Conrad Clark |
178 |
216 |
210 |
61.6 |
69.8 |
557.4 |
|
14 |
Billy Fraser |
191 |
216 |
248.5 |
67.2 |
69.8 |
601.5 |
|
15 |
Kaleb Ngatoa |
191 |
216 |
248.5 |
67.2 |
69.8 |
601.5 |
|
16 |
Blake Evans |
152 |
216 |
196 |
67.2 |
0.0 |
479.2 |
|
18 |
Andrew Tierney |
48 |
72 |
84 |
0 |
0.0 |
156.0 |
|
21 |
Flynn Mullany |
23 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
66.9 |
66.9 |
|
21 |
Shaun Logan |
179 |
192 |
252 |
53.2 |
69.8 |
567.0 |
|
22 |
Craig Greenwood |
64 |
72 |
140 |
0 |
0.0 |
212.0 |
|
23 |
Brody McConkey |
84 |
129 |
63 |
64.4 |
0.0 |
256.4 |
|
24 |
Louis Redshaw |
137 |
195 |
252 |
0 |
0.0 |
447.0 |
|
25 |
Travis Day |
114 |
135 |
157.5 |
0 |
69.8 |
362.3 |
|
28 |
Chris Symon |
134 |
213 |
220.5 |
0 |
0.0 |
433.5 |
|
31 |
Nathan Sudiono |
87 |
0 |
136.5 |
67.2 |
69.8 |
273.5 |
|
33 |
Ron Carter |
19 |
57 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
57.0 |
|
33 |
Dave Scammell |
72 |
0 |
252 |
0 |
0.0 |
252.0 |
|
40 |
Paul Butler |
64 |
48 |
168 |
0 |
0.0 |
216.0 |
|
41 |
Alex Hawley |
185 |
216 |
227.5 |
67.2 |
69.8 |
580.5 |
|
47 |
Ian Foster |
40 |
120 |
0 |
0 |
0.0 |
120.0 |
|
48 |
Liam Foster |
191 |
213 |
252 |
67.2 |
69.8 |
602.0 |
|
55 |
Amy Smith |
192 |
216 |
252 |
67.2 |
69.8 |
605.0 |
|
60 |
Taylor Hurst |
182 |
216 |
224 |
61.6 |
69.8 |
571.4 |
|
63 |
Bob Dillow |
136 |
216 |
224 |
0 |
0.0 |
440.0 |
|
79 |
Callum Crawley |
192 |
216 |
252 |
67.2 |
69.8 |
605.0 |
|
92 |
Cameron Dance |
72 |
72 |
168 |
0 |
0.0 |
240.0 |
Finishing Positions
| # | Name | Av. Pos. | Wins | Podium | Top 5 | Top 10 | DNF |
| 79 | Callum Crawley | 3.50 | 4 | 15 | 20 | 24 | |
| 15 | Kaleb Ngatoa | 3.61 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 22 | 1 |
| 48 | Liam Foster | 3.52 | 5 | 13 | 19 | 23 | 1 |
| 11 | Conrad Clark | 4.86 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 21 | 2 |
| 5 | Reece Hendl-Cox | 5.11 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 3 |
| 28 | Chris Symon | 6.19 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 2 |
| 14 | Billy Fraser | 7.50 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 0 |
| 55 | Amy Smith | 6.78 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 1 |
| 60 | Taylor Hurst | 8.30 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 1 |
| 16 | Blake Evans | 10.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
| 63 | Bob Dillow | 11.94 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 24 | Louis Redshaw | 12.59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 41 | Alex Hawley | 11.52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 23 | Brody McConkey | 4.50 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| 21 | Shaun Logan | 14.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 | Travis Day | 10.87 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 33 | Dave Scammell | 10.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 92 | Cameron Dance | 14.44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | Craig Greenwood | 14.75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 47 | Ian Foster | 10.80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 31 | Nathan Sudiono | 10.36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 40 | Paul Butler | 15.86 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 33 | Ron Carter | 12.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Andrew Teirney | 16.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Flynn Mullany | 12.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |