BRSCC Formula Ford 1600 Race Report Season 2015 - Issue 1: Silverstone International Circuit, 4/5th April Foster races away from battling pack UNCATCHABLE Jardine has the blues in Race 1... then wins Pre90 Class in Race 2
CONTENTS Page Introduction Qualifying Faces of FF1600 Race 1 Race 2 3 4 7 8 12 Data & Credits Meeting Type: Double Header Circuit: Silverstone International Circuit Length: 1.8508 miles National Championship: Rounds 1 & 2 Organised by BRSCC Sponsored by Avon Tyres BRSCC FF1600 Championship Co-ordinator: Ian Smith (07939 107888) Words: Jack Benyon & Dave Williams Editing: Dave Williams www.gramtext.co.uk Copyright on Pictures: Bourne Photographic www.bournephotographic.co.uk Next Events: 18th April: Oulton Park Northern Championship Rounds 1 & 2 9/10th May: Donington Park Rounds 3 & 4 of both the National and Northern Championships Page: 2
Introduction A long winter s off-season for the BRSCC s Formula Ford 1600 competitors finally came to an end when the Avon Tyres-sponsored National Championship got under way on Silverstone s fast, sweeping International Circuit over the Easter weekend. The drivers that made up the healthy turn-out of 20 entries were able to enjoy plenty of track-time with most taking advantage of a practice session that was included in the timetable late on Saturday afternoon before a qualifying session and two actionpacked races were staged on Sunday. For the teams it was an opportunity to dream of the Formula 1 Big Time as they occupied pit garages within the impressive Wing Complex which was constructed specifically to meet the requirements of the British Grand Prix. Out on track were a returning hero, impressive debutants and the beginning of battles which undoubtedly will go on to define the 2015 season. Matthew Cowley won the first round of the National Pre90 Class Page: 3
Qualifying FOSTER FLIES Joey Foster flew round the International Circuit to take pole Qualifying started on an overcast morning on the Silverstone International circuit and, after setting the quickest time in practice, Luke Cooper must have been expecting to be right up at the sharp-end come the first competitive session of the weekend. However, a rear belt crank saw to it that the Castle Combe local wouldn t challenge for the top times, which was a shame as another potential front-runner had arrived in the paddock ready for Sunday morning. He was treble Walter Hayes Trophy winner, Joey Foster, who was a welcome sight for supporters of Formula Ford spread around track and paddock but not for his fellow competitors, as the Lanan driver coach only took a few laps to get adjusted before putting in a 1m11.351, 0.7s quicker than anybody had gone in practice. Four tenths slower was Patrick Dussault, the other driver who would start race 1 from the front row. The Canadian who drove in Formula Renault last year makes a full time switch to the BRSCC National Championship in 2015 and was instantly on the pace in the Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray GR13/14 which was the title runner up in the hands of James Raven last season. Dussault was second in practice to Cooper and followed that up with second in qualifying ahead of Irish regular Jake Byrne and Luke Williams. Byrne was 0.002 secs away from getting onto the front row despite never have seen the circuit before this weekend while Williams suffered throughout the meeting from a slightly down on power engine. Cooper followed with his ailing Swift Cooper thus heading the Pre93 category in the process, ahead of two drivers entering a full National Championship campaign for the first time. Ben Spurge, ex-formula Jedi driver, was adapting to Formula Ford 1600 well Page: 4
The Irishmen had produced an epic battle at Kirkistown setting the scene for a brilliant tussle between the two today in Cliff Dempsey s second car, ahead of Jonny McMullan, who is dovetailing the National Championship with his Irish Formula Ford commitments. McMullan is enjoying the backing of the Irish Motorsports Council this year. The previous week, he and Jake Byrne produced an epic battle at Kirkistown setting the scene for a brilliant tussle between the two at Silverstone. Thomas Capezzone fired Jason Cooper s Swift Cooper to eighth on the grid behind McMullan, with former Formula 4 racer Chris Middlehurst ninth and ex-f3 peddler Jay Bridger tenth. Just outside the top 10, Matthew Cowley headed the Pre90 field in his Reynard FF88 in 12th ahead of a surprise driver in the Oldfield Van Diemen RF92. Title winning team owner last year to FF racer this year was the story of the day, with James Oldfield taking thirteenth on his racing debut. Another surprise entry was Jamie Jardine, who arrived on Sunday with a new-build Reynard 84 after selling his championship winning car in the off-season. Ably adjusted by Dave Hart, Jardine got quicker throughout the weekend, but learning track and car at the same time proved a difficult task. Still, 14th on the grid as the single Pre87 entry was a good start in the new car. James Oldfield swapped the pit-wall for the driver s seat Page: 5
Results It was great to see Chris Middlehurst back in BRSCC FF1600 Page: 6
FACES OF FF1600 Page: 7
Race 1 FRANTIC FORDSTERS With Joey Foster having made a break, Patrick Dussault leads a frantic battle for second It was a frantic start to the National opener, with Foster leading Dussault and a fast starting Luke Williams from the second row of the grid into the famous Abbey corner. McMullan ran wide at Farm Curve sending him down the order, while a five way battle for third broke out behind the two leaders. Williams led Byrne, Cooper and Spurge. In the early running, Foster broke the tow ahead of Dussault and put in a few fastest laps to put himself out of reach of the chasing pack, it was 3s by the end of lap 4. The closest person to challenge his times was Jake Byrne, but he was 3.8s off the lead when he began putting in fastest laps. While the squabble for second took place, Michael Beaver made the most of a positive first few laps and took the Pre90 lead in 13th but trouble was brewing one place up the road. Jardine had made up two spots in his Reynard, but the Jubilee clip that was holding the fuel filler in place gave way after six laps, the smallest problem ruling out the Runcorn driver. As Jardine pulled into the pits, it was obvious that McMullan was really on the move. After dropping down the order after his earlier excursion, he was up to sixth and joining the train of cars fighting for second. Byrne s pace meant that he was soon ahead of Williams in third and challenging Dussault having an excellent race for second. After half distance, it was all to play for, with McMullan well and truly back in the hunt as Byrne latched onto the back of Dussault. The Canadian s brilliant defending finally gave way at Club though, promoting Byrne to second for all of about 10 seconds. He remained ahead for the pit straight and the entry of Abbey, but at the exit he caught a backmarker, which squeezed him wide and off the circuit. Page: 8
James Oldfield thorough enjoyed his first ever motor race as a driver! Byrne went right around the outside on the grass and rejoined at Village but by the time he had regained his composure, Dussault and McMullan had gone through. The final laps were a showdown between Byrne and McMullan for third, as Dussault had just enough clear air to hold on to second. Byrne made a move on the last lap at Vale, passing McMullan while going over the kerb for third. However, the stewards deemed Byrne to have gained an unfair advantage by going off the track and he was awarded a 2s penalty demoting him to sixth. That promoted McMullan to third at the finish, ahead of Williams who had a great view of the battle for third but couldn t jump either of them and had to settle for fourth after Byrne s penalty. Cooper took Pre93 class honours and fifth ahead of the demoted Byrne. Jay Bridger, running his car as an independent for the first time, managed seventh in a sterling display, ahead of Chris Middlehurst and the recovering Ben Spurge, who suffered from a bad start and a small off. Thomas Capezzone rounded out the top 10 with plenty of positives to reflect on as he held fastest lap at one point in the race and only Foster, McMullan and Byrne went quicker. Behind Adam Quartermaine in eleventh came Matthew Cowley who won the Pre90 category after the Mondiale M88S of Michael Beaver came into contact with the Swift of George McDonald, putting McDonald out of the race and Beaver out of the class lead. Beaver had been fast during Friday s wet test day but was hampered by a braking problem in the dry. In thirteenth was James Oldfield who had thoroughly enjoyed his first ever race. He was thankful to Kevin Donnelly for loaning him his race overalls, HANS Device and helmet. An excellent Bold engine that belongs to his father, Peter, had helped him to gain places along the straights. Having gained experience of running in the wet during Friday s test day, Jack Wolfenden was another who was enjoying his first ever motor race in the Van Diemen Jack Wolfenden made it to the finish on his motor racing debut Page: 9
The opposition are no slouches - Foster JL013K that his father, Ian, drove last season. He was classified fifteenth behind Vincent Jay and ahead of Iain Houston. With Medina Sport concentrating on the Northern Championship this season, Houston had assigned B-M Racing to attend to the Van Diemen RF88 that he campaigned last season. This team was set up over the winter by Andy Brickles and David McArthur. The former had engineered Wayne Boyd to the 2014 Walter Hayes Trophy as well as being engineer to McArthur for the previous 3 years. David and his brother Tom, both of whom B-M will be running this season, missed this debut event due to a pre-booked holiday. During testing on Friday, Houston had been happy with his speed in the wet but was disappoint to be a couple of seconds off the pace in the final dry session. Overnight, Brickles discovered that there was a problem preventing Iain from getting full throttle. Having been satisfied to qualify within 1 second of Jamie Jardine after using free practice to bed in a new set of tyres and brake pads, Houston picked up a couple of places when Jardine and Beaver both hit trouble. David Rutherford completed the finishers in his first outing for some 20 years. With all the battling and drama, Joey Foster was left out front having broken the tow early, and he brought the Ray GR10 he hasn t driven since the Walter Hayes home to victory. Really happy, considering the opposition are no slouches; they re quick guys, said Foster, I didn t expect it. They could do the times, I didn t have a fastest lap in either race. They squabbled among themselves a few times which cost them momentum and I could pull out three or four car lengths. Foster then managed the win perfectly ahead of a fantastic drive by the fast learning Canadian Patrick Dussault, who lived up to Cliff Dempsey racing s high standards immediately. Afterwards, he made these comments It s very fun to race in the Formula Ford Championship this year. Second in our first race is nice! George McDonald and Michael Beaver (88) were to get a little too close for comfort Page: 10
Results Vincent Jay kicks up the dust Page: 11
Race 2 LUKE IS QUICK ON THE DRAW Luke Williams got the jump to take the lead on the opening lap The grid for race two was set by the finishing positions of race one, which compounded Jake Byrne s misery as he would line-up in sixth despite crossing the line second. Back out for the second instalment was Jamie Jardine, having replaced the Jubilee clip which ruined his first race but George McDonald s damage from the collision with Michael Beaver was too great, leaving the field a starter short at 19. The second race produced perhaps the move of the day by the rapid Luke Williams. From the outside of the second row, the West Yorkshire driver drove around the outside of Abbey, giving him the inside line at Farm Curve to complete an epic move. I just got a really good jump, enthused Williams, I saw Joey going tight so if I thought if I go wide into the first bit [Abbey] I can get him at the second [Farm Curve]. Williams established the lead early on, with Foster second despite a brief spell behind Dussault, who got past at Vale. The six car grouping for the lead was completed by Byrne, McMullan and Cooper, with Byrne already forcing his way past McMullan from sixth on the grid; redemption after the first race s incidents. Despite Williams taking the lead, you couldn t help but think that Foster would be making a robust challenge and soon enough he was through after three laps with an excellent manoeuvre around the outside of Abbey, much to the disappointment of Williams. I was hoping someone would join in [the lead battle] because if Joey can t get away, he s no faster than anybody else but he just breaks the tow every time, said Williams. Having got ahead, Foster held a narrow gap over Williams, Dussault, Byrne, McMullan Page: 12
McMullan was defending furiously! and Luke Cooper. The latter was clearly enjoying the second race much more than the first after admitting to feeling a little rusty in the car. He managed to score the fastest lap of the race. The turning point in the race came on lap 3 when a racing incident at Vale between Williams and Dussault forced the Canadian into a spin and down to 11th, out of the lead fight. This incident gave Foster the break he needed and allowed him to get out into clean air. McMullan inherited second after the fracas, ahead of Byrne, Williams, Bridger and Cooper. It looked like a reprisal of the Irish duel towards the front between McMullan and Byrne. Any thought of that was put on hold though, as Byrne braked late into Vale and ran wide, which allowed Williams to become a buffer between McMullan and Byrne. It should have been the perfect opportunity for McMullan to escape and establish second as his own but such was the pace of the chasing pack the Irish Motorsport Council sponsored car could not break away. On Lap 11, just over halfway, Cooper set his fastest lap and he joined the back of the battle for second where McMullan was defending furiously at the front with everyone behind afraid of risking an attacking move as someone behind could easily capitalise causing them to lose out instead of gaining a place. Watching from the grandstands there was certainly a feeling that it would be down to Byrne and McMullan come the end. This was confirmed when Byrne finally found his way past Williams for third and set to work catching McMullan. Byrne was soon through into second but the move that took him there made him vulnerable. He slid through at Vale but got a terrible run out of Club, allowing McMullan to get past. The next time round with only a few minutes remaining, the cars went three wide out of Club and all the way down the Midfield fight: Thomas Capezzone (27), Ben Spurge (77) and Chris Middlehurst (2) Page: 13
pit straight! Incredible racing for the competitors to run so close As all this was happening, Luke Cooper clipped the rear of McMullan s car but he wasn t to be upset as he took back second from Byrne in the three wide mêlées. And that s how the race finished with Foster the forgotten man out front once more ahead of McMullan and Byrne. Williams finished fourth, despite his fantastic start, ahead of Luke Cooper, who was pleased with his weekend and the fastest lap in the final race. I m pretty happy, he admitted, two solid results in an older car. I was a bit race rusty to be honest but it was great fun. I m very happy with the fastest lap. Jay Bridger followed in sixth, and after not racing for four years, the Kent driver is definitely one to watch this season after running his own car for the first time this weekend. We had 20 laps [of testing] before we came here, Bridger explained, and it s the first time we ve run a car ourselves. We ve learned a lot already. We did a leak down test and we re down on power not good in straight line. We re still learning the car and I m getting better as a driver after not driving for so long. I think by the second round we can really challenge. Behind Bridger in seventh was Capezzone, who did a fine job in the Swift Cooper, the recovering Dusssault who made up three spots after his spin, Chris Middlehurst and finally Ben Spurge rounded out the top 10 after a mistake. It was probably the opposite of race one, said Spurge, I had a good start and made up some places. I had a spin in the middle of the race going into Becketts. I dropped into second, locked the rears and just lost it. He recovered to edge Adam Quartermaine out of the top 10 in the closing stages. James Oldfield completed his first weekend of driving with a 13th placed finish, where he finished in qualifying and both races. Despite that statistic, his pace did improve over the Jake Byrne recovered from his Race 1 penalty to finish third Page: 14
weekend and it would be nice to see the team owner out next time at Donington. In his Class D car Jamie Jardine took Pre90 honours from Matthew Cowley after no parts fell off this time as Beaver again hit trouble. Behind fifteenth placed Vincent Jay, David Rutherford finished two places better than earlier in the day behind the wheel of the black Oldfield Motorsport Van Diemen RF92 that Stuart Gough had won the National Championship with last season. With James Oldfield driving the sister car, Stuart s dad Andy was running Rutherford this weekend. Iain Houston has taken part in many sprint events a discipline in which a good start is crucial. He put this experience to good use to lead the Pre90 Class at the end of the opening lap. The faster cars overtook him during the course of the 20 minutes but then Houston took the flag seventeenth in some style by spinning across the finish line. With the retirement of Michael Beaver, the final driver home was Jack Wolfenden. Beaver and his crew put in a herculean effort to make the start given the amount of suspension damage he had sustained in the opening race. They fabricated a new bracket and hammered the suspension back into shape. The handling was all over the place enroute to the grid as they had been unable to get the tracking aligned. After taking things easy initially, Michael gained confidence in the repairs and pressed on, eventually he felt he was going faster than before the earlier incident with George McDonald. Then the bracket that been hastily fashioned snapped causing the car to bottom out therefore Beaver headed for the pits to avoid sustaining further damage. Although he hoped to compete in the first rounds of the Northern Championship at Oulton Park on 18th April, Beaver doesn t expect to be out until Donington in May as, in addition to fixing the suspension damage, he also plans to fit stiffer front springs. Wolfenden had a brilliant time on his racing debut but found the experience far tougher than he imagined. He left Silverstone with many areas of improvement to consider. Fast starter: Iain Houston Page: 15
Results Jonny McMullan was always in the thick of the action Page: 16
This report was produced by www.gramtext.co.uk & Visit www.bournephotographic.co.uk for over 765 pictures of this meeting!! Please note: The images in this report are all low resolution. High quality pictures from the meeting - in hard or soft copy formats - can be obtained from Bourne Photographic Page: 17