Heimgartner Wins Championship

MEDIA RELEASE
11 SEPTEMBER 2009

Heimgartner Wins Championship

Fourteen-year-old Andre Heimgartner of Dannemora, Auckland East, has won the Winter Formula Ford Championship held over four rounds at Manfeild Park in Feilding over the past three months.

The series was the Year 9 St Kentigerns College student's first foray into Formula Ford and he made an immediate impression, being one of the series pacesetters from the opening round. Heimgartner won races at every outing and claimed two of the four rounds overall. He also featured in some stirring battles with team mate Nick Cassidy during the series. He ended the championship in style with two race wins and his fastest ever lap at the Manawatu circuit.

Andre arrived at the final round five points adrift of Matt Williams of Canterbury who had seized the championship lead for the first time when Andre failed to finish the final race at the penultimate round in August. Two experienced and competitive campaigners - Kim Crocker and Russell Hartley - also joined the grid for the final round but Andre was in fine form. He scorched to victory in the first two races of the finale, crossing the line 5 seconds ahead of Crocker in the first race and with a three second advantage in the second.

With the championship all but wrapped up Andre made another of his trademark fast starts at the beginning of the third and final race. However the cooler track temperature caught him out at Higgins Corner on the opening lap and he locked up and went off the circuit into a gravel trap, emerging 50 metres behind the second-to-last car. The youngster spent the rest of the race working his way back through the field to cross the line in fourth place to take the championship. During his title clinching drive he set his fastest ever lap around Manfeild, a time just .3 of a second off the lap record. The time was set in less than ideal conditions at the coolest part of the day. The lap was also the fastest of the round - the third time Andre had achieved that feat in the four round series.

Andre finished the championship with 750 points, 45 ahead of Williams with Henry Thomas-Kircher third on 611 points. Heimgartner was quite rightly very pleased with the achievement, the championship a significant addition to his motor racing CV. One of the most encouraging factors throughout the series was the fact that Andre is continually developing. His ability to get the car off the line well is also a plus and once again at the fiinal round he won all three starts, leading into the first corner of each race.

Andre now has seven weeks before the National Championship begins. The plan is to contest both the National and South Island Championship in the coming months. Both series consist of six rounds, giving Andre valuable time at the wheel and also much needed track time at the South Island circuits.

Andre's campaign in the 2009 Winter Formula Ford Series is supported by New Balance, Harmony Homes and Superlux Lighting.

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