Photo: Ida Wood

The end-of-year classics once again attracted big names, but the national and regional series in Formula Ford in its various forms also had strong grids in 2024. Here’s what happened across the world

United Kingdom

Home of the two biggest events for the category, the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy, the UK had plenty of FFord action in 2024 and the main home of it for contemporary machinery was the United FFord championship. Morgan Quinn added yet another title to Team Dolan’s tally, beating PWR1 Racing’s Jason Pribyl by 37 points. Pribyl had started the season on top with victory at Silverstone, and he won again at Lydden Hill while Quinn was victorious at Donington Park and Castle Combe. Read the reports on all of the race action here, and check out the multi-nation 2025 calendar here.

Over in Northern Irish FF1600 there was another Dolan champion, as Jason Smyth romped to the crown. He scored over one-and-a-half times as many points as Team DDR’s four-time champion David McCullough in second place. Pipping Quinn to third in the standings was Stephen O’Connor, then at the Martin Donnelly Trophy meeting just 0.421 seconds split winner Smyth, team-mate Jordan Kelly and McCullough in the thrilling main race.

It took almost a decade for TM Racing’s Felix Fisher to become Castle Combe FF1600 champion, but after finally getting the job done in 2022 he has now won three titles in a row. His brother Josh, who drives for Wayne Poole Racing, contested the opening round and won both races to take an early points lead but did not appear again and so it became a four-way fight between Felix, B-M Racing’s Rory Smith, WPR’s Alex Walker and Swift Cooper’s Luke Cooper for title honours.

Once Fisher’s 52 points of dropped scores was taken into account, he became champion by just three points over Smith, who was championship runner-up on victory countback over Walker, while Cooper was only a further 11 points behind.

You can click the hyperlinked text to read about all of the drama at the 2024 FFord Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy. The result of the former is still provisional, with the national court set to hear an appeal that could change who wins.

Photo: Freddie Beckett/United FFord

United States

The SCCA National Runoffs at Road America in October featured races for Formula Continental (which uses FF2000 cars) and Formula F (where 1600cc engines from Ford and Honda are used). Michael Varacins was the FContinental winner, leading home Robert Allaer by 2.661s, and Tazio Stefanelli pipped Sebastian Mateo Naranjo by 0.111s in FF. First to meet the chequered flag was former Team USA scholar and four-time Runoffs winner Jonathan Kotyk, but post-race he got a penalty that dropped him down to eighth place.

The national F1600 Championship Series lacks the second ‘F’ because of its use of Honda rather than Ford engines, and ran over seven rounds in 2024. Team Pelfrey’s Naranjo swept to the title in one of the newest cars on the grid (albeit it already being a decade old), and Timothy Steele was runner-up. Naranjo was unbeaten in the season-opening round at Road Atlanta and the Pittsburgh triple-header, while Steele only won once in the 19-race campaign at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

USF2000 podium-finisher Thomas Schrage won all three races at Mid-Ohio, then Iron Rock Motorsports’ second-year driver Cooper Shipman took a win before Naranjo was twice victorious at Lime Rock. He brought his win tally up to eight with single successes at Road America and NJMP, and the other two races at Road America went to USF2000 racer Ayrton Houk.

His fellow 2023 Team USA scholar Jack Sullivan won race one of the Summit Point finale, with race two going to Shipman.

Canada

Britain West Motorsport’s Connor Clubine won Ontario’s Toyo Tires F1600 series in 2024 and both of the F1600 support races at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres.

In the opening Toyo Tires round at Mosport, Antonio Costantino took pole by almost half a second but lost the lead to Clubine three laps into race one. He later regained it for one lap before Clubine kept ahead through the race’s second half.

Clubine led Costantinto lights-to-flag in race two, but it was far more exciting in race three as they traded first place eight times and even Henderson Knox (Henderson Racing) got ahead of both briefly early on. Ultimately, Clubine won again.

At Shannonville Motorsport Park the dominant streak of Clubine began, as he comfortably took pole and won all three races with fastest lap. On the return to Mosport he had a smaller advantage in qualifying, but romped to race one victory by 13.146s. Knox beat Costantino to second by 0.135s after passing him on the final lap. Race two went to Clubine, and Costantino won race three.

Although Clubine dominated qualifying for round four at Mosport, Costantino passed him with four laps to go of race one and held on to win by a miniscule 0.006s. Knox set the fastest lap and was only a second behind the top two. It took four laps for Clubine to go from fourth to the lead in race two, then he sprinted off to win by 16.477s as less than a second covered second to sixth place. Clubine’s victory tally hit double figures in race three.

In qualifying at Calabogie Motorsports Park there was just 0.086s between Clubine and Costantino, and the gap between them was only six times larger in race one. Just 0.227s split them in race two, then Knox was Clubine’s closest race three rival.

Costantino convincingly took a second pole in the Mosport finale, and in race one there was a different leader on six successive laps before Clubine got his car ahead and kept it there. However he only won by 0.398s. The battle with Costantino went on even longer in race two, with nine laps of lead changes then a period of Clubine behind until he nipped past his rival in a photo finish by 0.085s. The pair fought through the first five laps of race three, then Clubine yet again administered last-lap heartbreak as he snuck past for his 16th win by 0.234s.

Photo: GP3R

Although Clubine became champion by 111 points, it was Constantino who won the Team Canada Scholarship and a seat in the FFord Festival, along with GB4 podium-finisher Callum Baxter.

The races at GP3R were part of the F1600 Canada series, which kicked off at Mosport and had rounds at Quebec’s Mont-Tremblant circuit either side of the grand prix races also in the province. Round one shared grids with Toyo Tires F1600, and there was only four points-scoring drivers from the rival series. Murdoch Racing’s Duncan Murdoch got the points for victory by finishing 16th, 13th and 12th in the three races.

Category veteran Didier Schraenen won all three races on the first trip to Mont-Tremblant, and Bertrand Godin, Schraenen and Murdoch filled the three spots immediately behind Clubine in race one. It was the same order for the top three points scorers in race two, although Godin was 12.419s off Clubine and Murdoch was almost a minute behind the winner in seventh.

Olivier Dulac won all three races of the Mont-Tremblant finale, beating Michael Di Paolo and Martin Janson in race one, Di Paolo and Murdoch in race two then those two in reversed positions in race three.

Australia

The national series visited seven different circuits, starting off at the iconic and fearsome Mount Panorama circuit. Jack Bussey led Cody Maynes-Rutty and Eddie Beswick in qualifying, then in the five-lap race one (with each lap taking over 141s to complete due to the circuit length) Alatek Racing’s Harrison Sellars came through to win ahead of Maynes-Rutty and Beswick.

Race two was shorter, and Maynes-Rutty was victorious by 0.3847s over Beswick. CHE Racing’s Daniel Frougas was third.

A full race distance was achieved in the third encounter, although two of the seven laps were behind the safety car. Beswick won by 0.184s over Kobi Williams, and Maynes-Rutty was only 0.433s behind as a second covered the top five.

Photo: Australian FFord [L-R: Williams, Buswick, Bussey]

Bussey again set the qualifying pace, by just 0.0184s over Zak Lobko, and 13 drivers were within a second of pole. In race one the first place spot on the grid was successfully converted into victory by Bussey, as Sellars and Kobi Williams completed the podium. Lobko comfortably won race two, ahead of Sellara and Liam Loiacono.

Sydney Motorsport Park hosted round three, which was also a New South Wales FFord event. Williams pipped Lobko to pole by 0.0839s, with Maynes-Rutty 0.1985s off the top and again a top 14 contained within a second on pace.

In race one Williams held off Beswick by 0.3261s, and reigning Queensland FFord champion Loiacono got another podium as Maynes-Rutty struggled to 13th.

He bounced back to finish third in race two, 0.8386s behind the winner Beswick who this time got the better of Williams by a tiny 0.0413s. Lobko also only beat Bussey to fourth by 0.147s. The weekend concluded with another Williams win, closing in on points leader Beswick who finished third behind Maynes-Rutty.

At Morgan Park Raceway the gaps between the top 14 in qualifying were very small again, and Loiacono edged Bussey to top spot by 0.09s. Lobko was a further 0.018s behind, with Beswick and Maynes-Rutty also within 0.2s of pole.

Loiacono pulled away to win race one by 3.487s, escaping the fighting behind. On the penultimate lap Bussey set a new lap record, but fell 0.042s short of beating Beswick to second. There was close action behind winner Loicacono in race two as well, and he lowered the lap record again. Beswick was second, Bussey pipped Lachlan Evenett to third and seven drivers beat the previous day’s new laptime benchmark.

Photo: Australian FFord

The pace was slower in race three, as Loiaconi completed the triple to leave the circuit third in the standings.

A Supercars Championship support slot at Symmons Plains Raceway was next up, and Williams denied Bussey pole by 0.0652s on the sub-minute lap. He could only convert that into a third place in race one, behind Bussey and Loiacono, and Beswick squeezed past Bussey to win race two as Williams rounded out the podium again.

There was drama in race three as both Loiacono and Williams retired, a third of the race ran behind the safety car, Beswick finished a distant 12th and Bussey led home Joe Fawcett for victory to overtake Loiaconi in the title fight.

The field combined with the Victorian FFord championship a week later at Sandown, and Sellars was the benchmark man after taking pole by 0.1323s over Beswick. He held on to win race one by 0.1318s, as Bussey set a new lap record down in 10th place, then had a marginally larger winning margin race two before beating Maynes-Rutty by a tiny 0.0524s in race three as a second covered the top six.

Beswick, in fifth, now had one hand on the title and headed to the Phillip Island finale – another Victorian FFord round – with no need to push hard. While he spent a weekend in the midfield, Loiacono claimed another pole and the wins went to Williams and Bussey, who ended the year as Beswick’s closest rivals in the points.

Williams led home Loiacono in race one, denied Maynes-Rutty by 0.0705s in a photo finish to race two, and Bussey took the final race to pip Beswick to the Victorian FFord title by two points. Richard Davison was champion of the state’s Kent class for a second successive year.

Beswick and John Pereira were NSW FFord’s Duratec and Kent class champions, and Tom Chapman comfortably took the Western Australian FFord title. In November the Australian FF1600 Nationals took place at Morgan Park, and the heats were Queensland FFord’s final races. Tim Hamilton and Loiacono had already been won the state’s Kent and Duratec titles.

Photo: Queensland FFord

Brock Brewer brilliantly drove his reprofiled Van Diemen RF93 chassis (in a funky livery) to pole by a sizeable 0.412s in qualifying, with Loiacono and Chapman in second and third. A second covered the top seven, and 2019 Australian FF1600 champion Tim Hamilton was a lonely eighth. The top two diced hard in a very hot heat one, which had an early safety car period, with Brewer “driving the car off the limits” to hold off Loiacono by 0.082s. Chapman was third, feeling like he was languishing against the top two and finishing just ahead of Todd Vince and Marc Redman who were split by 0.056s.

Chapman made tweaks to his car for heat two but again finished third, five seconds behind Vince who navigated his way past a spinner and an oil spill en route to victory in a Van Diemen RF94. Loiacono was second, and Brewer was isolated in fourth.

The next day it was Loiacono who was victorious in heat three, putting him on pole for the main race. He escaped the battle for second, which had four contenders. Chapman came home in second, ahead of Brewer, Vince and Redman.

The 15-lap race Australian FF1600 Nationals final started in chaotic fashion, with red flags waving on the opening lap after Brewer, AJ Gealy and Loiacono collided before turn one and retired. Chapman led the field on a safety car restart, then his main rival went off too and he romped away to win by 10s. Redman was second, and category rookie Matt Dicinoski was a very distant third as his poor launch actually helped him avoid the start chaos.

New Zealand

Blake Knowles won the national title in 2024, which Formula Scout reported on, and there was also championships for New Zealand’s two islands. In South Island FFord, there was a five-round schedule with three rounds taking place in 2023 and two last year. Ruapuna hosted round one, and Sebastian Manson took pole by just 0.089s over William Neale.

They were also close in race one, as Manson won by 0.198s. Dylan Petch was three seconds back, leading home Knowles.

Photo: Terry Marshal/Euan Cameron Photography

Neale had pole for race two, but Manson passed him on lap one to win again and Knowles overtook him too on the last lap to be second. Race three featured more drama at the front, with Manson and Neale trading the lead twice in the early laps before Neale got engaged in battle with Knowles. Neale then plummeted down the order and later retired, and Knowles was chasing Petch for second before he retired too. Petch got within 0.114s of winner Manson by race-end, and Caleb Byers was also within a second of victory.

Neale had an opportunity for redemption in the Wigram Cup, but Manson passed him on lap one and pulled away for his fourth win of the weekend. Petch beat Neale to second in a photo finish.

Manson’s winning form continued at Timaru, taking pole and leading lights-to-flag in races one and two but his combined winning margin over Neal coming to less than a second. He retired at the start of race three, which Neale won by just 0.033s over Petch as both passed Knowles on the final lap. The photo finish included the top five, who were split by 0.385s.

Small gaps were present again at Teretonga, as Manson claimed a third pole by 0.008s. Byers was second, and Izaak Fletcher was 0.157s off pole in third. That converted into 0.193s and 0.783s gaps in race one, although Fletcher then lost his podium to a 10s penalty for jumping the start. Manson raised his game in race two, setting a new lap record en route to a 6.407s win. Races three and four were similar, as Manson brought his victory tally up to 10 and Byers finished second twice.

The returns to Timaru and Ruapuna doubled up as New Zealand FFord’s first two rounds, and Manson won three races out of four at the former then at the latter they shared the wins again but collided. That had little impact on SI FFord’s title fight, with Manson crowned by 126 points. Byers was runner-up, 24 points ahead of Petch, and Fletcher was fourth.

North Island FF1600 also had a 2023-24 schedule, and the action began at Hampton Downs. Zach Blincoe was fastest in qualifying, but Dylan Grant was imperious in race one and also won race two. Blincoe finished a very distant fifth in race three as Grant won again by 9.418s over Blake Dowdall.

Photo: Geoff Ridder

Round two was at Taupo, and Manson pipped Grant to pole. Race one comfortably went Manson’s way, with Neale and Knowles filling the podium. It was the same order but even bigger gaps in race two, and that trend continued in race three.

A week later in December they were at Manfeild, and Grant still led the points. Knowles topped qualifying this time, narrowly beating Blincoe. They collided while disputing the race one lead and Blincoe retired, with Grant coming through from fifth to win. Race two was decided by 0.098s in Blincoe’s favour ahead of Knowles and Mason Potter as Grant retired, then rain hit the next day and Blincoe won again in a slippery race three. He was chased all the way by Grant, with Dowdall further back in third. Knowles passed the battling Blincoe and Neale to win race four, as fourth for Grant just kept him atop the standings.

There was a long break before round four at Hampton Downs in late March 2024, and Blincoe dominated a wet qualifying but left the circuit with only one podium. In race one Fletcher made his way into the lead before retiring, then Dowdall held off Blincoe by a miniscule 0.034s. Grant was 0.666s behind in third, and there was a big gap to Potter in fourth.

Potter held the lead longest in race two, but Manson was able to charge up from 10th to deny him victory by 0.12s. Dowdall made a last-lap pass to take third from Grant. Manson and Potter duelled again in race three until the former broke the tow and built a gap up front. Eighth place for Grant meant third-place finisher Dowdall took the championship lead by a point.

The next rounds at Manfeild and Taupo doubled up as the second half of NZ FFord’s season, with Manson and Potter taking two wins apiece at Manfeild. That put Potter in the NI FFord lead by five points over Grant, with Dowdall a further 30 behind.

Manson, aiming for the national title, took pole for the finale. Wet weather hit for race one, and Manson led home Grant. Neale and Knowles were further back in third and fourth, and Potter was seventh after he had a penalty removed. The sun was out for the title-deciding day, and Knowles claimed race two. Manson was second, surviving contact with Neale who bounced back to win the finale by 0.178s after another squabble with Manson. Knowles was third, and Grant was crowned NI FFord champion for a second successive season in fourth.

The post Revisiting the international Formula Ford action of 2024 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Ida Wood

The end-of-year classics once again attracted big names, but the national and regional series in Formula Ford in its various forms also had strong grids this year. Here’s what happened across the world

United Kingdom

This year turned out to mark the end of BRSCC National Formula Ford 1600. For two years there have been two national series in England for modern cars, with United FFord being the rival offering from James Beckett Motorsport and run under MotorSport Vision Racing’s watch. From 2024 onwards only the latter series will continue to run.

This big change was shared with and then reported by Autosport in August, with the National FF1600 teams then putting out a statement once the news became public:

FF1600 National are excited to share the news that National FFord will have a new home next year after the BRSCC announced a collaboration with MSVR. This shake up will see the professional teams move from the National championship over to the United FFord championship, where the co-ordinator James Beckett is working on building an exciting and enticing calendar for the 2024 season.

 

As professional teams within FFord, we are hugely excited by the move and want to assure all our current and future customers that our usual expert service, alongside the brilliant and entertaining racing that FFord offers, will remain at the forefront and we will continue to bring you all the action from each of the rounds next year. We all truly believe in and recognise the importance of FFord within the landscape of UK motorsport and are all dedicated to seeing the passion remain and the grids grow in the future.

United FFord later announced its 2024 calendar, which retains an England-only schedule (while National FF1600 has had a history of racing in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) but does include a first ever trip to former World Rallycross Championship venue Lydden Hill.

Photo: Ida Wood

What happened at race meetings this year gave just as much to talk about as what was happening behind the scenes, and in National FF1600 it was Team Dolan’s Jordan Kelly who won the title. Kelly won seven races, and really hit form in the second half of the season as he went unbeaten at Knockhill and Silverstone. His other victories came at Snetterton, Kirkistown and Brands Hatch.

Oldfield Motorsport’s Lucas Romanek was his title rival and led the points for much of the campaign, winning the Oulton Park season opener then taking further victories at Snetterton, Donington Park and Kirkistown. He was disqualified from the results of the entire last round at Silverstone due to an incident that occurred once he and Kelly got out of their cars.

Ammonite Motorsport’s Elliott Budzinski – a Team USA scholar in 2022 – came third in the standings with one win, and Romanek’s team-mate Brandon McCaughan was fourth with two victories. Chris Middlehurst did little more than half of the season but by winning three races the FF1600 veteran was able to come sixth in the standings.

Another name to watch though the year was Kevin Mills Racing’s Lucas Blakeley. The Esports star made an impressive transition to real-world racing, and even won a race at Brands Hatch.

Romanek won the United FFord title by a huge margin, scoring 65 points while runner-up Jacob Tofts only scored 25 and no other drivers scored more than 18. One reason for Romanek’s domination was that he did most of the rounds, unlike almost everyone else, and won 10 of the 14 races. Middlehurst (Dolan) won the season-opening race at Donington Park, while Tofts (Souley Motorsport) took his only win in a depleted field of six at Oulton Park. The next round at Brands Hatch however was used by 28 drivers as a warm-up to the FFord Festival, and Rory Smith (B-M Racing) won both races.

Brands also hosted the season finale, where Romanek lapped everyone up to and including fifth place as he took two wins.

After almost a decade racing in Castle Combe FF1600, TM Racing’s Felix Fisher finally won the title in 2022 after a season-long battle with Luke Cooper. Their lengthy rivalry continued into 2023, and Fisher came out on top for a second time.

Photo: Craig Woollard

He started the season as he meant to go on by winning from pole, and he went on to win the next three races. Cooper struck back with a double in round three, then in July the winning streak of Cooper and Fisher families dating back to 2021 was ended by Romanek who won a damp race. The rain got worse later in the day when race two was held, and Fisher won again.

Romanek got another victory a month later in dramatic fashion. Fisher beat Cooper to pole by 0.61s, but Cooper got ahead on lap one of race one and resisted Fisher until they clashed going over Avon Rise on lap eight in a racing incident. First place was inherited by Romanek. In race two Fisher bounced back to take his sixth win of the year, which meant even with Cooper winning both races of the final round he was able to take the title by four points.

Another driver who had a successful title defence was Team DDR’s David McCullough, who became Northern Irish FF1600 champion for a fourth time. Alan Davidson took his far older car, a Mondiale M89, to a win and second in the standings, while Kelly and Jordan Dempsey also picked up victories. Dempsey’s win earned him the Martin Donnelly Trophy.

You can click the hyperlinked text to read about all of the drama at this year’s FFord Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy.

United States

The SCCA National Runoffs in October featured races for Formula Continental (which uses FF2000 cars) and Formula F (where 1600c engines from Ford and Honda are used). Nolan Allaer was the FContinental winner for the second year in a row, beating his dad Robert to victory by 5.389s, and also was the FF winner at Virginia International Raceway but only by 0.051s over Jonathan Kotyk in a photo finish.

The F1600 Championship Series lacks the second ‘F’ because of its use of Honda rather than Ford engines, but is the USA’s answer to National FF1600. Porter Aiken claimed the 2023 crown with a campaign that featured seven wins, a pole and five fastest laps.

Photo: Formula Race Promotions

His title-winning margin was 94 points, with Team USA scholars Ayrton Houk and Jack Sullivan coming second and third in the standings. All three headed to the FFord Festival afterwards, with Aiken replacing Romanek in Oldfield’s line-up while the Team USA duo joined Ammonite Motorsport.

Canada

Winning the equivalent Team Canada Scholarship was 16-year-old Logan Pacza, who dominated Ontario’s Toyo Tires F1600 series. He became champion despite missing the last round, having topped qualifying at all five rounds he contested and won 12 out of 15 races. He finished second in two others, with only one start in the series not leading to a podium.

Australia

Australia has its national championship, but the huge country also has state series that continue to be the starting point for drivers whose racing careers take them across the world and into different categories.

Matthew Hillyer became Australian FFord champion by a huge 90-point margin with a total score of 352 points and 13 wins. He won all three races at Winton Motor Raceway and at Phillip Island, with double wins at three other tracks.

Jake Santalucia was championship runner-up with four wins, and Zak Lobko was third with two wins. The only other drivers to win were Xavier Kokai, who is moving up to USF2000 in America this year with Velocity Racing Development, and Harrison Sellars. Kokai’s victory came at Symmons Plains Raceway, a track on the island state of Tasmania which has only hosted the championship twice in the last decade.

43 years on from winning the Australian F2 title, Richard Davison won the Victorian FFord championship’s Kent class, while Joe Fawcett topped the points table for drivers in cars with Ford’s Duratec engines. Santalucia was runner-up again, this time by just 21 points and after missing the opening round.

Photo: FFord Australia

In New South Wales, Lobko and Kaleb Belak both scored 188 points in the championship’s Fiesta class and both went unbeaten in the two rounds they did each. There were more drivers using Kent engines and they competed for the John Smith Trophy. Thomas Kalamakis took top honours with five wins from 12 races and Will Liston, driving a car from 1986, came second in the standings.

In the combined Duratec and Kent classification of the Queensland championship, Liam Loiacono became champion by taking pole and winning the final four races of the season at Morgan Park Raceway. He had started the campaign by finishing 14th, 16th and 11th in the opening three races. One win was enough to put Oliver Loiacono second in the points, and Jeremy Mattea was the top Kent driver in fourth.

The Western Australia title was won by 16-year-old Logan Eveleigh, with Marc Redman pipping Brock Brewer to the runner-up spot by one point. Motorsport journalist Andrew van Leeuwen came 14th in the standings.

New Zealand

Alex Crosbie became New Zealand FFord champion for a second successive year in the final round of the season at Ruapuna after several duels with title rival Blake Knowles.

The title-deciding 12-lap finale counted for double points, and William Neale started on pole with points leader Crosbie in fourth. Knowles led the early running, then several laps of trading first place with Neale enabled Crosbie to close in on and then pass both to win the race and the title. Second place for Knowles earned him the 2022-23 South Island FF1600 crown and second in the national standings.

The Tony Quinn Foundation has organised for this year’s champion to get prize tests in Formula Regional Oceania’s car and in a Formula 4 car in the USA. The latter “will be with a team that has a close association with an IndyCar team”. The champion of the Class 2 title in the 2023-24 North Island FFord season will get a prize test in an old Toyota Racing Series car.

Photo: Euan Cameron

It took until the final lap of the final race to determine who would win the 2022-23 title, with Dylan Grant leaving Manfeild as champion. He entered the final round with a 33-point lead, equivalent to a 10th place finish, with Blake Dowdall and Mason Potter chasing him.

Dowdall set the pace in qualifying, with Grant third fastest but not taking long to get into the lead of the weekend’s first race. Once ahead he could not be passed, and he took victory ahead of Zac Blincoe and Dowdall.

Blincoe won races two and three, the latter awarding double points, with Dowdall beating Grant to second place in both. Grant had a difficult job holding on to third on the season’s final lap though, with championship chairman Shane Drake an Potter pressuring him hard. But he held on, with third place earning him the title and a test in a TRS car.

Europe

Matthieu Midy was the benchmark driver of Trophee FFord Kent in France, beating Arnaud Dousse to the title by over 100 points. But Dousse did finish 11 seconds clear of Midy to win the European FFord Festival final at Circuit de Croix-en-Ternois, and in Midy’s absence at the Historic French Grand Prix pre-season Dousse won race one and was pipped to race two victory by just 0.045s by Gislain Genecand.

Portugal’s vaguely named Single Seater Series attracted very few FFord entries in 2023, although Al Capone (not to be confused with the dead American gangster) competed in the Formula Renault class. Fernando Mayer Gaspar was the top FFord driver by 44s in race one at the Estoril Top Motor Show, then beat Capone to overall victory in race two by 17s.

South Africa

The South African Formula 1600 season began at Kyalami in February, and Troy Dolinschek comfortably set the pace in qualifying. But his engine cover came loose at the start of race one and Gerard Geldenhuys swept by into the lead.

Photo: Colin Windell Images / Motorsport Media

Although Dolinschek had the pace to run in second, he was required to pit due to the flapping bodywork and Nicholas Van Weely became Geldenhuys’ closest rival. But he didn’t have the pace to battle for victory, and Geldenhuys pulled away to win. Dolinschek finished 12th, but bounced back to win race two.

Killarney hosted round two a month later, and Antwan Geldenhuys took pole on a damp track. Dolinschek could only qualify 11th, but he came through to win race one. Geldenhuys spun away his pole advantage on the opening lap, while Dolinschek climbed six spots, and by lap three he was in a podium position. It wasn’t long before he was leading, passing Jason Coetzee who had a 30s penalty for jumping the start.

Race two went to Gerard Geldenhuys, while Dolinschek’s recovery drive this time brought him up to third.

Next up was Zwartkops in May, and Dolinschek took pole and both victories to move into the championship lead. The on-track battles tightened up in round four at Aldo Scribante, with Antwan Geldenhuys, Coetzee, Dolinschek, Alex Vos and Van Weely split by just 0.14s at the top of the times in qualifying.

Dolinschek rose to the front to win twice, but only by 0.547s in race one and 0.986s in race two. Coetzee finished second in both to become Dolinschek’s closest championship rival. After losing the lead on the opening lap of race one, Geldenhuys fell down the order and eventually retired when he collided with Vos.

Round five was at former Formula 1 venue East London, and Dolinschek very almost added another two victories to his tally. He did win race one, after a dramatic late pass on poleman Siyabonga Mankonkwana that cost him several places, but lost race two in a photo finish. Van Weely beat him to the chequered flag by 0.088s.

The field then returned to Killarney, and the close action continued. Dolinschek beat Gerard Geldenhuys to pole by 0.093s, and grew that gap to two seconds to win race one and the title, then led home Coetzee in race two.

Photo: Investchem Formula 1600

There was still lots up for grabs in the final round at Zwartkops, and it was Vos who edged Coetzee to pole in qualifying. Championship runner-up Coetzee finally took his first win in race one and by just 0.203s, with Mankonkwana and Vos completing the podium, while in race two Mankonkwana also became a first-time winner.

South African F1600’s 2022 champion Josh le Roux moved into the Global Touring Car Championship last year, and Dolinschek got a prize GTC test by winning the 2023 F1600 title.

The post Reviewing 2023’s international FFord action, and what to expect in 2024 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: Ida Wood

The end-of-year classics once again attracted big names, but the national and regional series in Formula Ford in its various forms also had strong grids this year. Here’s what happened across the world

United Kingdom

Having raced in Formula Ford since his single-seater debut in 2016, Jordan Dempsey finally won the BRSCC National FF1600 title this year. The 2018 Chinese Formula 4 champion and former Formula Regional Asian Championship racer joined Kevin Mills Racing – who he dominated the 2019 Walter Hayes Trophy with – to claim the title with two races to spare.

The season began at Silverstone, unusually on the International layout, and Dempsey claimed pole in a “hectic” qualifying session. He converted it into victory in a dramatic opening race, and doubled up in a similarly action-packed race two.

At Knockhill he also earned pole, but this time he didn’t win. Ammonite Motorsport’s Colin Queen hassled him through race one until making a last-lap pass to win the David Leslie Trophy, then in race two they collided. That promoted B-M Racing’s Jamie Sharp into the lead, but contact with Oldfield Motorsport’s Lucas Romanek then sent him spinning and Romanek won.

Down in 15th place, SC Motorsport’s Drew Stewart was the surprise claimant of the points for Scottish FFord in race one as the top finisher entered to score. Graham Brunton Racing’s Michael Gray claimed maximum points for 10th place in race two.

The two championships ran together again at Croft (in North Yorkshire), where Romanek claimed pole. He led the first race until another collision with Sharp sent him into a scary barrel roll and then the barriers, where his car caught fire.

Thankfully he escaped with just a hurt hand and as the race was red flagged the result was taken back a lap. Romanek wasn’t running at the time of the red flags so couldn’t be classified as winner, so victory went to Sharp. But an investigation of the crash led to Sharp being disqualified, which was appealed, and six hours on the final result showed Dempsey as winner.

That put Dempsey on pole for race two, which he won, then Queen came through to win the reversed-grid race three with a last-lap dive on Sharp.

Gray was one of four drivers eligible for Scottish points and moved into the championship lead by topping that quartet with eighth, ninth and 11th place finishes.

National FF1600 then headed to Wales. Sharp pipped Dempsey to pole at Anglesey, and Romanek joined their victory battle in race one. After multiple passes, it went Romanek’s way with a final lap move. Sharp struck back to win race two, then Romanek won again in the reversed-grid race.

Queen claimed the championship lead that weekend, but Dempsey moved back ahead by Snetterton by almost taking a triple win. He dominated qualifying and race one, resisted a race-long Romanek challenge in race two and a final corner mistake meant his rival beat him by just 0.028 seconds in race three.

It was a not too dissimilar weekend on Brands Hatch’s Indy layout, with Dempsey unrivalled in qualifying, winning two races then being the reversed-grid race runner-up. This time he finished behind Ammonite’s Shawn Rashid.

The title looked set to go to Dempsey before the cars even turned up to Donington Park for the final round, and the 22-year-old Irishman delivered in a dramatic fashion. He beat Queen to pole by 0.1s, but damaged his car in an incident with returning KMR team-mate Michael Eastwell, then led race one until an off. After that he ran wide, later pitted and ended up finishing 34th, and Queen took the points for victory as Team Dolan’s race winner Niall Murray wasn’t entered to score.

Dempsey still emerged from the race as champion, and the next day Queen secured the runner-up spot by coming out on top in a battle for race two victory with Murray and Rashid, and finishing second to other team-mate Andre Lafond in race three.

A lack of interest meant all of Scottish FFord’s rounds at Knockhill were cancelled after the trip to Croft, and meant Gray [pictured above] was crowned champion. The other national championship in Britain this year was United FFord, which combined all of the Champion of Brands races and other James Beckett-organised events to make a series that raced across England.

It began in chaotic style at Donington. James Hadfield took pole for the series’ inaugural pole, but lost the lead to Matt Rivett before a half-hour red flag stoppage. The race restarted for one lap before a safety car period, which Rivett overtook at the restart before retiring with no power less than a minute later. Chris Acton then led, but Hadfield passed to win.

Fluid on track shortened race two, which Hadfield won on the road having led, gone off the track then regained his lost places all while behind the safety car. The result went back a lap due to red flags, meaning Rivett won from 14th on the grid.

Ammonite joined round two on Silverstone’s National layout, and Lafond edged Queen to pole by 0.019s. The races were just as close, as Queen beat Romanek by 0.044s and 0.051s in the two races, the first victory earning him the Jim Walsh Trophy.

Dolan’s Morgan Quinn led home team-mate Ben Cochran to win both Cadwell Park races, with Rivett running third in race two until “the stub axle sheared in the front left allowing the wheel to [come off] into the spectator area, very lucky no one hurt and that it didn’t happen at a high-speed area”.

Queen and Romanek resumed battle at Snetterton. Romanek won the first bout, and they swapped places a couple of times in the second bout before an incident put both out. A safety car period and red flags followed, and Lafond won.

The next three rounds were all CoB events, and Dempsey dominated the first to win the Peter Rogers Trophy.

B-M’s Rory Smith did the double in the next one. He took pole but dropped to at the start of race one before a roll for FF1600 debutant Drew Cameron led to it being stopped. Smith mastered the restarted encounter to win.

Championship leader Queen missed the final round, which attracted 2021 National FF1600 title contender Alex Walker back to the category. Walker held off Romanek to win his first race back, but he had a 10s penalty due to his clutch going early at the start so was dropped to third.

In the finale, the Martin Down Trophy, Romanek just held off Walker to win. He missed out on the title though by one point to Quinn, who finished second and third.

After almost a decade racing in the series, TM Racing’s Felix Fisher finally won the Castle Combe FF1600 title in 2022 after a season-long battle with Luke Cooper.

Over the Irish Sea, Team DDR’s David McCullough claimed a third Northern Irish FF1600 title and won the Martin Donnelly Trophy for a fourth time by 1.258s over brother Ivor.

You can click the hyperlinked text to read about all of the drama at this year’s FFord Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy.

United States

The winged F2000 Championship Series has a mix of Ford and Mazda engines, and varying popularity. This year’s season opener at Carolina Motorsports Park attracted just six cars. Austin Hill won race one by 41.856s, and race two by 5.896s.

The grid more than doubled in size at Mid-Ohio, where Michael Varacins won race one. Hill ended up on pole for race two by 4.920s when qualifying was red-flagged, but it was Canadian rookie JC Trahan who won the race.

There was half the number of entries again for Barber Motorsports Park. Trahan edged Ayrton Houk to win race one, and the positions were reversed for race two.

Photo: FRP

Nathan Byrd beat Hill to race one pole at Pittsburgh by 0.575s, but they were only split by 0.196s in the fight for victory. Amazingly Greg Peluso and Mike Pepitone finished joint eighth after a video review and timing analysis determined they finished the race with an identical time when measured down to a thousandth of a second. Trahan dominated qualifying for race two, and duly won.

He achieved the double at Autobahn Country Club, winning race two by 37.549s. Next up was Summit Point, where several F1000 cars joined the battles at the front. Tim Minor was the top F2000 runner in race one down in fifth, and was fourth in race two.

Title rivals Trahan and Hill shared the front on the return to Pittsburgh for the final round, and Trahan turned that pole into a comfortable win. He then took pole again for the very last race, and secured the title with a huge 33.108s win.

Over in the west of the USA, Troy Shooter claimed the Pacific F2000 title with three race wins, while in the SCCA National Runoff, Nolan Allaer was the Formula Continental winner.

The F1600 Championship Series lacks the second ‘F’ because it uses Honda rather than Ford engines, but is in effect the USA’s answer to National FF1600. This year 17-year-old Thomas Schrage was champion with nine wins, and he also won the Team USA Scholarship to race in the UK where he claimed a Castle Combe series pole and came fourth in the FFord Festival.

Ayrton Houk was runner-up to him in America, and won five races. He will step up to F2000 in 2023. Jonathan Kotyk won the Formula F race in the National Runoffs.

Canada

The Ontario-based Toyo Tires F1600, another Honda-powered series, went to Britain West Motorsport’s Jake Cowden in 2022.

Photo: Toyo Tires F1600

Cowden did so well he won the Team Canada Scholarship, having also come second in the Quebec-based Formula Tour 1600. In that time, he was denied a double win in dramatic circumstances at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal following a penalty, and won all three races at GP de Trois-Rivieres.

Team USA scholar William Ferguson was runner-up in Ontario, and he came to the fore in Cowden’s absense during round two at Mosport, taking pole and winning all three races.

Cowden returned for round three at the same track, but it was GB4 race-winner Megan Gilkes who would take pole and win race three, while Connor Clubine won race one.

At the lengthy Calabogie Motorsports Park, Cowden took pole but lost race one to Ferguson by 0.2s, with Connor Wagland and Clubine also within a second of victory. Ferguson beat Cowden in race two, but the latter was back on top in race three.

A return to Mosport had a different outcome, with Clubine taking pole by 1.229s over Ferguson and Cowden 0.107s further back in fourth. He came through to win though, with he and Ferguson passing Clubine on the last lap.

In race two he took it from Clubine on the penultimate lap, and Clubine only held on to second place over Ferguson by 0.001s. Cowden made it three from three the next day.

Clubine took pole by 0.077s at the final round, also at Mosport, and this time he was able to hold off Cowden to win, albeit helped by a red flag finish after five laps.

Ferguson retired in race two, which Cowden won by almost 10s over Clubine, and then finished just 0.159s behind victor Cowden in the season-ending race. Had Ferguson got by, it would have been him who was champion rather than Cowden.

Photo: Australian FFord

Australia

Valentino Astuti won the Australian FFord title, but had points leader James Piszcyk not skipped the final round to do a British F4 test then the title could have been his.

Jordan Sinni was the early championship leader as he claimed pole then finished first and second in the first two points-scoring races of the year at Sandown Raceway. The very first race was considered non-championship encounter for the top Duratec class due to the majority of the race running behind the safety car. Richard Davison, in 22nd place, was the top driver in the class for those using older Kent engines.

Sinni’s points-earning win was taken by half a second, with Astuti retiring on lap two. In race three, Cody Donald won.

Astuti showed his title credentials at Phillip Island, taking pole by 0.0121s and winning race one by 0.1714s. He battled hard with Piszcyk to win the next two races, and victory in race three came by 0.0048s.

The camoeing Tim Blanchard, an occassional Australian Supercars racer, was the star of the Winton Motor Raceway round as he romped to pole and three wins, then Piszcyk did the triple at Sydney Motorsport Park.

After going to Morgan Park Raceway, the penultimate round was held at The Bend Motorsport Park. Winston Smith took pole before the weather took a turn for the worse, with strong gales hitting race one which was won by Piszcyk.

The wind picked up to reported speeds of 46mph for race two, and Smith held off Astuti for his first win. A penalty for overtaking under yellow flags dropped Piszcyk from fourth to 14th, and his points gap was diminished to 11 points in race three as he finished 12th while Astuti beat Smith to win.

Photo: Australian FFord

Piszcyk’s absence from the Sydney finale turned the title fight into a Astuti versus Cameron McLeod affair, with Astusti assuming the points lead by finishing third in race one behind Ryder Quinn and Zak Lobko. McLeod had a qualifying incident that copped him a penalty and he had to work his way up from 16th to fifth, a position taken by just 0.0303s.

It was the same podium trio in race two, then Astuti wrapped up the title in the finale with victory. Quinn had led the way until a racing incident dropped him down the order, with Lobko and then Astuti moving ahead. McLeod meanwhile made another charge up to fifth, which wasn’t enough to beat Piszcyk to second in the points. Mitch Gatenby was also crowned champion in the Kent class during the weekend.

Davison was Kent champion in the Victorian state series, with Matt Hillyer comfortably winning the Duratec class.

Piszcyk still put a title to his name by winning the New South Wales championship, with Dan Holihan the Kent champion.

In Western Australia, Elliott Cleary was crowned Gold Star champion with a sweep of end-of-season wins, while motorsport journalist Andrew van Leeuwen took the Silver Star title.

New Zealand

The New Zealand FFord championship was slimmed down to two rounds, one on the North Island at Taupo in March and another on the South Island at Ruapuna in May.

Liam Sceats dominated the opener, wining all four races and the Ron Frost Memorial Trophy, but at round two he only got one podium and lost the title in a final race showdown against Alex Crosbie who said he “didn’t expect to be competing” for the crown.

Photo: Alex Crosbie

Zac Christensen won three of that weekend’s races, including the Morrie Smith Memorial Trophy, to cap off a strong start to the year on the track as he won the 2021-22 South Island FFord title. He won four races over the course of the six-round season, with title rival Matthew Hamilton winning five races. Crosbie finished third in the standings, and youngster Louis Sharp was an impressive fifth despite missing two rounds. He won five races before moving to British Formula 4.

On the North Island, Bree Morris claimed a historic title in the most dramatic fashion. After four rounds, Hayden Bakkerus led by 117 points, and with just three races at Taupo to go. But Morris was amazingly able to cut the gap.

Sceats took pole at Taupo, ahead of Seb Manson and Morris, and he took a controlling win in race one while intense action took place behind. Morris was third, and her title chances were boosted when Bakkerus retired with an engine fire.

After switching to a different car, Bakkerus had issues again in race two and Morris closed in more with third place behind Sceats and Manson again. The same result in the double-points final race was enough to draw Morris level on points with Bakkerus, who finished sixth, and so the title was determined on victory countback in Morris’s favour.

France

FF1800 runner Maxime Lebreton comfortably won the first two Trophee FFord Kent & Zetec races of the year at Magny-Cours, but only two Zetec drivers turned up to Ledenon and FF1600 racer Hugo Carini was triumphant twice.

Eric Heudicourt and Lebreton put Zetec back ahead at Dijon, then all but one of those entries skipped the next round at Val de Vienne. FF1600 drivers therefore returned to the fore, and the wins where shared between series long-timer Gislain Genecand and Carini. It was a similar story at the tricky Charade circuit, where Arnaud Dousse went from third to first on lap one of the opening race and just held off Carini to win, with Carini passing him to win race two.

Photo: Trophee FFord Kent

That all but secured him the FF1600 title ahead of the final round at Albi, where Lebreton wrapped up his FF1800 crown by winning the first race. Matthieu Midy won the season finale, as the LMP2-aspiring Carini became a two-time FFord champion. Many of the drivers also did the Historic French GP at Paul Ricard, where Dousse just held on to win both FF1600 races.

Heudicourt also raced in the Germany-based FFord Racing series, coming third in the Zetec standings behind Pascal Monbaron and Henry Clausnitzer. Monbaron was seventh in the FF1600 classification too, which Klaus-Dieter Haeckel won.

Portugal

The vaguely named Single Seater Series shared its FFord grids with winged cars in 2021, then adopted a full Formula Libre format for 2022. The FFord entry diminished somewhat, with Pedro Rodrigues and Rui Silva winning the Zetec class at Estoril. Fernando Mayer Gaspar won both Algarve races by other half a minute, and was just as dominant on the return to Estoril.

Vasco Sampaio was the top FF1600 driver there, and on the final round at the same track he claimed FFord victory by nearly 10s over his father Vitor who topped the FF1800 class. Andre Pardal won the last race of the year, and second place for Silva secured him the class title over Rodrigues.

South Africa

Nobody was expecting brothers Gerard and Antwan Geldenhuys to be the stars of the South African F1600 opener at Killarney, but they managed to upset the expected order from the off.

Gerard claimed pole for the first race of 2022, and turned it into victory ahead of his brother as both earned their first podium finishes. That win didn’t look secure even with the qualifying performance, and title favourite Josh le Roux got into the lead early on. He led until a clash with GB4-bound Jarrod Waberski, leading to the Geldenhuys brothers returning to the top two spots. Le Roux found race two redemption with a lights-to-flag drive ahead of Antwan Geldenhuys.

Photo: Motorsport Media

At Zwartkops there was the same race winners, with pole this time going to le Roux. He had Geldenhuys’ challenge covered in race one, but his rival got a faster start in race two and was able to take the lead. While Geldenhuys went on to take a second win ahead of Alex Vos, le Roux had an off and finished seventh.

Vos had a breakthrough weekend at Aldo Scribante, edging le Roux to pole by 0.003s and then holding him for his maiden win. Le Roux beat rival Geldenhuys to win race two and take the points lead.

Le Roux earned pole by just 0.034s at Red Star Raceway, this time ahead of Gerard Geldenhuys. But when his car was found to be underweight, le Roux was required to start both races from the back.

Antwan Geldenhuys got involved in an opening lap clash in race one and it left his brother in the lead ahead of Vos. He finished 11th, his brother controlled the pace to take his first win, and le Roux charged up to third.

It took less fighting for Geldenhuys to get the lead in race two and claim a double win, with Vos in second place again. This time le Roux got up to fourth, but crucially got ahead of Antwan Geldenhuys. The perfect score meant it was actually the other Geldenhuys who was now his closest title rival.

Former Formula 1 venue East London held round five, and there was another super close qualifying session with Le Roux edging Antwan Geldenhuys, and the condense nature of the field continued into the race where there was not enough room for everyone to fight for position. Gerhard Geldenhuys and le Roux both had lap one incidents, although the former still emerged as leader, while his brother copped a 30s penalty for jumping the start. He made it up to third though before a collision with the two ahead, handing rookie Troy Dolinschek a surprise lead.

The race was then stopped due to a crash for Ewan Holtzhausen, who rolled several times and was hospitalised with injuries. On the restart it was hectic again, with Vos spinning and Gerard Geldenhuys winning ahead of Dolinschek.

Photo: Motorsport Media

Le Roux snatched the lead at the start of race two and held it until the chequered flag, ensuring he retained his points lead.

Dolinschek and Gerard Geldenhuys squabbled race-long for second place, with multiple overtakes and it eventually being settled in Dolinschek’s favour with a last lap move.

Le Roux was on pole again when the series returned to Killarney, although it was Dolinschek who looked fastest before a driveline issue struck. Race one comfortably went le Roux’s way, while Dolinschek secured second with a multi-car pass.

Dolinschek was hungry for victory, and it came in race two. Le Roux and Gerard Geldenhuys had a few moments of contact early on, but were unrivalled up front until the second half when Dolinschek came through to take the lead.

Four points seperated le Roux and Geldenhuys going into the Zwartkops finale, with Dolinschek now a title outsider.

Le Roux won the first fight, edging Dolinschek to pole by 0.15s and with Geldenhuys down in fifth place on the grid. Nobody was taking risks, and so le Roux then eased to his sixth win of 2022 ahead of Dolinschek and Geldenhuys.

It was the opposite in the title-deciding race, as le Roux and Dolinschek crashed at the start. Geldenhuys got into the lead ahead of his brother, with le Roux in third while Dolinschek span down the order. Although Geldenhuys then took victory, he couldn’t prevent le Roux from becoming champion as he finished second once Antwan Geldenhuys was penalised for jumping the start. The penalised Geldenhuys also lost third in the standings to Dolinschek.

The post 2022 International Formula Ford season review appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Heroes of FF1600 / Ian Simpson

It’s 30 years since one of sport’s most iconic line-ups was formed: Manchester United’s “Class of ’92”. That year also had the last crop of FF1600 graduates before FF1800 took over the FFord scene. And there were some big names

Since the death of Formula 3 as a contemporary single-seater category in August 2021, Formula Ford 1600 is now the undisputed longest-lasting category in junior single-seater racing.

F3’s end officially came in 2021, when the FIA decided Formula Regional series and the BRDC British F3 championship could no longer use the ‘F3’ moniker and the Regional F3 cars were to be homologated as FRegional cars thereon.

BRDC British F3, which had used a heavily upgraded non-FIA Formula 4 chassis as the basis of its car, changed name to GB3 and introduced a new car for 2022 that featured several design influences from F3 cars of old. At the end of this year, the Australian F3 championship came to a demise although that has run for previous-generation cars since its creation in 1999.

There is a hope that one day F3 will come back as a category, with multiple series around the world that feature different chassis and engine combinations. And fans can look to FF1600 as a model of hope as that is also a category that once dominated the world, eventually came to an end, then made a successful return years later.

The first FFord race took place in 1967, and as the wingless category grew in popularity it then gave birth to other Ford-powered single-seater series. FF2000 featured wing cars with 2000cc engines, while the entry-level FFord series used 1600cc Kent engines, then FF1800 came along with 1800cc Zetec engines.

The cars fitted with these engines were faster than the FF1600 machines, and the turning point came in 1993. Winged entry-level series were on the rise, and national FFord championships were switching from FF1600 to FF1800, including Britain.

FF1600s in 1991, Photo: Roger Gascoigne

Manufacturers created cars for FF1800 over the next 13 seasons before the top series switched back to FF1600 regulations in 2006 as Ford’s Duratec engine was introduced. New cars have been rolling off the production line every year since, and many countries still have their own national FFord championships.

Looking back at the first swansong of FF1600, here is the Class of ’92:

Jonny Kane won the Irish FFord championship in 1992, a year after being the series’ Junior champion, and he went on to have an incredible career. He was runner-up in the FFord Festival and starred on the continental FFord scene in 1994, before winning titles in Formula Vauxhall Lotus (1995), British F3 (1997) and coming fourth in Indy Lights in 1999.

He then moved on to sportscars and won the Le Mans 24 Hours and twice came second in the Le Mans Series’ LMP2 class, starred in the World Endurance Championship as recently as 2016 and has raced at the top level of GT racing since then.

During 1992 he also won races in British FFord, where Swift’s Jamie Spence was champion [pictured top with Jan Magnussen and Neil Cunningham]. He followed up by winning British F3’s National class in 1993, and stayed in that series until 1998.

Van Diemen’s Belgian ace Vincent Radermecker was the reigning Dutch FF1600 champion and one of the stars of the British championship, winning at Donington Park and Snetterton. He was runner-up in the 1993 EFDA Nations Cup and the 1994 British F3 championship, then switched to touring cars in 1996.

He won the Belgian and German Procar championships, the Belgian Touring Car Championship and the SP2T class in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, was runner-up in the French Supertouring championship and this year was seventh in TCR Germany.

His FFord team-mate was Andrew McAuley, who had been third in the 1991 standings and won the FF1600 class of the FFord Festival in 1993, the first time there had been such a class as FF1800 cars dominated the entry list.

Photo: Ida Wood

Possibly the most famous driver of all on the ’92 grid was Foundation Racing’s Danish ace Jan Magnussen.

The 19-year-old raced in his home championship in ’91 then came third in Britain the season after. Having won at six of the last nine rounds, Magnussen’s pace was evident and he capped off the year by winning the FFord Festival.

He moved up to the Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries in ’93, finishing fourth, and dominated British F3 in 1994 for Paul Stewart Racing as well as coming third in the Macau Grand Prix. That earned him an F1 test role and a factory touring car seat with Mercedes, and he had made his F1 debut with McLaren before the end of 1995.

A race-winning return to touring cars and a four-round IndyCar campaign in a Mercedes-powered car beckoned before Magnussen could have another shot at F1, but unfortunately he blew it and drove 23 races before losing his seat mid-year.

In 1999 he made a part-time IndyCar return, but closed-wheel racing beckoned and Magussen would go on to win the top GT class of the Le Mans 24H and America’s endurance sportscar championship four times apiece, take three national titles at home across touring cars and sportscars and make himself a valuable signing to teams in both disciplines across the globe to this day. Last year he contested his first FF1600 event in 29 years by returning to the FFord Festival and finishing 11th.

Angel Burgueno was second in the 1991 Spanish FFord championship and faced tougher competition when he moved to Britain for 1992. He did well though, winning at Knockhill in Scotland, and went on to be a Formula Renault frontrunner, raced in F3 then was 1998 Euro Open by Nissan runner-up behind Marc Gene. A varied career in endurance racing followed.

Gene, who finished sixth in Spanish FFord in 1992, would also make the switch to British FFord and was eighth in the Zetec-powered 1993 season and that year’s FFord Festival. Following his Euro Open success, Gene became an F1 driver and made 36 starts across four years with a best finish of fifth. He also won the 2009 Le Mans 24H and was 2008 Le Mans Series runner-up.

Photo: Mark Werrell / Heroes of FF1600

Winner of the 1992 Spanish FFord title was David Bosch [pictured above], whose resume would not go on to match his peers. He won the Spanish FRenault title in 1993, then later reached Euro Open.

Javer Morcillo had a similar path, rising to come second in Spanish FFord in 1993 and in Spanish FRenault three years after, then finishing fourth in Formula Super Toyota Spain in 1998. He kept his racing career going by moving to GTs, where he was a class winner or champion in the lesser-known Acaniz 500km, Jarama 3 Hours, Mugello 12H, Britcar and Spanish GT.

Runner-up to Bosch was Gonzalo Rodriguez. The Uruguayan is one of motorsport’s great lost talents, having lost his life during practice for his second race in CART in 1999. Between those two points, he was third in the Spanish and UK FR2.0 championships, 12th in British F3, fourth in British Formula 2 and then third in the 1998 and ’99 International Formula 3000 seasons.

Rivaling Britain for FF1600 fever is the Antipodean nations, whose FFord championships remain a crucial part of their respective car racing ladders.

The top two in Australian FFord in 1992 were Cameron McConville and Palm Air Racing’s John Blanchard.

McConville went on to win the Australian GT championship’s PC class and the 2002 Bathurst 24H, and came second in the 1998 Australian Supertouring championship. His best season in the Supercars championship was 2005, when he came 10th, although he was Bathurst 1000 runner-up 10 years apart in 1999 and 2009.

FFord watchers may recognise Blanchard’s name because of his more recent history in the category. In addition to being the ’91 and ’92 Australian runner-up, he has entered the Phillip Island Classic event for the past two years.

Craig Lowndes may have only been fifth in the national championship and 10th in the Victorian state series, but when he won the Australian title in ’93 it made people pay attention. Despite reaching F1’s primary feeder series International F3000 with Dr Helmut Marko’s team, his true calling was in Australian Supercars (in the series’ various forms).

Photo: Heroes of FF1600 / Rich Craner

Pictured above: Spence, Magnussen, Radermecker, Bowes, Cunningham, Chris Hall, Burgueno and Miguel Calandriello

In addition to being champion in 1997, ’98 and ’99, Lowndes won the series’ legendary Bathurst 1000 race seven times. His form at the track continued into sportscars, as he also won the Barthurst 12H thrice.

Stephen Richards shadowed Lowndes in FFord, then won the Australian title in 1994 once his rival had moved on, and is also known for his incredible form around the fearsome Mount Panorama circuit. He has five Bathurst 1000 wins, claimed the 2002 Bathurst 24H and was fourth in the 12-hour race in 2021. In 2014 he also won the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia title.

Several European nations also had national FF1600 series in ’92, and with a varied list of graduates and champions.

Dutch FFord champion Kurt Mollekens won the Masters of F3 race in 1996 and was seventh in Int. F3000 in 1998, then switched to sportscars and was second in Belgium’s Procar series in 1999.

Brian Taulborg was a two-time FFord champion in Denmark as his ’92 FF1600 crown was followed up by the 1995 title in FF2000, while Kalle Jokinen [pictured below] was the winner of the ’91 FF1600 Nordic Champion meeting and the ’92 Finnish championship. That year he also came third in the Scandinavian FF1600 Cup and eighth in the FFord Festival.

Sadly Jokinen died in 2019, aged 47, and his racing career stopped shortly after moving into British FFord in ’93.

However he had an immense career outside of the cockpit, being mechanic to Kimi Raikkonen through his karting career and becoming a very close friend of the future F1 champion. Jokinen described himself as an “older brother” to Raikkonen.

When Jokinen went on to be a mechanic to Heikki Kovalainen, another future F1 racer, Raikkonen then became a mechanic to Polish driver Anna Kowalska in addition to racing himself. He would go on to race, briefly in FF1800.

Nordic FF1600’s ’92 champion Thomas Johansson had a back-to-front career, racing in F3 and then FF1600, and later down the line establishing a career in karting (admittedly on superkarts).

Photo: Heroes of FF1600

Having finished 20th at the Festival in his title-winning year, Johansson returned to the event in 2017 and ’18 and reached the Last Chance Race both times.

Graff Racing’s Alexandre Janorary was the 1992 French FF1600 champion and came fifth in the Festival, then finished fourth in French F3 in 1994 and ’95.

His rival Jean-Bernard Bouvet succeeded him as champion after coming third in ’92, and the country still had a national championship for FF1600 cars in 1993, then he also progressed to F3. Impressively Bouvet was already racing at the Le Mans 24H while in FFord, finishing 10th in the C2 class of the ’93 edition, and after becoming the 2000 French Super Production champion he returned to sportscars.

He came ninth in the FIA Sportscar Championship’s SR2 class, second in Le Mans’ LMP675 class, fifth in the LMP2 class of the 2004 Le Mans Series, then focused on more amateur series and is now a three-time VdeV Endurance GT champion and an Ultimate Cup Series GT champion.

The German FF1600 championship produced Alexander Wurz and Klaus Graf in 1992.

Wurz was champion and would go on to be Austrian F3 Cup champion, German F3 runner-up, pick up a podium in just his third F1 race and finish eighth in the standings in his rookie season, twice win the Le Mans 24H, help deliver the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup to Peugeot in 2011 by winning the Spa 1000km and Petit Le Mans, and then take three wins for Toyota in the next year’s World Endurance Championship. His son Charlie now races in F4.

Graf finished seventh in FF1600 but was FF1800 champion in ’93. Much of his career success came in the USA, winning the 2005 Trans-Am title and the American Le Mans Series in 2012 and ’13. He was also third in the ’13 Nurburgring 24H.

Photo: Alexander Wurz

Two more FF1600 champions of 1992 were Frederico Viegas and Jaki Scheckter. Viegas was Portuguese champion, and in 1993 was European FFord champion, fifth at the Festival and sixth in the British championship.

Scheckter, whose father Ian and uncle Jody were both F1 drivers, was born hard of hearing and used hearing aids from his toddler years onwards. That didn’t stop him embarking on a racing career, as he won the South African FF1600 championship and came 16th in the FFord Festival in ’92. He won the Barber Dodge Pro Series in ’95 and was 19th in a part-time Indy Lights campaign in ’96.

He then switched to supporting the IndyCar career of his cousin Tomas, who in return fundraised for Jaki to get cochlear implants in 2005 that meant he didn’t need hearing aids anymore.

Ken Bowes, known for wearing fireproof underwar over his racing overalls, finished fourth in the ’92 FFord Festival and later became an instructor at Silverstone.

The post The real “Class of ’92”: FF1600’s swansong stars appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: Bruno Ribeiro

There were big names who took part in the end-of-year classics, but there was still a decent quality of young drivers who contested the regular races in Formula Ford in its varieties across the globe in 2021

United Kingdom

The BRSCC National FF1600 season may have started with pole for Chris Middlehurst, but his round one at Donington Park was otherwise a disaster. In race one he finished 10th after a spin in the wet, was lapped in race two and then retired from race three. His main rival Alex Walker meanwhile picked up a third and two wins after B-M Racing’s Rory Smith won the opener.

Walker’s winning form continued into Knockhill after a ding-dong battle with Middlehurst. They traded the lead several times until the race was red flagged when Walker’s team-mate Megan Gilkes stopped, and that meant the results were put back a lap and handed victory to Walker as he was ahead at the time.

They scrapped again in race two, which awarded the David Leslie Trophy, and this time Middlehurst was the winner. At this point he was 79 points back from Walker, with less than half of the points of the championship leader.

The pair were initially overshadowed in round three on Silverstone’s National layout, as category legend Joey Foster took pole by a massive 0.4 seconds. He then fought Road to Indy eSeries champion Max Esterson for the win until a collision between the pair spun Foster down the order, and brought Middlehurst and Walker into contention.

Esterson just pipped Middlehurst at the line for his maiden win, but received a five-place grid penalty for race two due to his Foster clash.

Leading at the end of lap one of race two was Kevin Mills Racing’s Tom Mills, and he stayed up front until halfway through the race a mistake dropped him behind Middlehurst. He regained his lead, only for team-mate Walker to get by as Esterson and Foster joined the action.

Photo: Jim Moir

Esterson moved past Middlehurst into third, but hit Walker’s rear as he challenged for second. Walker was sent out of control into Middlehurst, then into Esterson too, and the championship leader retired with suspension damage.

Middlehurst emerged damage-free, and regained the lead after Mills ran wide at Brooklands on the penultimate lap. He then held off Foster by just 0.086s to win. Esterson won the reversed-grid race three and took the points lead from Walker, who climbed from the back to finish eighth.

Middlehurst fended off poleman Esterson to win race one victory at Anglesey, while Walker dropped more points with a penalty for jumping the start leaving him in fifth. Race two was a repeat result at the top, with Walker in third, then Esterson opened up an even larger points gap in race three as he came second behind first-time winner Jamie Sharp while Walker was a distant seventh.

Walker returned to form at Brands Hatch, passing Esterson to win race one, then came off better from a clash with him in race two to finish fourth as Smith led Sharp in a B-M Racing one-two in the wet. Single-seater rookie Mills then did a defensive job in race three to finish second as Walker won by 8.278s and took back the championship lead by a single point from Esterson, who had to come from 15th on the grid to finish sixth. With two rounds to go, Middlehurst was 24 points behind.

The gap grew as Walker took pole at Oulton Park, then converted it into a controlling win over Esterson as Middlehurst came 10th after contact with Smith spun him around. Walker did it again, even more crushingly, in race two as Middlehurst finished sixth. In a wet race three Middlehurst came to the fore to win, but Walker extended his points lead.

Middlehurst was a massive 64 points back with three races to go, leaving 104 points left to score, but with each driver having to drop their four lowest-scoring races from before the final round it meant he actually went to the Snetterton finale just 38 points behind and with Esterson only 10 ahead of him. A title-deciding detail.

Photo: Steve Whitfield

Pole at Snetterton was taken by Walker, going 0.066s faster than Middlehurst with Mills and FF1600 icon and returnee Niall Murray third and fourth. Esterson’s fastest lap was deleted and he ended up qualifying fifth.

Middlehurst led the early running of race one until Mills gave Walker a hurry-up to get ahead, and ultimately win. He then battled with Murray for the second, and the latter took the position but as a guest driver was ineligible to score and so extra points were earned for Middlehurst and Esterson in fifth and sixth.

Race two began at the start of a rain shower, and Mills took a big lead as Walker slid onto the grass while Middlehurst cleared Team Dolan team-mate Murray for third and then passed Walker quickly too.

Murray briefly lost out to Esterson, but fought back and got down the inside of Walker. They went side-by-side until contact was made as they crossed a puddle. There was then a second hit and Murray ran Walker off the road with Walker going over Murray’s rear wheels as he tried to turn on the grass. Murray survived to finish sixth, but Walker had to park up later on.

Mills took a dominant maiden win in the shortened five-lap race ahead of Middlehurst and Esterson, meaning Walker went into the title decider 20 points clear of Esteron and 23 ahead of Middlehurst.

On the reversed grid it was Esterson who was the best placed in sixth, while Walker was down in 12th.

By the end of lap one it was Middlehurst who was the leader of the trio, and Walker in the middle as Esterson went off. Foster was the race leader, ahead of Murray and Team USA scholar Andre Castro.

Walker’s climb up the order was ended shortly after when he went to pass Dolan’s Morgan Quinn around the outside of Riches. They collided, and both went into the barriers.

This didn’t interrupt the race, but lifted Esterson up to 11th and put Middlehurst in position to steal the title. He gained a spot by passing Esterson’s Low Dempsey Racing team-mate Colin Queen, then moved into fourth when Castro fell down the order.

Foster had succumbed to Dolan’s Murray, Mills and Middlehurst by mid-distance, putting Middlehurst on the podium. He didn’t have the pace to challenge race winner Murray or Mills, and took the title in third place. Esterson recovered to eighth but dropped to third in the standings despite being the highest scorer over the year. He at least claimed some redemption in November by winning the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone, and was the first Champion of Snetterton early in the year.

Walker took the Champion of Donington honours on the side, but didn’t attend the FFord Festival or WHT after being totally disenfranchised by FF1600 with how the National championship finale had played out and the dropped score rule.

Souley Motorsport’s Jack Wolfenden won the BRSCC Northern title as the only driver to do five of the six rounds, while team-mate Ollie White claimed the Castle Combe crown after a season-long rivalry with Luke Cooper.

There were multiple Champion of Brands events (they will combine in a series in 2022), and the first was dominated by Matt Rivett in a Van Diemen RF91. White did the double in August, and Murray did the same in September as he debuted his upgraded 2021-spec Van Diemen BD21. The final two wins went to GB4-bound team Oldfield Motorsport’s Lucas Romanek. A second Snetterton event was held with a depleted grid, and won by Dolan’s rookie Ben Cochran.

Scottish FFord returned after a year off and Jordan Gronkowski claimed a second successive title before retiring from FF1600, while former Formula Regional Asian Championship star Jordan Dempsey was victorious in Northern Irish FF1600. Ivor McCullough won the post-season Martin Donnelly Trophy race.

United States

Photo: FRP

Global Racing Team’s racer and driver coach Trent Walko has been winning in F2000 Championship Series since 2016, but never really shown the form he had this year as a run of four wins across Pittsburgh, Road America and Summit Point established a successful title charge.

Over in the west, Pacific F2000 was narrowly won by Robert Armington despite missing two rounds. Peter West scored more points but as the only full-time entrant had to drop some and it meant he repeated his 2019 title runner-up spot.

USF2000 star Simon Sikes made his FF2000 return in the Formula Continental element of the SCCA National Runoff on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and beat Walko to victory. Walko was then removed from the results and it left Sikes 26.215s in the clear.

Team Pelfrey’s Nicholas d’Orlando, brother of Sike’s USF2000 rival Michael, won the Honda-powered F1600 Championship Series. Over a 24-race campaign he dropped only three points despite winning half of the season’s races and making the podium in six others.

The first race of the year at Carolina Motorsports Park went to Ax Kametches after an incident between Joey Brienza and d’Orlando while disputing the lead led to the pair of them retiring. At Mid-Ohio, reigning champion Sikes made a comeback and won all three races, then Jonathan Lee turned pole into victory in race one at Barber Motorsports Park before d’Orlando took another two wins. He repeated that feat at Pittsburgh, then won once at Road America. Five wins in the remaining three rounds meant he wrapped up the title early, then for the National Runoffs’ Formula F competition he was absent and 2019 F1600 champion Jonathan Kotyk took a dominant 20.371s win ahead of Sikes.

Australia

Photo: FFord.org.au

Thomas Sargent was the name on everyone’s lips this year, and the 20-year-old impressed so much that he’s now set to move up to sportscars and onto a career trajectory that could take him to the professional ranks within a few years. He also bagged a Supercars test from his FFord exploits.

He dominated the four-round Australian FFord championship, winning nine of the 11 races. In round one at Sydney Motorsport Park he was unbeatable, and led lights-to-flag in race one at Wakefield Park which was also part of the New South Wales state championship. A double victory was denied by Cody Burcher, who hunted Sargent down and passed him at the last corner of the last lap to win.

Race three was set to initially go Sargent’s way too, before a massive airborne crash between two cars led to red flags and no results being declared for the national championship. Round three at Winton was postponed, while restrictions meant only the Victorian state entrants could attend round four at Sandown and so the national championship was pulled from the bill. It then got postponed too, while the Queensland Raceway and Phillip Island rounds got called off entirely.

Racing finally returned in mid-November at Winton, with Sargent winning two races from three. He was denied a lockout by Cody Donald, who punted his rear after a safety car restart in race two. That promoted Jordyn Sinni to a first win.

Sargent had the title in the bag ahead of the rearranged Phillip Island finale though, where he proved unbeatable again.

More rounds were rearranged in the Victorian championship and Sargent dominated, while Brendan Jones was similarly crushing in the FF1600 classification. In one round he only had one other car to beat.

Sargent was also in contention to win the NSW title, with Zack Bates and Cameon McLeod level on points and Sargent only two behind going into the double-points final round at Wakefield earlier this month. He didn’t attend the three-race event though, meaning he dropped to fifth in the standings.

Jude Bargwanna just won race one of the weekend ahead of McLeod and Bates, then had a more comfortable victory margin in race two as Bates put himself ahead for the title decider by finishing second to McLeod’s fourth.

The title was decided in a straight victory fight between the two in race three, and Bates triumphed.

Western Australia crowned Craig Jorgensen and Simon Matthews as its Gold Star and Silver Star champions respectively.

New Zealand

You may be hearing more about James Penrose in 2022, at least briefly, as the reigning NZ FFord champion will drive in the Toyota Racing Series’ sole event: the New Zealand Grand Prix.

The season was shortened to just three rounds, all in 2021 and all single-day events. The series combined grids with North Island FFord for the Hampton Downs season opener, and Matthew McCutcheon took pole by 0.701s over Penrose. He was swamped at the start of race one though and had to battle his way back into victory contention. Despite a pace advantage, he couldn’t overcome Penrose who won by 0.064s. In third was TRS race-winner and soon to be USF2000 racer Billy Frazer.

Race two was also a McCutcheon/Penrose fight, and this time some strong overtaking earned McCutcheon victory by 0.022s. Penrose was then penalised five seconds post-race, but still came second. Race three was a marginally more open battle for the pair, in that they finished 0.032s apart and with McCutcheon ahead.

The two series combined again at Pukehoke, and McCutcheon set another impressive pole lap. Penrose pushed him hard in race one, finishing 0.060s behind, and was 0.064s back in race two. He beat his rival in race three, by 0.011s, and went into the national finale at Ruapuna, which was combining with South Island FFord, 20 points behind McCutcheon.

Photo: FF NZ

More than 60 cars turned up for the decider, and Penrose on his turf took pole while McCutcheon qualified ninth. The hard-earned title advantage was flipped after race one as Penrose won and McCutcheon could only come sixth, but fastest lap did put him on race two pole. Penrose made a better start and led into the opening corner though, and won the penultimate race.

McCutcheon’s hopes were lifted by being on pole again for the decider, but Penrose again took the lead on lap one. The chasing McCutcheon couldn’t quite respond and Penrose claimed all the honours with victory. He immediately praised his rival post-race for their season-long battle.

Afterwards was the NZ FFord Festival race, with Australia having to cancel its equivalent, taking on the top 30 cars from earlier in the day. Penrose won again, and earned a Formula 4 test with Carlin as a result, and McCutcheon came second ahead of 1994-95 NZ FFord champion Shane Drake. Penrose’s prize was also supposed to include a FFord Festival drive.

After a practical merger this year, the NI and SI series organisers will now officially collaborate to run the national championship, and it was actually McCutcheon (North) and Penrose (South) who were the 2021 island champions.

Canada

The Ontario-based Toyo Tires F1600, another Honda-powered series, was won this year by Megan Gilkes’ younger brother Nick. At the end of the year they both raced in the FFord Festival.

Gilkes started his season at Mosport with pole by almost a second, but he was pipped to victory in the season opener by Team Canada scholar Jonathan Woolridge. Sam Baker then finished ahead of both in races and three.

The circuit also hosted the wet round two, and again Gilkes was sublime in qualifying. This time he could convert pole into victory in race one, but was pipped by Baker in race two and then Woolridge was second-best to Baker in race three as a trip across the grass after going three-wide left Gilkes down in seventh.

Photo: Toyo Tires F1600

The lengthy Calabogie hosted round three, and Gilkes’ qualifying advantages continued to grow as this time he took pole by 1.311s. But in a race filled with caution periods he was beaten to victory by Jack Polito, then Woolridge pipped him in the other two encounters.

All of the season’s second half took place at Mosport, and on the first of those return trips Baker snatched pole from Gilkes by 0.005s. His response was to obliterate the field in race one, but in a shortened second race which had a four-car lead battle he came third but just 0.883s behind winner Woolridge. Fastest lap earned Jake Cowden pole for race three, which had red flags after a Woolridge crash collected several other cars. Cowden won the restarted race by passing Gilkes on the last lap.

The Gilkes clan did the triple in round five, with Nick resoundingly winning race ones and two. His sister Megan turned up, set the fastest Mosport lap of the season, and won race three.

Cowden took pole for the final round, but Gilkes’ race form has been boosted and he took an astonshingly dominant triple win to become champion. He didn’t have a chance to add the F1600 Super Series to his CV as that was cancelled due to COVID-19, but he did turn up to Quebec’s Formula Tour 1600 and won there.

Its season kicked off at Mont-Tremblant and Gilkes beat Cowden in a photo finish in the opening race. He also won race two, while Didier Schraenen, who is in his 60s, won race three. At the famed Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres, Gilkes took pole and claimed three street circuit victories.

France

The FF1600 Trophy gets to race at some great tracks, and this year the series took in five different circuits and joined in with the Marcel Albers Memorial Trophy at Zandvoort where Pascal Monbaron led a John’s Racing Team one-two in both races and the French Grand Prix Historic at Paul Ricard where teenager Christopher Aimable (below) just held on for a double win.

Photo: Trophee FF Kent

Aimable also claimed a win in the Albi season opener of the French series, but didn’t appear again.

Eric Heudicourt and John Svensson put 1800cc Zetec cars at the front in the two Dijon races, as Nicolas Belouu did the FF1600 double at Dijon. The few FF1800 cars had the advantage again at Val de Vienne, as Marco Gerarduzzi won race one, but Gislain Genecand claimed race two though ahead of Arnaud Dousse.

At the tricky Charade circuit, Dousse won race one then Genecand smashed everyone in race two. That form continued into the Ledenon season finale, as two FF1600 wins for Genecand brought him past Beloou to the top of the championship.

Portugal

The confusingly named Single Seater Series shared its FFord grids with winged cars this year ahead of a planned Formula Libre format for 2022, and there were some recognisable faces driving.

A sodden Braga hosted round one in April, and crack Prema engineer Pedro Matos led the opening race lights-to-flag in tricky conditions. He lost positions from pole on lap one of race two, and Antonio Correia took his Funspeed car to victory on a drier track but a recovering Matos did chase him down at the end. Correia then had to fend off Matos again to win race three.

Round two was at Estoril in September, and pole was taken by Duarte Pires – sharing his car with Fernando Mayer Gaspar – with Joao Silva a second slower on the other side of the front row. Gaspar took to the wheel for race one and won by seven seconds ahead of Silva, then Pires just won race two after losing the lead to Silva mid-race.

A return trip to Estoril in November ended the season, and Miguel Matos was fastest in free practice in a Griiip G1 single-seater ahead of deceased American gangster and Formula Renault 2.0-driving Al Capone (who was actually Miguel Abreu).

The top FFord car was Gaspar, 16s off the pace. He found an easy route to pole though as mechanical issues inflicted Matos and Capone and stopped them from qualifying, and then from pole he won by a massive 17s and set the fastest lap. Pires was back in the car for race two and just beat Silva to victory after both he and Correia got past early on.

Silva won the FF1800 title, and Dennis Hauger’s engineer Matos won the Kent-80 title in FF1600.

South Africa

South African F1600 had big plans to celebrate its 20th anniversary, and it included 250,000 rand and a test in a Formula Renault 3.5 car for the champion.

Andrew Rackstraw was the recipient of those rewards, as he romped to 11 wins out of 12. His first double win was at Killarney, followed up with another at Zwartkops where rookie Josh le Roux stayed in his mirrors through race two.

At the Aldo Scribante circuit he set a new lap record in race one en route to another double win, then at East London he was on pole by half a second but was convincingly beaten to race one victory by Jarrod Waberski who took the lead off a very strong start. It was Rackstraw’s only defeat of the year, and was historic as it was the first single-seater win for DAW Racing since Waberski’s father Garth won in Formula GTi in 1992. Rackstraw’s pole lap had also matched Jack Brabham’s from the 1966 South African Grand Prix (a non-championship Formula 1 race at the time).

Another lap record came at Red Star Raceway, then Rackstraw was finally beaten in qualifying in the Zwartkops season finale by le Roux. The races went the way of the champion though to cap off a near-perfect season.

The post 2021 International Formula Ford season review appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: Markwebber.com

Exactly a quarter of a century has passed since Mark Webber won the Formula Ford Festival. We look back at the Australian’s FF1600 career in an interview conducted with the Formula 1 grand prix winner in 2018

Mark Webber has an affinity to Formula Ford 1600. He may be better known for his Formula 1 and Le Mans exploits, but it was in FF1600 where he made his name known.

He still takes a interest in the category, as well as the world championships he used to compete in, but as a 45-year-old retired professional there’s not many places where he could have as much fun as sliding through Brooklands with 25-odd cars of similar control around him. But it was a very different grand prix track to Silverstone where he first met the type of car he would start his single-seater career in…

First steps

In 1993, 16-year-old Webber got his first taste of FF1600 in a trial day at Oran Park, a now closed circuit near Sydney which held the Australian Grand Prix in 1974 and ’77.

Webber was fastest that day by 1.6 seconds, and a few months later he was the proud owner of a Van Diemen previously driven by future V8 Supercars legend Craig Lowndes, two years Webber’s senior and the reigning national Formula Ford champion. Young and ambitious, Webber headed straight to the Australian national championship.

He finished 14th in the standings in 1994, with the title being won by Bathurst legend Steven Richards. It was a struggle for Webber, with only one podium over the eight round season, but the driving was something he was enjoying massively.

“‘[It was] brilliant, absolutely brilliant old-school racing. Very very little telemetry, so that was good for us,” he told Formula Scout.

“There was no simulators, you just go out and learn the track, learn what you’re good at, learn what you’re weak at very quickly.”

Webber was a true privateer at the time, with his three person set-up including driver, and knew that a single crash could end his year.

He had one such crash in the final round of the season, but worked flat out for several weeks to rebuild the car in time for the non-championship event in Adelaide supporting what would become an infamous F1 title decider between Damon Hill and Webber’s future rival Micharl Schumacher. Despite the repair job, Webber’s year didn’t exactly end in fine style.

For the main race on Sunday he qualified second, but a battery failure meant he wasn’t allowed to take his place on the grid and in a ‘move’ that was misjudged at best, Webber overtook everyone on the formation lap, and was disqualified as a result.

Yellow Pages

With a year under his belt, Webber was better placed to get some strong results in 1995, although finances came first.

Working as a driving instructor at Oran Park contributed a small amount, but a sponsor was required. Ann Neal, who Webber had met when he first entered Australian FFord and would later become his life partner, worked with him on proposals to potential sponsors.

The Antipodean branch of Yellow Pages replied, and Webber turned up to the first round of the 1995 season in a striking yellow brand-new Van Diemen RF95.

Fourth in the standings demonstrated that Webber wasn’t the complete package yet, with set-up issues and inconsistency hampering his season. But he was still on a learning process, and was by now winning races.

“It was a brilliant category,” Webber recalled.

“The cars were quick. The top speeds were quick because there was no aero on them so they were pretty slippery through the air. Big slipstreaming going on for qualifying, that was all incredible. They moved around a lot too, you’d drive the car really with quite a bit of attitude.

“The gearbox needed a lot of love. But they were great. Particularly in the wet, you had to be very careful with the gearbox and the engine and making sure that you didn’t lock the rears on braking. All those sort of things that we just got good at of course. Now you don’t have to worry about that.”

Webber was the fastest driver in Australia, but too many scraps and crashes meant he wasn’t legging it at the front. Being quick in his home country meant little though, as it was Europe, and specifically Britain, where all the best drivers raced.

And at the end of the year, Webber boarded his first flight to England. Destination: the FFord Festival at Brands Hatch.

Throwing the bone

Before the Festival began, Webber met Van Diemen founder Ralph Firman. From that meeting a test came about in one of Firman’s more powerful 1800cc Zetec cars.

So impressive was Webber, Firman invited him to drive for him at the Festival, and the Yellow Pages-liveried car made it all the way to the final, where Webber finished a remarkable third.

That result was enough to earn a factory Van Diemen drive for 1996, something which still pleases Webber to this day. He entered the British and European championships, as well as returning to the Festival.

1996 FFord Festival Final aggregate results (18 laps)

“I was a Van Diemen factory driver, with Ralph Firman, which was just great. Ralph threw me a bone back in ‘96 and I won the Festival for him that year.

“[I was up against] Vitor Meira, who did a little bit of IndyCar, Kristian Kolby [both Van Diemen team-mates], Tomas Enge. A lot of them [only raced in Europe]; David Terrien, who was world go-kart champion at the time [in the secondary 100c class]. He was racing for the factory Mygale team.”

Third and second in the European and British standings respectively were less than the title Webber desired, but he made up for it with an assertive Festival victory.

His team-mate Meira was the driver to beat in the timed sessions, and took pole for the first semi-final. He made a slow start and dropped behind Kristian Kolby, his other team-mate, and Haywood Racing’s Matthew Davies.

They ran in that order until the rain arrived during the 15-lap tace, and Koly span out of the lead. Davies was thinking of passing him before that but had to check up on the brakes, which allowed Meira back into the lead.

By the time the rain ended there was a comfortable gap between Meira and the chasing pack, and it was Robert Lechner – driving for his father Walter’s Lechner Racing team which he now runs in International GT Open and several other sportscar series – who came through to finish second ahead of Darren Malkin who would later drive in the film Rush and the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony.

Haywood’s Jacky van der Ende took pole for semi-final two, the one Webber was in, and despite a strong launch off the grid it wasn’t long before he lost the lead to Webber who passed two cars on the opening lap and then got by van der Ende at Druids a lap later.

Semi-final results (15 laps each)

There was 2.41s between Webber and van der Ende by the chequered flag, but just 0.57s covering van der Ende, Lanan Racing’s Tommy Field and Graff Racing’s David Terrien in second to fourth.

The factory Van Diemens weren’t the quickest off the line again in the final, with Meira and Webber being jumped by van der Ende. It took until lap three of the scheduled 20 for Webber to get into the lead, but van der Ende then came back at him. Webber let him by, then came back at him once he found the grippier parts of the track again as the rain eased.

Field passed van der Ende for second and had a stab at Webber on lap six, and even more drivers got involved at the front as van der Ende literally slid down the order. His decline was halted by a red flag as Andy Booth and Jenzer Motorsport’s collided on the pit straight.

The final was restarted for 10 laps and with 18 cars lined up, and the winner would be decided on aggregate from the two races. Webber started on pole, but Meira shot past at the start and was leading the way until he went off at Paddock Hill Bend and ended his race. Staying out front after that was enough to guarantee Webber victory, having been the lead driver of the first part of the final, but the battle far behind him was far more dramatic.

Andy Welch Racing’s Michael Vergers, who had started semi-final one from the back row of the grid due to a rideheight infringement and also had to serve a 10s penalty but still qualified for the final in ninth, had come from 18th on the grid to be second on track behind Webber but knew it would be a tough ask to finish there as he was eighth before the red flag.

He ended up being classified third, with the driver who finished in that position – Field – coming second on aggregate.

Losing its flavour

FFord doesn’t often send drivers on to F1 anymore, although Brendon Hartley landed at Toro Rosso in 2017.

Photo: Ida Wood

But schemes like Jeremy Shaw’s Team USA and its Brazilian, Canadian and New Zealand counterparts are ensuring there is a path for FF1600 drivers to become professionals, and the Red Bull Junior Team has looked to the category in recent years.

Since the FIA’s overhaul of the superlicence system and the introduction of its own single-seater series, FF1600 has scarce been mentioned in serious tones outside of the latest batch of IndyCar stars who have fond memories of being USA scholars.

The aura of importance that FFord had was something Webber wishes would return when he spoke to Formula Scout.

“Absolutely. Absolutely. I was disappointed when it sort of lost its flavour. And there’s so many other categories now which are sort of across [FF1600]. I’d love it much more simpler through the junior categories, but it’s just not like that.

“You can say FFord is, you can say Formula 4 is [the way to F1], I think that there are some great categories now. There is still some sensational great young [driver] categories to weed out who’s got the muscle and not, and also for the teams. Mechanics: a great exposure for them, to sort of have a good staircase of talent for them [too].”

Jaguar Formula E star Mitch Evans, a protege of Webber’s, started his career in New Zealand’s FF1600 championships, the same place Hartley did.

“Mitch did it, yeah. I’d absolutely [recommend young drivers to do FF1600]. I think, to be honest, any introduction to a car at that point, you’re going to get a pretty good snapshot if the guy’s got talent or not.”

Formula 2 points leader Oscar Piastri, Webber’s latest management client, hasn’t been as convinced by FF1600.

“I’ve watched a bit of FFord racing, and the racing’s awesome and it looks like a fun car to drive, it looks tough, but I just don’t know how relevant it is to sort of European single seater racing anymore,” he said in an interview with Speedcafe.

Evans during his time in NZ FFord

Australian FFord lost national championship status a few years ago, but the demise of the country’s F4 series led to FFord growing in strength again – with some regional series taking precedence stronger during the recent lockdown period as there are restrictions on inter-state travel. When Webber raced at home in ’94, “a full budget for [a season] was 95 grand”.

Webber looks back on his time in FFord fondly, and he competed in almost all of the major races and events.

F1600 races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Knockhill’s David Leslie Trophy had a history-making victor in 2020, and Mount Panorama even hosts international races.

“I raced a FFord at Bathurst and on the full circuit at Spa,” Webber remembered. “They were the big [standout memories], and the Festival, which was testing all week and 95 cars for a 24-car grid final I think.

“It was great memories, great days. I would love to [return]. I mean, yeah, I’ve thought about doing the Walter Hayes, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen.”

At the time of the interview, that last answer provoked a lot of excitement, but it’s a non-goer as Webber has not renewed his racing license since retirement and instead concentrates now on media duties and supporting Piastri’s F1 ambitions.

“Look, it’s a brilliant, brilliant type of racing, and you know, I enjoy it. I’d get my arse kicked, but I’d have a good time.”

The post When Webber ruled the world: 25 years since the 1996 FFord Festival appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Jack Elleker

With less races able to take place, entry lists grew at the events that could run in the Formula Ford world. There were lots of returning faces, and a few new names who are already rising up the single-seater ladder

Australia

There was no national championship in Australia this year, cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent inter-state travel restrictions, but the state series themselves still tried their best to go ahead once drivers were allowed to return to racing.

Victoria was one of the most successful, although its running was still very limited and no champions were crowned.

“We had one round of the Victorian Formula Ford Championship in February and we then organised a Kent [FF1600]-only meeting at Sandown after restrictions eased in November. We were also able to have historic cars at Phillip Island in March just before the coronavirus crisis started,” the championship told Formula Scout.

New South Wales started its season on August 1 with a triple-header at Sydney Motorsport Park, and Thomas Sargent won all three races. It returned there in mid-November, and Sargent was denied another triple win by just 0.3157 seconds by Cody Burcher – who starred in Australian FFord’s official Esports series.

The season finale took place at Wakefield Park in mid-December, and Burcher headed Sargent again to win the first race. Schoolkid Noah Sands won the final two, but Sargent still sealed the FF1800 title while Mitch Gatenby was FF1600 champion for the second year in a row.

Western Australia FF1600 also successfully got its season underway by June at Wanneroo Raceway, where Joshua Matthews won the season-opening race and then Craig Jorgensen claimed a double success to lead by nine points. It returned there for four more rounds, with Matthews winning five more races, Mark Pickett winning four, Jorgensen winning one and Andrew Malkin two – including the opening race of the November season finale by just 0.0252s.

Photo: WA Formula Ford

Matthews, who did the triple in round four, was crowned champion ahead of Pickett and Jorgsensen.

The South Australian series managed to hold a five-race round at Mallala, with its cars competing in open formula races on the weekend’s bill. Matthew Roesler won the first four, and Paul Di Biase claimed the finale.

The same occurred for another five-race round at The Bend Motorsport Park, this time even sharing the track with sportscars, and Roesler went unbeaten to make it nine wins out of 10 for the season.

Canada

Rather than even attempt at having a proper national series, Canada has just had championships in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec for F1600 – which utilise Ford and Honda engines.

The Ontario-based Toyo Tires F1600 got going after much delay at Mosport in July, and ex-W Series racer Megan Gilkes beat Mac Clark to pole by a tiny 0.051s.

Clark took the lead on the opening lap of race one, with 2019 Team Canada scholar Jonathan Woolridge slotting into third behind Gilkes. After almost eight laps of hassling, Gilkes finally reclaimed first place but Clark took it back a lap later and led to the finish ahead of Gilkes and Woolridge for his first win.

Again it was Gilkes on pole but Clark who led at the end of the first lap of race two, but it took less time for Gilkes to find a way back past this time. They traded positions almost every lap in the second half of the race and Clark snatched the win on the final lap. Woolridge again finished third. The weekend ended with another final lap pass for another Clark win over Gilkes, and a thrilling title rivalry to look forward to.

Photo: Toyo Tires F1600

In round two at the circuit the grid had grown to 21 cars, and this time Clark won the qualifying battle.

Gilkes got to pass Clark on lap one on this occasion for the race one lead, and the pair pulled away from the field with Woolridge in pursuit. Their domination wasn’t to last though.

At the end of a caution period, Clark tried passing Gilkes and Woolridge lined up both. Gilkes tried defending the inside, Clark went even further inside and Woolridge went to the outside. The result was a multi-car crash which had Gilkes briefly in the sky, Woolridge in the barriers and Clark pitting for new tyres.

Sam Baker inherited the lead, and after another caution period had just one lap of racing to secure his first win. But at the very last corner there was contact from behind and Baker spun, and national snowmobile racing champion Jack Polito came through to win. The next day he was summoned to the stewards though, having overtaken under full course yellows earlier in the race. He was penalised as a result, and it was Connor Wagland who became a first-time winner as a result by 0.051s.

The damage to Gilkes’ car ruled her out of race two, which Woolridge led before fading to third behind Clark and Polito after setting a new lap record. Clark dominated the final race of the weekend, with Gilkes ruled out again.

The renovated Shannonville Motorsport Park hosted round three, and Clark dominated the circuit’s opening race from pole.

A greasy track initially provided Gilkes with a lead advantage in race two, but an error dropped her to third and Clark won again. He made it five wins in a row with victory by 20.328s in race three.

The return to Mosport brought more Clark success, as well as title success with a round to go. He comfortably won all three races, and didn’t hold back two weeks later in the season finale at the circuit as he once again did the triple – with two of his wins over Gilkes coming in at over 20s.

Photo: F1600 Canada

Quebec’s Formula Tour 1600 kicked off at Mont-Tremblant, owned by Racing Point patron Lawrence Stroll, and it was Dominique Legrand and Jacob Moreau who took the first two wins of the season. The second visit to the circuit was the scene of more domination by Clark, who took pole and victory in race one, then did the same in race two. Legrand struck back to win by 0.281s in race three, the season finale, and become champion as a result.

France

FF1800 class driver Arnaud Dousse won the opening two races of the FF1600 Trophy season at Albi, with Monaco’s Geoffroy Horion – the 1994 European FFord runner-up – the top driver in both races in a car actually run with a 1600cc Kent engine.

The grids were split for round two at Dijon, and Horion won both FF1600 races. FF1800 was joined by FF2000 and Max Wutke was a dominant double winner.

They were merged again at the tricky Charade circuit, but the FF1600 cars were triumphant both times thanks to Horion and Gislain Genecand.

The FF1800 struck back on the long straights of Nogaro, with Augustin Sanjuan powering his way to a double win.

Dousse returned to the overall top step in race one at Val de Vienne, before the Van Diemen RF92-driving Horion beat the whole field to win race two. Horion and Dousse were crowned as the Kent and Zetec champions there, but the drivers returned to track for one more racing event at Le Mans where they joined up with Historic FFord France.

2010 FF1600 Trophy champion Nicolas Beloou dominated the first of the FF1600 races, prompting Horion to respond in race two and take victory by 0.358s.

Lotus’s Sarene Ziffel – who previously represented Bentley in her racing exploits – outduelled Dousse to win the first of the equivalent FF1800 bouts by a tiny 0.123s. She had no answer to him in race two though, finishing 25.924s behind.

Photo: Trophee FF Kent

New Zealand

By running its national championship over two calendar years, New Zealand mostly avoided the impact of the pandemic. However the 2019-20 season still started with limited racing taking place.

James Penrose converted pole into victory in the opening race of the season at Pukehoke, but just five corners into the race an incident occurred that required the appearance of the safety car. Attempts to then send the safety car back to the pits so racing could resume proved chaotic, with lights being shown incorrectly and then the safety car itself appearing on track in the wrong place. Less than a lap of green-flag action was completed.

Normality resumed in the remaining two races of that weekend, with Billy Frazer winning both.

Thomas Boniface almost won all three races of round two at Manfeild, coming just 0.106s short of Callum Crawley in race one and battled his way to victory in the other two. On the final lap of race three Crawley tried to pass Boniface for the lead but ended up in the gravel. The stewards deemed the clash a racing incident.

Frazer hunted down Crawley to win the opening race at Teretonga, the first round to take place in 2020, and he repeated his triumph in race two. He was denied a shot at a triple win when he failed to make it to the grid in time for race three, requiring him to start from the pitlane, and Penrose took the victory.

At Hampton Downs the first and third races went to Frazer, but the middle encounter was full of drama before it even began.

Penrose discovered pre-race he had a collapsed bearing in his gearbox, and he was effectively donated another driver’s car so he could start the race – albeit from the back of the grid. Boniface led throughout but his engine was smoking and on the final lap it blew up in sight of the finish. Frazer and Crawley came up either side of him and the cars were three-wide at the finish. Boniface somehow won, ahead of Frazer then Crawley, while Penrose finished fifth.

Photo: Tayler Burke

The points lead went to Frazer next time out at Pukehoke, where Boniface started the weekend with a win but was then disqualified due to damage picked up in the race putting his car outside of the technical regulations. Frazer inherited the win and the points lead, but his fortunes then flipped in race two when he collided with Penrose.

Boniface then looked set for a redemptive win before a final lap clash with Zac Stichbury that put him in the barriers, and it was Crawley who ended up victor. Fraser won what ended up being the final race of the season, as April’s Hampton Downs round was called off due to the pandemic.

The South Island championship also ran over two years, and started with a triple win for Bailey Paterson at Ruapuna. He added another two wins at Timaru, where eventual champion Jack Noble-Adams picked up his first, and was on the podium for all three races on the return trip to Ruapuna when interlopers Penrose and reigning champion Josh Bethune took control.

Paterson then skipped round four at Teretonga, where there was some spectacular incidents and Cameron Freeman moved into the points lead despite not yet winning a race. The final three rounds took place in 2020, and Frazer turned up and dominated the first two at Highlands Motorsport Park and Teretonga. Frazer’s win from pole in the first Highlands race was the first ever sanctioned FFord race at the circuit.

Noble-Adams and Paterson moved bast Freeman at the top of the points after Teretonga, with Noble-Adams having finished in second place in each of the last five races. But Paterson would be absent again for the Ruapuna season finale.

Noble-Adams returned to the top step in race one of the Ruapuna season finale, then finished second to Matt Butchart in race two. This put him 42 points clear of Freeman ahead of the title decider, more than the points usually available for a race win. But the all-important race would count for double points.

In the end that did’t make an impact, as Noble-Adams made a great launch off the line to lead and then hold off Freeman for the win and the title.

Over on the North Island, Crawley beat Frazer to the title. Frazer will be stepping up to the Toyota Racing Series in 2021, and his rival Crawley could join him.

Portugal

Portugal’s FFord series had to drop the manufacturer from its name this year, and was rebranded as… Single Seater Series.

After Danish Formula 4 it was the second single-seater series to get going again after lockdown, and started with a triple-header at the Algarve circuit in July. Reigning champion Antonio Almeida controlled the first race after rival Antonio Correia had start issues, then in race two he just held him off for a second win. Rosario Sotto-Mayor, who was series champion in 1993, got injured in race one but she ended up winning the final race of the weekend ahead of Almeida – although racing in her weakened condition was eased somewhat by much of the action taking place behind the safety car.

Round two took place at Estoril in September, and Almeida was quickest in qualifying. He dropped down the order at the start of the first and second races of the weekend though, meaning he wasn’t a victory contender.

In race one he sunk to fourth in the opening laps, before then being pincered by two other cars and escaping mostly unscathed in seventh. He stayed behind close to those two drivers though, and passed both at once at the first corner to rise back up to fifth, with fourth place becoming his not long after when a car ahead crashed out. Hugo Hernandez was the winner, ahead of Duarte Pires – returning to the series after two years out – and Joao Silva.

The recovery drive from the poor start went better for Almeida in race two, as he fought his way up to second behind Pires.

Photo: Bruno Ribeiro

It was another Almeida pole and another Pires win in race three, although this time Almeida didn’t mess up his start. Instead he was passed by Pires down the pit straight a few laps in, but a to-be-lapped backmarker enabled Almeida to reclaim the lead in a move reminiscent of Mika Hakkinen at Spa-Francorchamps as he and Pires went either side of the car and Almeida emerged from the move in the lead.

The top two continued to battle, and Pires repeated his overtake going into the final lap. It got close but Almeida couldn’t find a way back ahead before the chequered flag.

Tightening pandemic restrictions meant the Algarve circuit was called upon again to host the title decider. The first race was only classified as two laps long after Correia spilled oil on track, and Ricardo Leitao was the winner.

Rain then hit race two, and Leitao won again in pressing style. The final race ran for double points, and Almeida won the title with a return to the top step after Leitao retired with engine issues.

South Africa

De facto the lead single-seater series in Africa, South African F1600 had planned to award its 2020 champion a Formula Renault test in Europe this year, but it only managed to get one round in before national lockdown arrived.

The action at that Zwarkops event was exciting though, and it began with Andrew Rackstraw taking a double pole. The grid had a variety of experience, ranging from series boss Ian Schofield down to 14-year old Jarrod Waberski.

Rackstraw led the opening race for a few laps, before an error allowed Nicholas van Weely through and to ultimately take the win. Waberski finished his first race in cars in an impressive sixth.

Photo: Paul Bedford / Action Images

After his race one mistake, Rackstraw made up for it by taking a comfortable victory in race two over van Weely.

A third race was added to the weekend, and with a reversed grid too, leaving Schofield on pole in his secondary class car. Schofield successfully navigated the first lap without losing a position, while Waberski picked up damage and Rackstraw ended his race with an off.

The action behind the leader continued and Schofield ended up taking his first overall win in South Africa since the end of apartheid. Antwan Geldenhuys finished second and Waberski in an even more impressive third after holding off van Weely.

It was van Weely who ended the weekend with the championship lead over Rackstraw, but there was no more proper F1600 racing until the invitational competition at Red Star Raceway’s Extreme Festival in September where he fought hard with 2017 F1600 champion Julien van der Watt. After being narrowly defeated in the first race of the meeting, he struck back with a dominant win in race two.

The South African single-seater scene was tinged with sadness this year not only because of the reduced racing, but also after the passing of Donny Lamola. In May she was admitted to hospital, where she sadly passed away.

Lamola, a regular in F1600 for some years, was involved in a serious accident in late 2017 that resulted in a lacunar stroke deep in the brain and had her hospitalised for three months. The 24-year-old was back in the paddock by early 2018, and had returned to her work as a coach of a youth football team she had created herself. At the end of the year, she returned to track in a F1600 car in a hot lap at former Formula 1 track Kyalami, and in 2019 she was back in karts too in an inspirational recovery.

Lamola leading her Kyalami hot lap

United Kingdom

The BRSCC National FF1600 season was stripped down to just three events in 2020, all alongside the BRSCC Northern championship focused on older cars, and they were all spectacular to watch.

Wet weather impacted the two-race Oulton Park season opener, where there was a stunning 34-car grid out to race. Neil Maclennan got slightly lucky to win the first race from pole, after a safety car interruption denied Rory Smith the option of overtaking him for the lead and then a red flag brought the results back a lap after Smith did get through. Photo finishes decided some of the positions further down the order.

Maclennan, Smith, Chris Middlehurst and Jonathan Browne all ran side-by-side as they fought over the lead in race two, with backmarkers helping to keep them together, and Maclennan just held on to win again.

Team USA scholar Bryce Aron took pole for the second round at Brands Hatch Indy, and Maclennan had to rise up the order to beat 2013 FRenault BARC champion Middlehurst and reigning National FF1600 champion Ross Martin.

Maclennan should have had it easier from pole in race two, but he was passed by Middlehurst who went on to win despite a clash with a backmarker. Starting further back seemed to suit Maclennan more as he also won the reversed grid race three.

Work commitments meant Middlehurst missed the finale on Silverstone’s International layout, and after lots of frantic battling it was Maclennan who won both races there and the title. His sensational form continued into Brands’ FFord Festival, and he was running in second behind Smith in the final before crashing out. After a safety car pause and a three-lap shootout to the finish, Smith was crowned winner ahead of Browne and British GT4 star Matt Cowley.

The Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone a week later was marred by a horrific crash, but there was a popular winner in Ollie White and Joey Foster once again showed why he’s one of the best FFord racers of all time with victory charges in the wet.

The Scottish Renegades Cup replaced the cancelled Scottish FFord season, and Logan Hannah made history when she won the David Leslie Trophy at Knockhill. David McCullough won the Northern Irish title for the second year in a row.

Luke Cooper won Castle Combe‘s title and Carnival race, while Browne was a regular winner of the Champion of Brands races.

United States

For the third time in four years, Brandon Dixon was the F2000 Championship Series champion after going unbeaten in the first half of the season and ending the year with nine wins out of 12, while Mitch Regadas finished second despite not winning a race at all. Robert Allaer won the SCCA National Runoff in Formula Continental for the same type of cars.

Tom Hope won the West Coast-based Pacific F2000 title for a second time, following up his 2015 success.

The F1600 Championship Series performances of Simon Sikes earned him Team USA scholar status and a USF2000 debut before the end of the year, and he took a best finish of fourth from his brief stint in the Road to Indy.

In the end he comfortably won the F1600 title, heading karting graduate Dylan Christie and Dexter Czuba, and also was the SCCA National Runoff winner in Formula F.

Jackson Lee took two F1600 wins but missed a third of the season and ended up fourth in the points, this coming as his Team USA scholar status meant he went to England to race in the National FF1600 finale and the end-of-year classics, with his best result of 10th coming in the FFord Festival final.

Joining him in making the flight across the pond was Maxwell Esterson, who took one F1600 win and was 14th in the WHT.

Photo: F1600 Championship Series

The post 2020 International Formula Ford season review appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: F1600 Canada

For the first time since 2014, Formula Ford joined the list of junior single-seater categories that Formula Scout reports on this year. Ida Wood reviews what happened in FFord in 2019, from America to India

Australia

Following Hunter McElrea’s path to a Mazda scholarship and nearly the USF2000 title within a year of departing Australian FFord, there was renewed focus on the national championship in 2019 – its 50th year of existence.

Melbourne teenager Angelo Mouzouris won Sonic Motor Racing Services’ fourth title in a row, but it took a while for the third-year driver to take his first win.

After making the podium behind title favourite Zac Soutar in the second round at Queensland Raceway, Mouzouris came to fore at the Australian Supercars-supporting Winton round. He won all three races in a variety of weather conditions, and took another four wins in the second half of the season meant he wrapped up the title with a race to go.

Soutar started the season at Sydney by denying CHE Racing Team driver Tom Sargeant victory at the final corner of the race, and also won at Sandown and Phillip Island to finish runner-up in the standings.

Sargeant and 2017-18 New Zealand FFord champion Callum Hedge were third and fourth in the points and both won races.

Seven wins out of nine secured Tim Hamilton the Australian FF1600 title, with only Jarrod Costello showing him opposition. Hamilton also won the Queensland FF1600 title.

Brendan Jones won a fifth Victorian FF1600 title in a row, with Ben D’Alia taking the state’s FF1800 title. In New South Wales, Lachlan Ward [FF1800] and Mitch Gatenby [FF1600] were champions, while Tom Hamlett took success in Western Australia. Matthew Woodland became the South Australian champion for the second year running.

In February, a 50th anniversary event took place on the Bathurst 12 Hours support bill. Australian F3 runner-up Josh Buchan won two of the three races, with his surprise opponent being 2012 European Le Mans Series champion Mathias Beche.

Canada

Nissan ambasaddor Olivier Bedard (as a result of being a three-time Canadian Micra Cup champion) finally added a single-seater title to his resume by dominating the Ontario-based Toyo Tires F1600, which utilises Ford and Honda engines.

The season began at Mosport with a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle between Exclusive Autosport’s Bedard and Britain West Motorsport’s Zachary Vanier, who would later pick up the Team Canada Scholarship to race in the FFord Festival. A technical issue prevented Vanier from challenging Bedard all the way to the flag, and he finished behind Bedard in the other two races.

At Calabogie there were two track layouts used, and Bedard went unbeaten on both. Indy Pro 2000 star Daniel Frost, from Singapore, cameoed and took two podiums.

Bedard took another triple win on the second Mosport visit, but it was Vanier who was on top at Shannonville – where two layouts were also used. Vanier won the first race from pole, while Bedard’s engine cover flew off mid-race and ended up in the pitlane. It was Bedard who won the second race, after Varnier blew his pole advantage by going off on the first lap.

There was even more drama in race three, where Vanier hunted down Bedard and the pair fought through the last lap for victory. Bedard had just kept his lead out of the final corner, but his gearbox failed down the pit straight and Vanier won.

The absence of Bedard for the penultimate Mosport visit meant Vanier took three wins and the points lead. Bedard edged his rival to pole and victory in the first race of the season finale, and got another win in race two thanks to a NASCAR-style green-white-chequered flag finish that enabled him to pass Vanier for the lead.

A similar finish enabled Vanier to take revenge in the title decider, but Bedard was crowned a double champion. Along with a support event atthe Trois-Rivieres Grand Prix, the season finale formed part of the accompanying Super Series – the opening race of which was won by former International Formula 3000 racer and Atlantics race-winner Bertrand Godin.

James Lindsay won the FF1600-spec ‘B’ class in the Toyo championship and finished sixth overall in the Super Series.

The rivalling Quebec-based Formula Tour 1600 was convincingly won by Bedard, including both Canadian GP support races at Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve.

France

The FF1600 Trophy continued its international series, with visits to Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps to Zolder.

Old School Racing Team dominated the championship this year, and went for potential over experience with its driver line-up.

Adrien Laissac raced in motorcross and Legends for fun before switching to FFord part-time last year, but he almost immediately won. The 25-year-old was hired for a full season this year, along with 16-year-old karting graduate Milan De Laet.

Laissac won both FF1600 races from pole in the Ledenon season opener, and made it four in a row at Dijon in races that included torride weather and red flags in between battles with fellow Van Diemen RF92 driver De Laet. At Albi, Old School boss Geoffrey Horion jumped in a modern car and pipped Laissac to one win, but was bettered by his hire in the second race.

In July, Laissac took over the modern car to make a BRSCC National FF1600 appearance at Croft. Shortly after he had surgery on an unattended injury that had become infected, putting him out for the rest of the season.

De Laet went from 32nd on the grid to third overall at Spa-Francorchamps, with his driver coach Toon Bosmans taking over Laissac’s car and finishing just behind on his debut. The first win for De Laet came at Zolder, and he then shared the Kent-engined successes with Gislain Genecand at the tricky Charade circuit.

At the Val de Vienne finale, De Laet was crowned champion over Xavier Michel, who won the Continental FF1600 Cup. Laissac slipped to ninth in the standings, although he outscored all but Arnaud Dousse of the FF1800 entrants.

New Zealand

The battle to succeed the likes of Scott Dixon, Shane van Gisbergen and current Red Bull junior Liam Lawson as New Zealand FFord champion went down to the final lap of the final race of the season at Pukehoke.

Jordan Michels took the title with five wins out of 15, but it was six-time winner Josh Bethune who had the upper hand by six points entering the all-important final race.

Bethune had led the standings from the season opening race, and bagged pole (and an extra two points) for the three-race season finale. He beat Michels to victory in the first race, but had to settle for third behind rookie Callum Crawley and Michels in race two.

Michels had crashed heavily in free practice and borrowed spares from his opposition to continue his weekend, and lined up fifth for the title decider. He had only passed America’s Spike Kohlbecker prior to the last lap of the race, having not been able to catch the three-way fight for victory between Bethune, Crawley and Class B champion James Penrose.

Just a few corners away from title glory, Bethune spun out while fighting for the lead. Penrose also dropped down the order, with Michels crossing the line in second behind Crawley and taking a dramatic title win.

Bethune took his revenge in the South Island championship, where he won the title for a second year in a row. After his last lap crash in NZ FFord at Pukehoke, Bethune had to switch to an older car for the SI title decider at Timaru but this time his championship was all but secured.

He qualified and finished fifth in all three races of the season finale, while Michels took pole and won the first two races. He was beaten to victory by secondary class champion Penrose in the final race, which looks likely to be his last race in FFord.

Crawley won the equivalent North Island title at the start of the year, despite engine issues that plagued him throughout 2019. He failed to qualify for the NI title decider at Taupo, but went from 13th to fifth within one lap of racing getting underway and took a triple win to win the title – in rather stressful circumstances.

A terminal engine prevented him from winning the NI Winter Series, with Billy Frazer snatching the crown despite his own problems at the title decider due to an oil pressure sensor and some dramatic races.

South Africa

De facto the lead single-seater series in Africa, South African F1600 crowned a two-time champion this year in Scott Temple, who was usually up against fellow past champions Nicholas Van Weely and Julian Van der Watt, a USF2000 racer last year.

The season kicked off at the idyllic Dezzi Raceway, with Andrew Rackstraw taking a double pole in the damp. An immediate off at the start of the season opener sent him to the back of the field though, and Van Weely comfortably beat Temple to win.

Rackstraw took his first win in race two, holding off Sauber-backed Stuwie White and Temple as Van Weely fell down the grid.

With White absent for French F4, Temple took an easy pole at Zwartkops and then a double win after race one winner Rackstraw was penalised for a jumped start.

The nearly-70-year-old Killarney circuit held round three, where another Rackstraw jumped start led to two more Tempe wins. At Aldo Scribante Circuit, Temple once again hauled in the points with a double win.

Van der Watt was back for the second Zwartkops trip, and gave Temple something to think about by beating him in qualifying and both races. Temple extended his points lead over Van Weely, but now had a more serious threat. At East London it was much of the same, but this time Temple showed his racing mettle to take a win by the slimmest of margins. Retirement for Van Weely in the second race, which Van der Watt won, guaranteed Temple the title.

Another fighting drive from Temple almost denied Van der Watt a double win at Killarney – he came 0.089 seconds short. Red Star Raceway held the season finale, which champion Temple skipped to focus on his prize Walter Hayes Trophy drive. This made life easier for Van Weely, whose two second places behind Van der Watt meant he held on to second in the points.

In 2018, the FFord Kent title was decided post-season by a technicality, putting the two title contenders under the spotlight. They were relegated from the headlines this year by Jonathan Nash and Dean Venter.

They shared the wins at the Phakisa Freeway season opener, but Nash’s Zwartkops hopes were over after an engine failure in practice. Venter took pole in his absence but stalled and caused race one to be red flagged before winning the restarted race.

Reigning champion David Jerny edged ahead to win race two, before Nash took a double at Red Star – only made possible after a rival lent him an engine. Jerny’s 2018 rival Andrew Horne returned to the series and Temple drove in place of Nash on the second Phakisa trip, which contained two thrilling and super-close back-to-back races won by Venter and Horne.

Venter won the title after neither he or Nash turned up for the Red Star season finale, leaving Dalan Holton to control the weekend and move into third in the standings.

United Kingdom

For a second year in a row, Team Dolan’s Van Diemen RF99 chassis blew away the field in BRSCC National FF1600, but this time it was two-time Scottish champion Ross Martin at the wheel rather than Niall Murray.

The action at the start of the season was dwarfed by the announcement that Formula 1 Esports champion Brendon Leigh would be racing, but his results didn’t match the hype as Martin and Cliff Dempsey Racing’s Spike Kohlbecker set the pace.

Five wins out of six at Anglesey and Croft put Martin comfortably ahead in the mid-season standings, and wins for title rivals Kohlbecker and Kevin Mills Racing’s Neil Maclennan did nothing to lessen that advantage.

Michael Eastwell, the ’18 runner-up, ended a racing sabbatical for the overseas trip to Northern Ireland’s Kirkistown and scored his first win, where CDR’s Jonathan Browne and two-time FFord Festival winner Ivor McCullough also topped the podium.

Eastwell took a second of the season at Silverstone, as did B-M Racing’s Rory Smith, sandwiching a stunning last-to-first win for Don Hardman Racing’s returning Joey Foster. Martin was guaranteed the title if he didn’t attend the Brands Hatch season finale, which proved to be the case, although a win in the final race meant Kohlbecker actually outscored him.

Four years after his last success, B-M’s Tom McArthur took the BRSCC Northern title despite missing two of the seven rounds. He was pitted against Myerscough College’s Jack Wolfenden, who failed to win a race, and Sammarinese part-timer Davide Meloni, who showed hugely improved form from 2018 to take two wins.

Josh Fisher took his third Castle Combe club title, which puts him one off Gavin Wills’ and Bob Higgins’ record.

United States

Brandon Dixon was the man to beat for the second time in three years in F2000 Championship Series, although the first of his two wins at the Road Atlanta season opener came after just three laps of running behind the safety car.

He was kept off the top step at Watkins Glen by Misha Goikhberg and Steve Jenks, who won in the rain after poleman Peter Gonzalez ground to a halt on the final lap and Goikhberg span off while battling for victory.

Dixon was denied a double win at Mid-Ohio by cameoing former Indy Pro 2000 racer Brandon Newey, and then by series legend Tim Minor at Virginia International Raceway – who also won the SCCA National Runoff in Formula Continental.

The considerably less experienced Andrew Dobbie was Dixon’s chief opposition at Pittsburgh, taking two poles and a win on his second F2000 appearance. Jenks shared the wins at Summit Point with Dixon, who had the title all but assured. Almost all of the championship frontrunners skipped the New Jersey Motorsports Park season finale, which Dixon dominated with ease.

Pacific F2000 also crowned a double champion in Jason Reichert, who won eight of the 10 races he entered. British pensioner Peter West was runner-up, ahead of Harindra de Silva and Chinese driver Sicheng Li, who won three times.

Team USA scholar Jonathan Kotyk defended his 2018 SCCA National Runoffs – Formula F victory this year with K-Hill Motorsports, which also signed him to contest F1600 Championship Series.

Fellow Team USA scholar and Team Pelfrey drive Josh Green was his main rival, and the pair were unbeaten in the first 12 races of the season. F2000 driver Simon Sikes stepped down a category and interrupted that run at Pittsburgh, and when their dominance resumed it was Kotyk who had the advantage in the remaining six races.

The rest

Lucas Daugaard troubled the Formula 4 drivers in Denmark from the off in their shared races, and 14 of his 22 wins in the winged Danish F4 Lights came with overall top five finishes. At the twisty Jyllandsringen he even made it on to the F4 podium.

Jussi Kuivakangas finished eighth in one Formula Academy Finland race in his FFord car, and would have raced in the Estonian Grand Prix had the single-seater element not been cancelled.

Riddled by poor grid sizes, FFord Portugal nevertheless visited some iconic circuits and supported some major international events. Antonio Almeida won the first four racs of the season and the Zetec class title, while Antonio Correia took his older car to a double success at Algarve and topped the Funspeed points.

David McCullough, brother of Ivor, won the Northern Irish title and Martin Donnelly Trophy at Kirkistown. Taking just over half the wins on the way to his first Scottish title was Jordan Gronkowski.

Raghul Rangasamy made it back-to-back titles in India’s MRF F1600, although couldn’t redeem his Civic Cup UK prize drive.

Further reading
Jordan Dempsey dominates disrupted Walter Hayes Trophy final (November 2019)
Jonathan Browne wins Formula Ford Festival in dominant style (October 2019)
What drivers could learn from Jamie Chadwick’s FF1600 return (October 2019)
Bernard Dolan: making stars of the future using lessons from the past (February 2019)
Denmark: doing single-seaters differently (December 2018)

The post 2019 International Formula Ford season review appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Australian Formula Ford champion Hunter McElrea will drive in USF2000 next year after winning the Mazda Road to Indy Shootout and its $200,000 scholarship prize.

The 19-year-old New Zealander has been racing in FFord in Australia and New Zealand for four years, and won his ticket to the Shootout by winning the national title in Australia.

He was also in contention to be a part of this year’s Team USA Scholarship, having been born in California, but prioritised his FFord commitments over the shootout for that scholarship.

McElrea’s long term motorsport ambitions lie in America, with the IndyCar title at the top of his priorities, and his 2019 USF2000 drive will bring him into the IndyCar support paddock. He recently topped the Homestead-Miami and Chris Griffis championship tests.

To win the MRTI Shootout, McElrea had to beat 19 other drivers, which was narrowed down to a final race of six towards the end of two days of examination and on-track runs. The final included BRSCC National FF1600 runner-up Michael Eastwell, Scottish FF1600 champion Ross Martin, Team USA scholars Jake Craig and Braden Eves, and Flinn Lazier, the Formula Enterprises 2 winner in the SCCA National Runoffs.

CV

Age 19
D/O/B November 21, 1999
Country New Zealand

Car Racing
2018:?Australian FFord champion (13 wins, 3 poles, 7 fastest laps)
2017: 4th in Australian FFord (2 wins, 2 poles, 3 fastest laps)
2016: 4th in Queensland FFord (6 wins, 2 poles, 5 fastest laps), 5th in Queensland FF1600 (6 wins, 1 pole, 3 fastest laps),?9th in Australian FFord
2015: 9th in Queensland FFord (2 wins, 1 pole)

The post Australian FFord champion Hunter McElrea wins MRTI Shootout appeared first on Formula Scout.