Photo: Ida Wood

Jason Smyth emulated his father Neville by winning the final of the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch.

The Team Dolan driver’s semi-final two victory put him on pole, with other semi-final winner Tom Nippers alongside him on the front row.

Nippers had a bad launch and immediately cut across to the inside. There was just enough room for B-M Racing’s Jordan Dempsey on the inside and he took second place, with team-mate Rory Smith behind.

Niall Murray and Smith had gone either side of Swift Cooper’s Luke Cooper into Paddock Hill Bend, and at the exit the pair went side-by-side but Dolan driver Murray headed into the gravel. He maintained control of his car, rejoining by Druids in seventh place.

Wayne Poole Racing’s Alex Walker had a go at passing Cooper into McLaren, then again into Druids on lap two. Murray pounced by going around Walker’s outside there and Cooper’s inside at Graham Hill Bend.

Up front, Smyth had a small gap which was eliminated by the safety car being called on lap three due to Dolan’s Stephen O’Connor being parked up in the gravel at Druids.

Racing resumed on lap six, and Smyth distanced himself. He was 0.7 seconds clear on lap eight when the safety car returned to Souley Motorsport’s Oliver Roberts being parked up on the pit straight with damage.

Murray had taken fourth into Druids on lap seven, while Cooper came under pressure from Dolan’s Morgan Quinn and Walker.

While the safety car period was a reprieve for the tyres, the race was extended from 20 to 25 laps due to the interruption. There was another retirement before the lap 13 restart, as TM Racing’s Ricky Simpson pulled off.

When racing did resume, Smyth immediately set the fastest lap and pulled 0.944s clear. Quinn went off at Graham Hill Bend but avoided losing any positions, and Walker and Oldfield Motorsport’s Ben Cochran actually clashed behind him.

Another fastest lap followed for Smyth to build his lead to 1.2s, and it continued growing over the remainder of the race. However the race’s extension meant he faced a new challenge on lap 21, as rain began to fall.

It proved non-disruptive for Smyth, and he finished 2.028s clear of Dempsey to win 15 years after his father did the same in the final for Kent [FF1600] cars.

There was plenty of action behind them. Cochran and Walker traded places for a while, and on lap 18 Murray forced his way past Nippers on the inside for third. A lap later, Nippers ran wide through the final corner and lost out to Smith.

Murray now had clean air, but was getting sideways as he tried to reduce a 0.9s gap to Dempsey. He made a big gain in the last two laps as Dempsey’s tyres overheated, and they finished 0.149s apart.

Nippers came home fifth, and sixth was decided in a photo finish as Quinn beat Cooper by 0.015s.

Connor Willis overtook team-mate Cochran late on, and one of the most exciting battles was for 10th. Charlie Mann almost went into the back of David McCullough exiting Graham Hill Bend several times, but could not get past despite better traction out of corners.

Callum Grant was the top driver in an older car, taking his Van Diemen RF91 to 15th.

Final results (25 laps)

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Photo: Ida Wood

Team Dolan’s Jason Smyth was victorious in the second Formula Ford Festival semi-final, after more aggressive fights at the front.

Smyth started second, and angled his car inwards on the grid. That meant he slotted in behind B-M Racing’s poleman Rory Smith, but then emerged out of his slipstream at Druids and tried passing around the outside.

Their wheels were interlocked exiting the corner yet there did not appear to be contact until Graham Hill Bend where Smith was sent sliding off. His team-mate Jordan Dempsey had taken third from Charlie Mann around the outside at Paddock Hill Bend, and inherited second as Smith fell to seventh.

On lap two Smith overtook Alex Walker on the outside approaching Druids, then dived down Callum Grant’s inside at McLaren.

Oldfield Motorsport’s Connor Willis overtook Mann at the end of lap three, and Smith then snuck past straight after as the top two pulled away. He interlocked wheels with Willis while passing him at the end of lap four, then the safety car was summoned as Gaius Ghinn had crashed at Clark Curve.

That brought Smith onto Dempsey’s tail for the restart, and after a lap Dempsey was already pushing Smyth into Druids. Smyth tried breaking the tow down the pit straight in the remaining laps, and while he could not shake off Dempsey he also did not face another attack.

Walker quickly cleared Mann after the restart, and took to the grass on the run up to Druids on the final lap as he overtook Willis.

Further back was a three-car battle for 10th, but the key fight was for 15th, granting the last spot for the final, and Don Hardman Racing’s Rick Morris stole it from Dolan’s Stephen O’Connor by 0.056s.

Semi-final 2 results (14 laps)

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Photo: Ida Wood

Tom Nippers won a dramatic first Formula Ford Festival semi-final, which featured red flags and the safety car.

Team Dolan’s Niall Murray had pole position as the heat four winner, and Nippers lined up second having won heat one.

Nippers cut straight to the inside when the lights went out, and a very slow start by Ronan Doherty had dropped him from fifth to eight by turn one.

Spencer Shinner tried going around Luke Cooper’s outside at Paddock Hill Bend but was sent into the slippery runoff, and as he came back on moved across against Oldfield Motorsport team-mate Ben Cochran.

Joey Foster had passed Shinner, and had a slidey lock-up into Druids as he tried to avoid contact with Cooper’s rear.

Cochran hit Shinner’s rear-right as they turned in, just as he was hit from behind by Doherty, who in turn had Ammonite Motorsport’s Hugh Esterson jumping over his rear-left wheel as he had tried slowing.

While Shinner’s right wheels were in the air, he went into Foster’s side and they both spun, with David McCullough then driving over the back of Tom Hawkins as they tried to avoid the already crashed cars.

Further back, Drew Cameron had already lost control and he went into Abdul Ahmed and then McCullough.

The safety car was called, with Esterson and Rick Morris falling further down the order with issues before red flags waved on lap two.

Cameron, Esterson and Foster were retirees, but there was a long wait for the restart and to see if the reserves would join the grid. They were given the go-ahead to join the second start, which eventually took place after Shinner had his left sidepod taped up on the grid and Ahmed also had work done.

This time Murray stalled, and Nippers led by a big margin over Copper into Paddock Hill Bend. Doherty took third ahead of the Oldfield cars, whose squabbling allowed Murray to reclaim a spot by Graham Hill Bend.

Murray overtook Cochran there on lap two, as Shinner fell back before retiring. Cooper lacked pace and had Doherty and Murray on his tail by lap three of 14.

Doherty looked to the outside at Paddock Hill Bend and Druids on lap four, but it set up Murray to take third at Graham Hill Bend and for Cochran to then muscle past at Clearways.

Murray and Doherty both gained back a place at Druids on lap five, but Doherty then went off exiting Graham Hill Bend and lost out to Morgan Quinn and Anthony Amato.

Nippers had a 1.9-second lead over fastest lap holder Murray, which was down to 1.339s when Storm Gjerdrum crashed at Paddock Hill Bend and the safety car appeared as lap nine began.

Racing resumed on lap 12 with Murray almost bump drafting Nippers. The leader slid down the hill then cut across and sent Murray onto the grass, and Quinn nudged Cooper from behind at Druids.

Nippers also left Murray no room exiting Druids, and there was further drama at Clark Curve as Doherty spun.

Murray was on the grass again down the pit straight and bounced back onto the track, and Nippers cut across at Hailwoods Hill again to severely that Murray then to the outside of him into Druids. There was no room on the exit and he went off, rejoining behind the side-by-side Quinn and Cooper.

It was Cooper who reached Graham Hill Bend in second, and McCullough joined the fight.

Quinn got loose exiting Paddock Hill bend on lap 13 and Murray passed him on the inside through Druids, then he hassled Cooper all the way to the finish as Nippers won by 0.376s.

James Rigby climbed 11 places to finish ninth, and Oliver Chapman secured a spot in the final by 0.356s by climbing from 26th to 14th.

Semi-final 1 results (14 laps)

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Photo: Ida Wood

BRSCC chairman Peter Daly secured his spot in the Formula Ford Festival semi-finals by winning the second progression race.

Oliver Chapman, having finished 13th in heat three, started on pole ahead of Shaws Motorsport team-mate Colin Williams, Daly, Auto Haeckel Motorsport’s Klaus-Dieter Haeckel, Graham Brunton Racing’s Calum Dunbar and Supercars team boss John Blanchard.

Despite appearing to struggle to get into gear when the lights went out, Chapman comfortably led the field into the opening corner.

Haeckel initially threatend Daly through Paddock Hill Bend, but Daly moved to the inside heading down the hill and after Williams took too much kerb at Surtees he had Daly in his tow.

Daly tucked out of it fairly late down the pit straight and was ahead by 0.086 seconds as lap two began. On the outside line into Paddock Hill Bend he was able to make the move stick, then rapidly reduced Chapman’s lead by a second to sit 0.757s behind going into lap three.

Haeckel was now third, with Vincent Jay (from eighth on the grid), Blanchard and Ben Turner occupying the other three places that granted semi-final spots.

A train of cars fighting over fifth formed, and they were almost four-wide exiting Druids at one point, but the double-waved yellow flags where Williams had crashed reduced overtaking opportunities.

The drivers at the front of that train exited contention at Clearways on lap five, with Turner’s attempt to pass Blanchard on the inside resulting in contact, both spinning and a broken front-right wheel for Blanchard.

Dunbar inherited fifth ahead of AC Racing’s Andy Charsley, who had put in a stellar drive to charge up from 19th as he had started last on the grid.

Daly ended the lap with another super late pass, exiting Chapman’s tow and edging ahead by 0.01s for a lead he would hold onto.

The top two sought to work together, as team-mates in the large Shaws outfit this weekend, but Chapman still had a got at reclaiming the lead around the outside of Paddock Hill Bend on lap nine of 10 then into Surtees on the final lap.

Dunbar, Charsley and TM’s Bob Hawkins closed in on Haeckel and Jay in the race’s second half, setting up a dramatic last two laps.

The first attempted pass was by Dunbar into Paddock Hill Bend on lap nine, but Charsley had the better exit and would have got alongside had Dunbar not moved across and forced Charsley onto the grass going back up the hill. Hawkins then tried going around Charsley’s outside around Druids.

Next time by Charsley got ahead of Dunbar through Paddock Hill Bend, then forced Jay into defence approaching Druids. He got alongside at the finish, and they were split by less than 0.001s.

Jay was classified fourth, and after soaking up pressure from Hawkins the final semi-final spot went to Dunbar in sixth.

Progression race 2 results (10 laps)

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Photo: Ida Wood

Gaius Ghinn won the first of the Formula Ford Festival’s two progression races on Sunday morning.

The top 12 finishers from each of Saturday’s four heats progressed directly into the semi-finals, with everyone else getting a second opportunity to join those grids by contesting a progression race.

Having finished 13th in the fastest heat, Gaius Ghinn started on pole for progression race one ahead of Antony Denham, Gerhard Hauschulte and FFord veteran Wil Arif.

Ghinn made a bad start, wheel-spinning out of his grid slot before finding traction. At that point Denham was already alongside, but could not remain there entering Paddock Hill Bend.

By the end of lap one, Hauschulte was alongside Denham on the inside and he managed to snatch second place. Mk8 Motorsport’s Oliver Buckton, who had started fifth, was all over Denham at the bottom of the hill but could not find room at Druids to attempt an overtake.

Next time by, Buckton was on the inside of Denham all the way through Druids but the latter had the preferred line down into Graham Hill Bend where Graham Brunton Racing driver Brian Graham flew off and rejoined down the order.

There was also an incident at the back, as MSA Motorsport’s Sigbjorn Maehlum ended his race in the gravel at Druids and the safety car was required.

Once his car was pulled back on track and he drove to the pits, racing was able to resume on lap seven.

Buckton again attacked on the inside approaching Druids, but tucked back in behind Denham when they reached the corner. He was able to have a look at McLaren, then utilised the slipstream down the pit straight to attempt a move around the outside as lap eight began.

Despite some sliding that sent him across the runoff exiting Paddock Hill Bend, Buckton remained committed and therefore had the outside line for Druids. That proved disadvantageous, but the slipstream out of Clearways meant he could try again on lap nine.

He moved to Denham’s left early and got the pass done before Paddock Hill Bend, then went chasing Hauschulte but double-waved yellow flags at the start of the pit straight due to youngster Birk Larsen crashing out made it harder to close in.

Throughout that action, Ghinn had kept it under control up front to lead a Van Diemen RF91 one-two. Victory also provided him a platform on the race broadcast to correct a decade of his name being pronounced incorrectly by commentators, having never done so previously despite his many years racing in FFord.

Completing the top six that made it through to the semi-finals were Marc Sawer and Arif, with Matthew Sturmer the first to miss out. Graham ended up finishing the race in 10th.

Progression race 1 results (10 laps)

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Photo: Ida Wood

Nial Murray was the winner in the fourth Formula Ford Festival heat, which featured a pre-race crash.

Oldfield Motorsport driver Ben Cochran, who had qualfied fourth, crashed on the formation lap heading up the hill to Druids and red flags waved while his car was recovered.

Once it was, he was able to make his way to the pit straight and joined the field for two more formation laps before starting where he had been scheduled to.

Murray did not make the best launch, but was helped by Team DDR’s Ronan Doherty being very slow out of his box in second.

Swift Cooper tried squeezing down Doherty’s inside, and the Brands Hatch debutant moved to the outside at Paddock Hill Bend so the door was open for Cooper to get ahead.

Doherty then took to the slippery runoff beyond the kerbs, allowing Cochran through on the inside. At almost the same time, Cooper locked up and Cochran nosed into him from behind into Druids, but it tultimately led to no changes of position.

However Doherty then visited more runoff down to Graham Hill Bend and Cochran went past. They almost made contact into Druids on lap two as Doherty sought space on the inside that was not there, and their squabbling allowed the top two to pull away.

Murray, not feeling confident in battle but also not needing to test those skills as he charged off ahead, won the 10-lap race by 5.962 seconds over Cooper who was compromised heavily by lapped traffic “in the worst places possible” late on.

Doherty reclaimed third into Druids on lap three, but again almost went sideways after using the Graham Hill Bend runoff, and was initially two seconds behind Cooper.

Once he was in his tow, he was able to rapidly close in and on the final lap Cooper had to defend from Doherty while also trying to clear a lapped car as they approached the chequered flag.

Cohran finished fifth, and Ammonite Motorsport’s Anthony Amato was sixth after shaking off TM Racing’s Tom Hawkins and Don Hardman Racing’s Abdul Ahmed who he had been in a group with for several laps.

There were two incidents that did not prove too disruptive to proceedings, with Sigbjorn Maehlum crashing out and Oliver Buckton spinning off but being able to rejoin.

Heat 4 results (10 laps)

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Photo: Ida Wood

B-M Racing’s Rory Smith converted pole into victory in the third Formula Ford Festival heat.

Torrential rain had hit the preceding heat, and in the 40-minute break between them the track had dried out. This was helped further by three formation laps, although the race was declared wet.

Wayne Poole Racing’s Alex Walker joined Smith on the front row, suffered a lot of wheelspin and succefully moved across to the inside line without losing second place.

Charlie Mann and Darwin Smith followed, but the latter went off at Paddock Hill Bend and only just avoided the gravel. He dropped behind TM Racing’s Felix Fisher, while keeping several other hungry drivers at bay.

In that bunch was Ammonite Motorsport’s Brindley Kinch, who put two wheels off and went spinning on the way down to Graham Hill Bend.

Smith streaked away, with Walker holding a smilar gap to the pack led by Mann Motorsport driver Mann.

The other Smith almost lost fifth to Oldfield Motorsport’s Connor Willis through Clearways on lap two, with the latter getting sideways and the pair making contact as they entered the pit straight.

Willis tried again into Druids next time by and got past, but now had a big gap to make up on the cars ahead.

As Rory Smith raced alone up front, Walker began to come under pressure from Mann and that also brought Fisher into podium contention.

Mann went down Walker’s inside at the end of lap five, completing his move halfway down the pit straight. Fisher tried the same on the outside the next lap but had no luck, and the resultant squabble was pounced upon by Willis.

On lap eight of 10 he overtook Fisher into Paddock Hill Bend but then went off, and only lost one place as he kept control of his car. He was more successful on the last lap, then boldly attempted a pass on Walker too into Graham Hill Bend but locked up.

However that later entry into the corner then meant Walker had to venture further right going through it to ensure no contact and he lost speed by going over the kerbs. That meant Willis could pull off a pass, on the inside line into Surtees, and it set up Fisher to capitalise before the chequered flag brought an end to the battle.

By the finish the trio were four seconds behind Mann, who felt the track was too dry for his set-up. Willis meanwhile told Formula Scout that he had started slowly due to his fourth-placed grid spot being off the racing line and still wet.

Darwin Smith finished seventh, losing out to Noel Robinson mid-race and then being sandwiched between him and Liroy Stuart for the remaining laps.

Heat 3 results (10 laps)

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Photo: Ida Wood

Team Dolan’s Jason Smyth was victorious as rain spiced up the second Formula Ford Festival heat at Brands Hatch.

It was dry on the formation lap, but once Smyth had lined up on it started to rain the grid and Graham Hill Bend was drenched by the time the lights went out.

Smyth slid out of his box, and fellow front row starter Jordan Dempsey was immediately alongside on the outside. His nose was ahead going over the crest into the opening corner, but it was Smyth who led the field through Paddock Hill Bend.

After a brief reprieve at Druids, it was chucking it down at Graham Hill Bend and the top two broke away while PA Motorsport’s Ben Pwoney held third in his Jamun M92 after taking the position from Graham Brunton Racing’s Callum Baxter off the line.

In fifth was Callum Grant, in an even older Van Diemen RF91 and having started from eighth place.

Druids had joined the list of very slippery corners by lap two, and Baxter reclaimed third through Clark Curve. Next time by he ran wide at Druids and conceded the place again, but once more took the inside through Clearways and passed Powney.

Grant watched closely from behind and TM Racing’s Ricky Simpson joined their pack as the top two stretched their legs up front. They were almost a second per lap faster than the rest of the field, and were not squabbling with each other.

Dempsey got very close to Smyth’s rear multiple times, particularly once lapped traffic was involved, but with a dry set-up on a wet track it made no sense to make risks and the Dempsey followed Smyth home.

Powney lost out to Grant at Surtees on lap five, with the latter nailing a move around the outside, and Simpson then followed through into McLaren.

The rain cloud had moved across to Clearways by then, but Andrew Noble had a spin at Graham Hill Bend that led to him being another car to lap.

The cars that passed Powney initially gapped him, but Simpson went off at Druids on lap eight so fifth place was reclaimed. At the same time, Grant was really pressuring Baxter and went past on the inside into Graham Hill Bend.

“Tyres helped, and sending it on the first lap helped,” Grant said to Formula Scout, crediting the fact his older and smaller car ran a different tyre tread as he rounded out the podium places.

Simpson got back past Powney before even reaching Graham Hill Bend on lap eight, and at the finish he got a run on Baxter and finished just 0.096s behind him.

Heat 2 results (10 laps)

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Photo: Ida Wood

Privateer racer Tom Nippers won the opening heat race at the Formula Ford Festival on Saturday afternoon at Brands Hatch.

He started second behind Team Dolan’s poleman Morgan Quinn, who did not make the best start going up to the crest of Paddock Hill Bend and both Nippers looked to his outside.

Pirate M-Sports’ Joey Foster thought of doing the same before going for the inside, but there was not enough room for either to be alongside through the corner.

Nippers then went for the inside at Druids, going wheel-to-wheel with Quinn again and actually getting ahead exiting the corner. But he then struggled for traction while Quinn’s wider line meant he carried more speed down the hill and led again before Graham Hill Bend.

The Cooper Straight was Nippers’ next location for an attack, while Oldfield Motorsport’s Spencer Shinner put Foster under pressure.

Shinner tried overtaking into Druids on lap two, and that allowed the top two to break away slightly before the slipstreaming strength of Foster’s Firman brought him back onto the top two’s tail.

Lap three began with Foster right behind Quinn, with Nippers and Shinner only having room to take the outside line into Paddock Hill Bend. That worked to their advantage, was they moved into first and third.

Quinn tried reclaiming the lead going back up the hill, Nippers covered the attack and it allowed Shinner to sweep past Quinn into Druids and for Foster to do the same exiting it.

David McCullough was now making it a lead six, but Nippers did not want to remain part of the group and edged away.

Quinn’s mirrors were filled by Ammonite Motorsport’s Hugh Esterson mid-race, and Nippers was able to grow his lead further as Shinner took a wide entry into Paddock Hill Bend on lap seven of 10 that baulkted Foster.

His compromised run back up the hill was in the way of Quinn, and Esterson was able to take fourth around the outside at Druids. The opportunity to reclaim a place later in the lap was lost as the debuting Birk Larsen crashed at McLaren and yellow flaged waved there for the rest of the race.

Foster and Quinn were both in attacking moods, eyeing up spaces either side of the cars immediately ahead but not having enough surplus speed or room to make an overtake.

Their best chances were down the pit straight, where they could at least draw alongside, and while Nippers won with a two-second gap there was just 0.051s between second and third and then 0.136s between fourth and fifth as they ran side-by-side at the finish.

McCullough was just behind Quinn by the end, and a young Storm Gjerdrum finished an impressive seventh.

The track had been greasy at the start, and Quinn revealed to Formula Scout that this had masked a straightline speed issue he was suffering with his engine. While it may not be fixable in time for the semi-finals, he has a replacement unit lined up to be used if required.

Maxime Lebreton was demoted from 10th to 11th by a 10-second penalty for being out of position at the start.

Heat 1 results (10 laps)

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Photo: Ida Wood

Team Dolan’s Niall Murray marked his return to the Formula Ford Festival with pole for the fourth heat race.

Murray had looked particularly slidey out of Graham Hill Bend during testing, often going across the extended tarmac runoff, and he had one lap deleted during heat four qualifying.

The first driver to the top was Team DDR’s reigning Northern Irish FF1600 champion Ronan Doherty, with a 52.081s lap.

Murray did not post his first flying lap until three minutes in, but it put him straight to the top. His 51.015s was 0.249 seconds faster than Luke Cooper’s second effort, but Cooper then took provisional pole with his third flyer.

He claimed first place by 0.152s, then Doherty crossed the line and went a further 0.184s faster than him.

There was a wait of another minute before Murray’s next lap was completed, but he lowered the pace to 50.446s.

Moments later, Cooper improved to 50.799s in third. Ammonite Motorsport’s Anthony Amato went fourth fastest with four minutes to go, as Murray’s fourth lap grew his advantage at the top to 0.256s.

The next change to the top six came in the final three minutes, as Oldfield Motorsport’s Ben Cochran posted a 50.678s to jump up to second. But the gap between first and second had grown again, as Murray set a new 50.367s benchmark.

He found further pace with two minutes to go, moving the time to beat to 50.225s, and Doherty responded with an improvement that put him into second and 0.327s behind Murray.

But with 68s remaining, the imperious Murray went faster again with a 50.133s to secure pole. The heat will be his first race in Britain since the 2023 FFord Festival.

There were few personal bests set after Murray’s pole lap, although Cooper took third from Cochran with seconds to spare by a margin of 0.064s.

After the chequered flag, Amato and TM Racing’s Tom Hawkins improved but they remained fifth and sixth.

Heat 4 qualifying results

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