Past master Smith humbles the F5000s

July 7, 2014

New Zealand Formula 5000 Revival Series: Manfeild November 12/13

Veteran Kiwi racer Ken Smith was the star of the opening weekend of the New Zealand Formula 5000 Revival Series. Driving the Formula Atlantic Swift DB4 he first raced two decades earlier. Smith took on the F5000s and won the Whittakers Grand Prix at Manfeild.

Victories in the two eight-lap heats went to Smith and Stuart Lush (McRae GM1), but any hopes of victory for Lush in the final were dashed by a tangle with the Lola T332 of Murray Sinclair. Both cars were out and the race was halted while the debris was cleared.

From the re-start. Smith stormed clear and even fading brakes later in the race failed to prevent him winning by five seconds. A good battle for second was finally resolved in favour of Phil Mauger, who was racing his ex-Denny Hulme McLaren M23 for the first time.

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Paul Lawrence

Here is a man who goes racing every weekend from March to October. Paul’s passion for the sport goes back to when he was a child of the 1960s. He has organised, competed in and marshalled on scores of events, and has written about the subject for 20 years. He is as at home in the paddock at Brands Hatch as in a Welsh forest or at Shelsley Walsh.

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