23-24 Sept Anglesey The Road To Success Williams wraps up National title, earning a ticket for Road to Indy shootout NEW CAR, OLD TRICKS Double duty means double success in both National and Northern for Josh Smith
QUALIFYING A charging Joey Foster could not take away a lights to flag victory from Luke Cooper in the first race. Luke Williams sat behind in third to scoop the title. Luke Cooper smashed the field in qualifying, taking pole by nearly half a second. A title contender, a returning Formula Ford 1600 hero and a star in a new car all took race wins across the grand finale weekend of a stunning Britcover National FF1600 Championship with Avon Tyres season at Anglesey. But the biggest winner was a man who endured his worst-on-paper event of 2017. It didn t matter that Luke Williams s only podium visit was a poor-by-his-greatstandards third place, as that result gave him sufficient points to secure the National championship crown and a trip to America to fight for an even bigger prize in the Mazda Road to Indy Scholarship Shootout. With wins for Luke Cooper, Joey Foster and Josh Smith, Anglesey promised a great deal for both the end-ofseason trophy spectaculars still to come and a potentially even more competitive 2018 season as a star support on the eagerly-awaited new TCR UK bill. Race One Poleman Luke Cooper had predicted the race would be a 10-car train. He was right in that there were some 10- car trains battling, but none of them were in his orbit. Cooper was put under a bit of pressure from the faststarting Ross Martin off the line, and then as Martin fell back over the opening laps the leader had Joey Foster and Luke Williams on his tail. But the three-time Walter Hayes Trophy winner and the increasingly-likely National champion couldn t do anything about Cooper. As the race wore on, the Future Inns Swift Cooper began to make a break and a win that didn t salvage the title, but did make a pretty emphatic point about Cooper s potential, was sealed with a comfortable 3.3-second margin. Joey and Luke were battling, which gave me enough of a break to pump in the lap times and break away. That was a lot of hard work, beamed Cooper. Though second on the road went to Foster, the points for second went to Williams as Foster was running as a guest entrant. Though Williams s father had been anxious for him not to get too focused on the complexities of points maths and dropped scores, Luke was certain that second place was more than enough to wrap up the title. His arithmetic was soon confirmed. We ve got the best chassis, the best engine, the best gearbox and, I d say, the best mechanics, said Williams, whose driving hadn t been bad either. Erstwhile title rival Neil Maclennan could only progress to seventh from his low-key qualifying result, though his Cliff Dempsey Racing teammate Jamie Thorburn advanced further - coming through from eighth to fourth. This was the latest in a trend of hard-fought battling drives from the ever more confident Thorburn, who was the star performer in the toughest wheel-to-wheel dicing of the afternoon. Just LUKE COOPER ARRIVED IN WALES WITH his title hopes pretty much over, but a fun new (old) Swift Cooper team-mate in his long-time saloon racing ace brother Jason - released from his usual role on the spanners to make only his seventh FF1600 start in as many years when Thomas Capezzone was unable to make it to Anglesey. And the weekend started extremely well for this family operation: Luke Cooper was in complete control in qualifying, reeling off a series of provisional pole laps that kept him permanently out of rivals reach, and Jason stunned with ninth and Clubman Post89 pole. The first couple of laps were really good. I was a bit concerned about it raining so I had to nail it then just to make sure we got a lap in and then I backed off halfway through, let the train past and went for it again, said Luke Cooper. I couldn t be happier with that. It was as good as it could have been. A full 0.485 seconds off pole, nearlychampion Luke Williams put his Firman on the outside of the front row. Graham Brunton Racing was a welcome National series returnee for Anglesey, and recently-crowned Scottish champion Ross Martin showed his pace on this bigger stage with third on the grid, denied second by just 0.009s. Martin had FF1600 royalty alongside him. Joey Foster wanted to alleviate the boredom of a racing-free season and took advantage of regular team boss Don Hardman running other cars at Anglesey to hop in his Ray and qualify fourth for his first FFord appearance since last season s Walter Hayes Trophy. Fifth went to the best of those also competing in the Northern championship. Josh Smith had transferred from the Myerscough College Firman to Oldfield Motorsport s Van Diemen for the remainder of the season and was thriving, though an electrical problem looked like it would end his qualifying session very early at first. Michael Eastwell s progress up the field continued with sixth for Kevin Mills Racing ahead of welcome returnee Keith Donegan, back in business after a two-month absence prompted by his heavy crash at Castle Combe. It was another muted qualifying session for Cliff Dempsey Racing again, though - Jamie Thorburn and championship contender Neil Maclennan only eighth and 10th, Maclennan having geared his set-up towards rain that ultimately wasn t much of a factor. Pre90 pole went to Northern Irish visitor Ryan Campbell, a solid 18th on the healthy 27-car grid in his Reynard 89FF.
RESULTS R A C E O N E 1 / Luke Cooper / Swift SC16 2 / Joey Foster / Ray GR08 3 / Luke Williams / Firman RFR16 4 / Jamie Thorburn / Ray GR15 5 / Ross Martin / Ray RGS17 6 / Joshua Smith / Van Diemen JL13 7 / Neil MacLennan / Ray GR09 8 / Michael Eastwell / Spectrum 011 9 / Keith Donegan / Van Diemen JL13K 10 / James Roe Jr / Van Diemen RF99 11 / Jack Wolfenden / Firman RFR17 12 / Matt Round-Garrido / Medina Sport JL17 13 / Michael McPherson / Ray GR14 14 / Jake Byrne / Ray GR13 15 / Abdul Ahmed / Ray GR10 16 / Rory Smith / Van Diemen JL15K 17 / Jamesey Hagan / Reynard FF88 18 / Jack Clayton / Van DIemen RF89 19 / Vincent Jay / Ray GR10 20 / John Miller / Van Diemen RF89 21 / Mark De Rozarieux / Van Diemen RF88 22 / Ivor Mairs / Reynard FF84 DNF / Jason Cooper / Swift SC16 DNF / Paul Barnes / Swift SC92 DNF / Kevin Donnelly / Van Diemen RF92 DNF / Andrew Blair / Reynard RF87 DNF / Ryan Campbell / Reynard FF89 2.2s covered Thorburn, Martin, Josh Smith, Maclennan and Michael Eastwell at the line. Keith Donegan resisted James Roe Jr and Jack Wolfenden to lead the next group home and mark his National FF1600 return with ninth. By National FF1600 standards this was a relatively cagey race, many drivers unwilling to risk getting their elbows out too assertively with two more races on a potentially very wet Sunday coming up next day. The only flashpoint came in the tussle for the upper midfield positions, where Jason Cooper s fine first race back in FF1600 ended with a spectacular flight over Jake Byrne at the final corner. That took Cooper out of a group in which Matt Round- Garrido led home Clubman Post89 winner Michael McPherson, Byrne s battered car and Abdul Ahmed for 12th. With Ryan Campbell an early retirement, his countryman Jamesy Hagan claimed a close Pre90 victory ahead of Jack Clayton. Race Two Some overnight number crunching meant the paddock returned for race two knowing Luke Williams had wrappedup the championship and subsequent ticket to America for the Mazda Road To Indy Shootout in December. But with Luke Cooper s scintillating run of late season form combined with Neil Maclennan s title charge dashed by a mire of politics and poor race results second in the standings was yet to be sewn up. Following on from his win in the opener, Cooper had the best opportunity to narrow the points gap to Maclennan further still starting from pole. Buoyed by the lack of pressure compared to his competitors and revelling in the excitement of driving an FF1600 once more, Joey Foster was starting second. The weather had closed in over the circuit, dousing the surface in rain and it seemed as though the more relaxed, more experienced Foster would make it count from the off. Newly crowned champion Williams was the fastest starter, and anticipating a lead threatening challenge Cooper moved over to the inside to block the pass. That left Foster with a Ray-sized hole on the outside of Turn 1. He placed his car on the faster wet line and sailed around the outside of the dicing pair to secure first place. With Foster one side and Williams on the other, Cooper was forced to bail on his line into the corner and so dropped back to fourth - with Josh Smith picking up the pieces. It was the final corner that proved the most troublesome in the slippery conditions. First to fall foul was James Roe Jr, who span when he dropped his outside wheels onto the white line at the edge of the asphalt. Mere inches separated his rear suspension from clattering into the pit wall. Caught out also was Matt Round-Garrido who collected Michael Eastwell in his mistake. Eastwell managed to resume the race but Round- POLE / Luke Cooper / 1:34.475 FL / Luke Cooper / 1:34.349 LEGEND National Pro Clubman Post 89 Clubman Pre 90 Having failed to crack the top ten, Jack Wolfenden decide to explore alternative options to his regular Firman RFR17...
Garrido ended his race on the infield. Even the newly crowned champion got it wrong, Williams running way too deep into the final turn and spinning. By the time he was pointing the right way again a stream of traffic delayed him returning to the track even further. Cooper fell victim to Rocket corner, running wide and losing time to the top two. But with the hazardous parts of the circuit now identified and learned, attention returned to the two car battle for the lead. Initially Foster and Smith set about trading fastest times before Smith asserted himself as the faster driver. The gap between the two was shaved down to under a second with Smith even trying his luck with a strong exit out of the Corkscrew that brought the two alongside each other. But Foster held on to take the chequered flag first, making the best of his guest appearance. I knew I had the advantage from not being in the spray so I just got my head down and saw if I could pull a gap, said Foster. Every time we d wrap up a lap I d look and he d still be there so I kept pushing, hoping he d make a mistake. Smith was second from Cooper with Donegan nicking the fastest lap of the race and passing Jamie Thorburn for fourth. I had the confidence to go for it, said Donegan, who had been very happy with his Friday testing pace given his two-month absence then rued leaving his set-up too soft for Saturday s totally dry race. Jake Bryne demoted Thorburn a step further as he took fifth. Rory Smith was close behind, leading the flyingfrom-the-back Jason Cooper he could have been another one to relegate Thorburn but they touched wheels at the Corkscrew and Cooper spun on the inside. He still took eighth and Clubman Post89 victory. Neil Maclennan pipped a recovering Roe for 10th by less than two tenths courtesy of a last lap pass. Ryan Campbell came from the back to win Pre90 in 12th, just behind Abdul Ahmed and ahead of the delayed Eastwell and Williams. The new champion admitted his wet set-up was a complete shot in the dark but felt he d learned more about the stilldeveloping Firman at least. It s a shame we were so far off, he admitted, I didn t think I d be two seconds a lap off but it s all good testing working towards the best result possible. I m not a fan of the wet. Race Three With Northern Championship commitments also, Josh Smith had five races to contest across the two days and was a standout performer in each. Quickly settled into his new Oldfield Van Diemen, in greasy conditions he was close to peerless and that showed none more so than in the final National encounter. Other drivers were quick to acknowledge his experience of the Welsh circuit from the previous month s Northern race. But that was far from the only reason Smith was able to finally get his first National series win and Oldfield s first since its glory days with Stuart Gough in 2015. The partially reversed grid for race three was another case of Cooper leading Smith. But it was the turn of Luke s brother Jason Cooper, subbing in for the absent Thomas Capezzone, ahead of Rory Smith. Jamie Thorburn lined up third, hoping to add to a strong Welsh points haul, ahead of Jake Byrne and Keith Donegan. Luke Cooper, Josh Smith and Joey Foster occupied positions six to eight ahead of Neil Maclennan. Jason Cooper struggled for traction at the start, lighting up the rears to open the battle for the lead on the sprint into Turn 1. But it was Bryne, drawn fourth on the grid, who 1 / Joey Foster / Ray GR08 2 / Joshua Smith / Van Diemen JL13 3 / Luke Cooper / Swift SC16 4 / Keith Donegan / Van Diemen JL13K 5 / Jake Byrne / Ray GR13 6 / Jamie Thorburn / Ray GR15 7 / Rory Smith / Van Diemen JL15K 8 / Jason Cooper / Swift SC16 9 / Neil Maclennan / Ray GR09 10 / James Roe Jr / Van Diemen RF99 11 / Abdul Ahmed / Ray GR10 12 / Ryan Campbell / Reynard FF89 13 / Michael Eastwell / Spectrum 011 14 / Luke Williams / Firman RFR16 15 / Andrew Blair / Reynard RF87 16 / Jack Wolfenden / Firman RFR17 17 / Jamesey Hagan / Reynard FF88 18 / Michael McPherson / Ray GR14 19 / Jack Clayton / Van DIemen RF89 20 / Kevin Donnelly / Van Diemen RF92 21 / Vincent Jay / Ray GR10 22 / John Miller / Van Diemen RF89 23 / Paul Barnes / Swift SC92 24 / Mark De Rozarieux / Van Diemen RF88 25 / Ivor Mairs / Reynard FF84 DNF / Ross Martin / Ray RGS17 DNF / Matt Round-Garrido / Medina Sport JL17 FL / Keith Donegan / 1:47:031 RESULTS R A C E T W O The Anglesey circuit is a sight to behold, its coastal location allowing for a picturesqure background unrivalled in the championship Ryan Campbell (#99, second right) and Andrew Blair (#101, left) stormed from last and second-last on the grid to 1st and 2nd place in the Pre-90 class during race two. aced his getaway and headed the field on the run into the Banking. Fifth-starter Donegan also flew from lights out, sneaking through into second following the path made by Byrne. Thorburn slotted into third but that became the undoing of Donegan s fortune as the two collided at Church. Donegan understeered at the fast right hander and allowed room for Thorburn but as Donegan s front tyres bit, he pulled across the track to hit the nose of Thorburn. Donegan lost out, spinning on the grass. Thorburn gathered it together to hold position but as the pursuing pack had to avoid the melee Josh Smith was unseen by the others and picked off the slowing train to move into fourth place. That soon became third when Cooper went wide as he descended through the Corkscrew before retiring at the Hairpin. With the track ahead vacated, Smith used the clean air to lap half a second faster than anyone else as he reeled in Thorburn ahead. By lap five that pace proved enough to close the gap to and then pressure Thorburn. They ran nose-to-tail coming through the Corkscrew but Smith s favoured tighter apex through the hairpin returned second on the exit as he outdragged Thorburn on the sprint to the final corner.
Josh Smith (#0, second row, right) marched his way from seventh to the lead over the course of nine laps, a fine way to cap his season. Byrne ran wide at Rocket and with Foster dispatched at the hairpin the lead and eventual victory was Smith s. Foster followed up his earlier win with second, while Byrne ended his return to National series duty with a very respectable third place. We didn t test or anything, we just came straight here. I arrived here at half three Saturday morning, said Byrne. I was wrecked, the car wasn t 100% because I hadn t driven it the day before. So we struggled in qualifying, struggled in the first race. Ross Martin impressed in the final race, charging from the rear of the field to tenth by the finish. But the last race was great, we fixed the problems in the car and I actually slept last night. Maclennan came through to fourth, confirming second in the standings ahead of Cooper. Having been in the thick of the championship battle all season, Maclennan wouldn t have imagined a podium-less finale to his National campaign, but was absolutely delighted with the race three result considering his weekend so far. I m chuffed with that. I thought we were actually catching for the win at one point, said Maclennan. It was good to go along with Joey there - he s got a lot of experience. So it was good to follow him and see where he put the car. I m a lot happier now, we d been struggling all weekend. In his final race before heading to Phoenix, Arizona in December to contest the Shootout, Williams finished a conservative eighth as he and Michael Eastwell chased Clubman Post89 winner and superstar cameo man Jason Cooper. I would love to do this next season but there s no money so it s just this once for now, said Cooper, who hasn t raced fulltime since 2012. Williams was chased by Abdul Ahmed and Ross Martin, the Scottish champion making great progress after an early race two crash to come through from 25th on the grid to 10th ahead of James Roe Jr. Ryan Campbell notched up his second Pre90 win of the day by a healthy margin over Jamesy Hagan. RESULTS R A C E T H R E E 1 / Joshua Smith / Van Diemen JL13 2 / Joey Foster / Ray GR08 3 / Jake Byrne / Ray GR13 4 / Neil Maclennan / Ray GR09 5 / Jamie Thorburn / Ray GR15 6 / Jason Cooper / Swift SC16 7 / Michael Eastwell / Spectrum 011 8 / Luke Williams / Firman RFR16 9 / Abdul Ahmed / Ray GR10 10 / Ross Martin / Ray RGS17 11 / James Roe Jr / Van Diemen RF99 12 / Rory Smith / Van Diemen JL15K 13 / Jack Wolfenden / Firman RFR17 14 / Michael McPherson / Ray GR14 15 / Ryan Campbell / Reynard FF89 16 / Jamesey Hagan / Reynard FF88 17 / Vincent Jay / Ray GR10 18 / Jack Clayton / Van DIemen RF89 19 / Keith Donegan / Van Diemen JL13K 20 / Paul Barnes / Swift SC92 21 / Mark De Rozarieux / Van Diemen RF88 DNF / Andrew Blair / Reynard RF87 DNF / Matt Round-Garrido / Medina Sport JL17 DNF / Luke Cooper / Swift SC16 EX / Kevin Donnelly / Van Diemen RF92 DNS / John Miller / Van Diemen RF89 DNS / Ivor Mairs / Reynard FF84 FL / Joshua Smith / 1:45.445
FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS National Pro 1 2 3 4 5 Luke Williams Neil Maclennan Luke Cooper Jamie Thorburn James Roe Jr 507 438 421 370 311 6 Joshua Smith 257 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 Clubman Post 89 John Ferguson Paul Barnes Vincent Jay Ben Paliwoda Felix Fisher Paul Mason Archie Hine Michael McPherson 381 318 306 251 167 159 147 136 7 Ross Martin 253 9 8 Jordon Dempsey Michael Eastwell 210 185 Clubman Pre 90 10 James Scott-Murphy 181 1 Mark De Rozarieux 436 11 Keith Donegan 165 2 Ivor Mairs 364 12 Matt Round-Garrido 151 3 David Cobbold 327 13 Jack Wolfenden 143 4 Jack Clayton 306 14 Jake Byrne 138 5 Jamesy Hagan 243 15 Rory Smith 101 6 Andrew Kluge 225 With the final race behind us, the National FF1600 paddock can look back on another season of great racing.