Fourteen-year-old Andre Heimgartner of Dannemora, Auckland East scored a win in his first ever Formula Ford race at the opening round of the Winter Formula Ford Series at Manfeild Park in Feilding on Sunday. Heimgartner, a Year 9 student at St Kentigerns College in Auckland, drove to victory in the first race of the series held in atrocious conditions. He followed his winning performance with two second placings to leave Manfeild with the series lead after his first weekend of Formula Ford competition.
Heimgartner began the day by qualifying second fastest to Nick Cassidy, an acknowledged master in the wet, in the damp conditions. At the start of the first race Heimgartner got the best of the start and took his Van Diemen Stealth into the lead. Cassidy began to mount an attack but left the circuit near the end of the race in his attempt to get past. Heimgartner crossed the line with more than eight and a half seconds in hand over the second placegetter, Henry Thomas Kircher, in the best possible start to his Formula Ford career.
Heimgartner won the start of the second contest but Cassidy passed him during the race to take his first win of the day with Andre chasing him home in second place. With one win apiece the third race was eagerly awaited and again Andre won the start to take the early lead. Cassidy went off the circuit soon after the start, damaging his car and bringing out the yellow flags for an extended period. Unfortunately for Andre the flags were withdrawn on the final lap but the youngster failed to notice, allowing Henry Thomas Kircher to snatch the lead. While the mistake cost Andre a second win he crossed the line just .303 of a second behind Thomas Kircher and ended the day leading the series point standings.
One of the most pleasing aspects of his debut was the fact that Andre got the Van Diemen Stealth off the line in the lead of all three races. The car was formerly raced by former National Series runner-up Caine Lobb who was on hand to give advice.
Andre's father, respected Super Sedan competitor, Mark Heimgartner said, "it was one of those precious weekend's where everything went according to plan. The car was prepared and run by Christchurch based team Motorsport Solutions and they did an excellent job."
Heimgartner turned fourteen just two weeks ago although he has been racing karts since the age of seven. For the last two years he has raced in the Formula First Series, improving his results steadily as he developed his car and honed his racing skills.
Andre's campaign in the 2009 Winter Formula Ford Series is supported by New Balance, Harmony Homes and Superlux Lighting.
