Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Matheus Leist emerged from a chaotic final MSA Formula race of the weekend at Silverstone with his second win of the season.

The Brazilian started on the front row alongside championship leader Lando Norris, but was bumped down to third by a fast-starting Toby Sowery at the first corner.

He was into the lead by the end of lap two though, after Norris and Sowery collided at Brooklands under what appeared to be safety car conditions – or waved yellow flags at the very least – as marshals dealt with the aftermath of opening-lap carnage at the same corner.

That had begun with Ricky Collard tipping Dan Ticktum into a spin, before Tarun Reddy, Sandy Mitchell and Rafa Martins came together in a chain reaction.

Sennan Fielding also dropped out of the race after slowing with a reported gearbox issue.

At the restart, Leist led from Colton Herta, and the Brazilian stayed ahead until the chequered flag, winning by 0.671 seconds.

Collard restarted in third place but with serious front wing damage that slowed him down and allowed his Arden team-mate Enaam Ahmed to get by.

With Norris a lap down after having to pit, Collard was on course to take the championship lead if he could finish fourth but he too would pit with four laps to go and did not return to the fray.

James Pull was on course for fourth before a clash with his former JTR team-mate Dan Baybutt at Copse. That promoted Darius Karbaley to fourth, a considerable improvement on his previous best finish of ninth and coming after two weekends away from the series.

Louise Richardson survived contact with Petru Florescu early on to end up fifth in front of Jack Butel and Florescu, while Baybutt and Greg Holloway rounded out the nine lead-lap finishers.

Norris was able to take the finish one lap down in 10th, and added an extra point to his advantage over Collard, meaning he heads to the Brands Hatch finale with an 11-point margin. Herta has climbed to third in the standings ahead of Fielding and Ticktum.

UPDATE: Tictkum has been excluded from the whole Silverstone weekend for overtaking under the safety car and then colliding with Collard. He has had six penalty points added to his license and the incident has been referred to the MSA for further action. Sowery has been given a five-place grid drop for his next race and received three points.

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Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Carlin’s Colton Herta was victorious in MSA Formula race three at Rockingham, leading every lap of the running.

The American held the lead off the line ahead of teammate Lando Norris, while row?two saw Sennan Fielding get a better jump off the line than?Daniel Ticktum, only to run wide at turn one and hit the wall.

Following a short safety car stint, Herta had?no problems at the restart and soon pulled away from the battling duo of Ticktum and Norris, the latter trying to reclaim the second place he lost right before the safety car stint.

He eventually completed the pass on his opponent and started to go after his teammate.

The gap?of four seconds slowly disappeared as the race went on but once Norris got behind Herta, the clock ticked down, not giving him a chance to overtake.

After being demoted to third, Ticktum was under attack from the third Carlin driver of the field, Petru Florescu.

The Romanian was all over the rookie leader but Ticktum managed to stay ahead despite running two seconds slower during the final lap.

Florescu did?not find a way through and had to settle for fifth following a last-lap overtake from Toby Sowery.

Matheus Leist finished sixth, followed by James Pull and Ricky Collard, who recovered from the last position.

Louise Richardson grabbed ninth as the top ten was completed by Josh Smith.

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Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Ricky Collard triumphed in the third MSA Formula race at Knockhill and retook?the championship lead from Lando Norris.

Lining up?third on the grid, Collard quickly made his way past Norris and settled in for second behind Dan Ticktum.

However, the Fortec driver’s woeful weekend continued as he received a drive-through penalty for a jump start.

As such, Collard became the race leader, followed by Colton Herta.

The Brit managed to maintain a one-second lead for a couple of laps?before having to deal with increasing pressure from Herta.

However, just as Herta looked to make a move, the safety car made an appearance, triggered by Petru Florescu.

The Romanian’s race saw?a premature end when an overtaking attempt on Josh Smith ended in a collision between the duo and his car stranded on the track.

A rocketing restart from Collard enabled him to pull away from Herta and the Arden driver was set to take the checkered flag with a comfortable lead.

Although a mistake on the penultimate lap made that gap disappear, he finished first nonetheless, closely followed by Herta.

Sennan Fielding rounded out the podium, which is his 11th consecutive top four finish in the series.

Arden duo Enaam Ahmed and Sandy Mitchell took fourth and fifth respectively, while Rafa Martins passed Norris during the closing stages of the race for sixth.

Although the penalty initially relegated him to 16th, Ticktum completed a great recovery race to finish eighth as the top ten was rounded out by Louise Richardson and Josh Smith.

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Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Dan Ticktum claimed the spoils in the final MSA Formula race at Croft after race-long pressure from Lando Norris and Ricky Collard.

Ticktum had taken the chequered flag first in the opening race of the weekend but was later excluded for final-corner contact with Norris.

Norris started from pole again in the final race but Ticktum alongside him got the better launch to pull fully ahead before they got to the first corner.

Fortec’s Ticktum was pursed by Carlin racer Norris and Arden’s championship leader Collard from there onwards, with the trio running absolutely nose-to-tail for the most part.

Norris was unable to find a way past Ticktum however, and would lose out to his title rival Collard with three minutes remaining after a slow exit from the hairpin.

Ticktum had a half-second lead over Collard going onto the final lap and held on to score his third win of the season and his first since round two at Donington in April.

Norris finished a second behind the winner in third, and is now 21 points behind Collard with Ticktum a further 10 back.

Sennan Fielding passed the other Carlin cars of Colton Herta and Petru Florescu to take fourth.

The move on Herta was completed when the American ran wide onto the grass and dropped down to eighth, behind Louise Richardson and Matheus Leist. Later contact with Leist at the first corner sent Herta into a spin and down to 15th.

Sandy Mitchell, Tarun Reddy and Dan Baybutt completed the top 10.

After taking his maiden victory in race two, Josh Smith retired to the pits at the end of the first lap.

Race results

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Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Josh Smith scored his maiden single-seater victory in the second, reverse-grid MSA Formula race at Croft.

Smith, who is supported by the Racing Steps Foundation, started from pole after taking eighth in race one and the Fortec driver?confidently kept that position until the checkered flag.

Fellow front-row starter?Colton Herta?also maintained his place in the order, but had to face pressure from Louise Richardson towards the end.

Richardson, similarly to Smith, also celebrated her maiden podium finish in the series after stealing third from Matheus Leist?at?the start.

The Brazilian was unable to counter attack and spent most of the race in fourth. Moreover, he dropped another place as Sennan Fielding made a move on him in the dying minutes.

Tarun Reddy secured sixth, having to keep race one winner Daniel Ticktum at bay, and they were closely followed by Arden duo Sandy Mitchell and Enaam Ahmed.

The top ten was completed by JTR’s Daniel Baybutt.

Title contenders Ricky Collard and Lando Norris both had to recover from the lower?positions and finished only 12th and 13th respectively. Collard was seventh on the grid?but was forced start from the pitlane, while Norris lined up 17th as a result of a last-corner incident with Ticktum in race one.

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Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Dan Ticktum claimed a last-gasp victory in the opening MSA Formula race at Croft after contact at the final corner with erstwhile leader Lando Norris.

Norris had been set for a second straight victory in the series, having led from pole position.

Fellow front row starter and single-seater rookie Ticktum had remained within a second of Norris throughout and was closing that gap in the closing stages.

Six tenths separated the duo going onto the last of 15 laps but Ticktum then gained further ground to be in a position to challenge Norris at the hairpin at the end of the lap.

Contact was made that put Norris out of the race on the spot while Ticktum provisionally claimed a first win since Donington in April, though the stewards are inevitably investigating the incident.

Fielding declared winner of first Croft MSA Formula race

A fast start from Sennan Fielding lifted him from fifth on the grid to third past championship leader Ricky Collard, but the pair swapped positions again at the end with Collard second and Fielding third.

Tarun Reddy claimed his best result of the season in fourth. The Indian driver started back in eighth but made up two places on lap one and then another on the following tour.

Louise Richardson improved considerably upon her previous best to take a fine fifth, passing fourth-placed starter Petru Florescu shortly before the Romanian retired to the pits.

Matheus Leist was sixth ahead of Colton Herta, Josh Smith, Sandy Mitchell and Enaam Ahmed, who climbed from 15th to 10th.

Provisional race results

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Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Lando Norris repeated his performance from the previous round to collect two further MSA Formula pole positions at Croft.

Norris took the lead with about six minutes left on the clock and a lack of improvements afterwards allowed him to stay first until the checkered flag.

Daniel Ticktum will join him on the front row of race one as he was less than a tenth behind the Carlin driver.

Despite topping the timesheets at halfway point, Ricky Collard was demoted to third later on as the top five was completed by the Carlin duo of Petru Florescu and Colton Herta.

However, a five-place grid penalty for the American for contact in the last race will relegate him to tenth on the grid.

As such, JHR’s Sennan Fielding inherits fifth, followed by Louise Richardson and Matheus Leist.

Indian Tarun Reddy and Scot Sandy Mitchell rounded out the top ten drivers and will start the first race from eighth and ninth respectively.

The order for race three determined by the second best times sees an identical top three – Norris, Ticktum and Collard. Herta and Florescu switched places and this time the American can keep his position.

The rest of the top ten is Fielding, Leist, Richardson, Mitchell and Leist.

Qualifying results

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Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Dan Baybutt upstaged the favourites to claim a last-gasp pole position for the first ever MSA Formula race at Brands Hatch.

At the very end of a damp session, JTR driver Baybutt went 0.318 seconds quicker than erstwhile leader Lando Norris, who set his best time with six minutes remaining.

World karting champion Norris will start on pole for the third race of the weekend due to having the quickest second-best time.

The JTR drivers came on strong as the session reached its climax, with James Pull having moved up into second behind Norris on his penultimate lap before Baybutt knocked him down to third. Brazilian Matheus Leist led at one stage before being shuffled down to fourth.

Pull and Leist will move forward to second and third respectively on the grid for race three, with Baybutt back in fourth.

Dan Ticktum was fifth quickest, while Louise Richardson claimed a considerably impressive sixth for her family team at the chequered flag, just a day after driving the MSA Formula car for the first time.

Another late addition to the grid Jack Barlow wound up seventh for MBM Motorsport ahead of Enaam Ahmed, with Sennan Fielding and Tarun Reddy completing the top ten.

Race three will see Ahmed up in fifth ahead of Barlow, Ticktum, Fielding, Ricky Collard and Richardson.

Qualifying results

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It’s given a new lease of life to the old Formula Ford championship, which had struggled with numbers and producing star names through its later years, but utilises the same engine in a new car from Mygale.

The grid has a healthy 21 drivers confirmed before the opening round, and it’s headlined by a several exciting British talents out of the top drawer of karting with realistic Formula 1 ambitions. That’s been helped by attracting big-name teams like Carlin, Arden and Fortec, and by reducing the minimum age to 15.

The series continues as a support series to the popular British Touring Car Championship, exposing the drivers to big crowds and live television audiences.

While some have benefited from a full pre-season testing schedule, many deals have come together late and the grid has fallen a fair way short of the ambitious number of 32 that was planned, with the Pyro and Scorpio teams missing altogether at present. Costs may well have played their part and something that needs to be monitored closely with the rival BRDC series getting an FIA-spec car next year.

But for now, both the depth and quality of the field is a vast improvement on before, and an exciting first season of MSA Formula lies ahead. Here’s PaddockScout’s guide to the teams and drivers.

Carlin

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Carlin’s massive reputation in the junior single-seater world meant its three seats were always going to be in demand as it made its return to national entry-level racing for the first time since Formula BMW in 2007, and it quickly secured an exciting trio of youngsters.

The world karting champion last year at 14, Lando Norris was always going to be the hottest property on the MSA Formula market and so it was little surprise to see him land with Carlin. He’s benefited from a full winter of preparation, has been among the pace-setters in testing and although he’s new to single-seaters, he does have the benefit of a year on the British Touring Car Championship support package in Ginetta Juniors.

Colton Herta only reached the minimum age for the series, 15, this week but is actually one of the more experienced drivers in the field having raced single-seaters since 2013 in his native United States. Son of IndyCar team owner and ex-racer Bryan Herta, he won the Pacific FF1600 title that year and in 2014 competed in USF2000. Like Norris, he’s been one of the leaders in testing and has had plenty of running on the various UK circuits.

Carlin’s third driver is Romanian Petru Florescu, whose single-seater debut marks a return to racing after seriously injuring his legs karting at the start of last year. Before then he was a frontrunner in European KF3 competition, finished runner-up in the WSK Final Cup in 2013 and ninth in the world championship. The 16-year-old hasn’t quite rivalled his team-mates’ pace, but should go well all the same.

Arden

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Arden is another of Britain’s big junior single-seater squads to put its faith in MSA Formula, with the team founded by Christian Horner continuing its recent rapid expansion to dip its toes into this level of the ladder for the first time.

It won the race to secure the signature of the second of Britain’s world karting champions last year, junior title winner Enaam Ahmed. He was also European champion and won the WSK Super Master Series and Champions Cup. In ex-Clio champion Phil Glew he has a manager that knows the BTCC support package very well, and even gave the MSA Formula car an early shakedown. Ahmed looked a little off the pace compared to some in testing, but with his reputation it wouldn’t be a surprise for him to be fighting near the front.

Perhaps Arden’s strongest contender though will be Ricky Collard. Unlike most in the field, he’s got the benefit of having competed in Formula Ford last year, finishing seventh in the standings with five outright podiums. There might be drivers with more potential on the grid, but the son of BTCC frontrunner Rob Collard has gone well in testing and could be the one to beat early on if the newcomers need time to get up to speed.

Completing Arden’s trio is Sandy Mitchell. He’s a relative unknown in comparison to global karting superstars, but he has an impressive record himself in Scottish and British competition, culminating in the British Super 1 Rotax crown last year. He’s something of an Arden protege as a product of their Young Racing Driver Academy, and has looked very quick in testing.

Fortec Motorsports

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Fortec was a little later than Carlin and Arden in getting its MSA Formula programme on track and only has two drivers signed so far, but they have the advantage of having been successful at this sort of level, both in Formula Renault 2.0 and also Formula BMW.

They didn’t get one of the karting world champions, but they did get the next best thing in Dan Ticktum. Like Norris and Ahmed, Ticktum was one of our ten karting stars to watch last year, and was a frontrunner at international KFJ level for three years. Part of the same Infinity management stable as BRDC F4 champion George Russell, Ticktum tested well in that series and after settling on MSA Formula due to its lower minimum age, he’s been rapid here too. After playing second fiddle to Norris and Ahmed in karts, he could well get the upper hand in cars.

Fortec’s other driver is Josh Smith, the latest protege of the Racing Steps Foundation. It has seen enough from the IAME X30 Junior International champion to promote him into single-seaters with Fortec, just as it did with Ben Barnicoat, Jake Dennis, Oliver Rowland, Jack Harvey and James Calado before. He’s not shown quite the same pace as Ticktum in testing, but will be worth keeping an eye on all the same as he gets more experience.

Double R

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Double R team boss Anthony Hieatt has used his global connections to secure a full trio of drivers from overseas in time for the opening round. The team knows what its doing and although the drivers have only had a combined total of two days of running between them from the six days of official pre-season testing, all three do have at least a season of single-seaters under their belt.

Tarun Reddy was the team’s first signing, but focussing on his education back home in India has meant he’s done no pre-season testing. Hieatt, who’s worked with him in the MRF Challenge, and his coach Rupert Svendsen-Cook both rate him, and he scored three podiums in Protyre Formula Renault 2.0 last year. That experience and speed should hopefully negate some of his lack of mileage in the new car.

Brazilians Gustavo Myasava and Matheus Leist have done a day of testing each at Oulton Park and Silverstone respectively and showed speed, both placing inside the top seven. Both have F3 experience too from their native country; Myasava finished third in 2013 before going onto USF2000 and also has MRF history, while Leist was runner-up in the B-class last year with three overall podiums.

JTR

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

JTR was the team to beat in the final years of Formula Ford GB, taking drivers to the final three titles. The squad, run by Porsche LMP1 driver Nick Tandy and founded by his late brother Joe, will have its work cut out now with the arrival of bigger teams. The driver line-up lacks experience, but includes two promising karters who looked quick in testing.

The first of those, and benefiting from a full pre-season under his belt, is James Pull. The British-Singaporean has a strong resume including eighth in the 2013 CIK-FIA International Super Cup and the 2014 WSK Super Master Series in KFJ.

Joining him is Dan Baybutt, a frontrunner in the MSA’s Junior TKM and Formula KGP classes in karting over the past three seasons. While keeping JTR at the front is a tough ask for either Pull or Baybutt, both have been ever-present in the top ten in testing.

JTR’s third entry will be for Ameya Vaidyanathan. A newcomer to racing but with plenty of pre-season mileage, his MSA Formula running came with Pyro rather than JTR. He’ll miss the opening round, choosing to prioritise his programme in BRDC F4.

Falcon Motorsport

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Falcon was a frontrunner in Formula Ford, taking Harrison Scott to the runner-up position in 2013 and 2014, but it’s one of several teams whose MSA Formula programme has come together relatively late in the day. The team has had a couple of days on track itself with Connor Hall (pictured), but they will start the season with two other drivers who’ve had one test each with Richardson Racing.

Alexandra Marinescu from Romania is another to have raced in North America last year, in the Skip Barber Summer Series. She’s had tests at Brands Hatch in both an MSA Formula and BRDC F4 car, so won’t be in the deep end quite as much as she otherwise would have been.

Briton Darius Karbaley lacks car experience but has an encouraging karting record, coming fourth in the Kartmasters Rotax Max British Grand Prix in 2013 as well as fifth in the 2012 British KF3 championship.

MBM Motorsport

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

MBM is another leading Formula Ford squad to secure a driver just in time for Brands Hatch.

That driver is Jack Barlow, who raced for the team at the first and last rounds of last season at the Kent circuit, but was out of action in between after a testing crash and subsequent injury and budget concerns. A title contender in BRDC F4 in his first year out of karts in 2013, he’s had limited time in the new car but hopes his experience and speed will at least partly make up for the remaining mileage deficit to the competition.

SWB Motorsport

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

SWB is another outfit staying on from Formula Ford, and had both of their Brands Hatch drivers in place in time for a good amount of testing.

Rafael Martins arrives in Europe with some fine karting results in Brazil, as well as some international experience in last year’s CIK-FIA Academy Trophy.

Joining him is Jack Butel, who remains with SWB after racing in Protyre Formula Renault last year.

Richardson Racing

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Regular BTCC supports competitors, Richardson Racing has maintained a single-seater presence into MSA Formula. It’s tested several drivers in the new car in recent weeks but back behind the wheel for Brands Hatch is Louise Richardson with her family team.

She’s yet to drive the MSA Formula car, but Richardson does at least know Brands Hatch well, as a successful Ginetta Juniors and GT Supercup driver before she made her single-seater bow last year. She made strong progress as her time in Formula Ford went on last year, and will hope to continue that once she’s up to speed in MSA Formula.

JHR Developments

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

The JHR team may not be well known in single-seater circles, but its sole driver for the start of the season is. Sennan Fielding showed plenty of speed in F4-level machinery last year, finishing fourth in the BRDC series and also taking a guest win in Italy. The Mygale is a third new single-seater for him to get used to, but he’s shown no problem with that before.

What determines how well Fielding performs will be how JHR adapt in it’s first single-seater campaign for 20 years. It’s enjoyed plenty of recent success in other forms of racing with Ginetta titles, including taking Fielding to second in Juniors in 2012, but taking on Carlin and co. is another matter. JHR and Fielding have only done two test days, but P4 in Rockingham suggests they could be capable of some giant killing performances together.

Calendar

Brands Hatch (Indy) ? 4-5 April
Donington Park ? 18-19 April
Thruxton ? 9-10 May
Oulton Park ? 6-7 June
Croft ? 27-28 June
Snetterton ? 8-9 August
Knockhill ? 22-23 August
Rockingham ? 5-6 September
Silverstone ? 26-27 September
Brands Hatch (GP) ? 10-11 October

The post 2015 MSA Formula season preview appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: MSA Formula Ford Championship

Louise Richardson will take part in the MSA Formula’s inaugural race meeting at Brands Hatch.

Richardson, 22, will take to the track with family-run outfit Richardson Racing as their sole representative.

“Having not been in a car since the final round of Formula Ford last year, I?m really looking forward to finally getting back on track,? Richardson said. ?I?m hopeful that we won?t be too far off the pace but we?ll just have to see where we are come Friday morning and take it one step at a time from there. Ideally I just want to secure three good finishes and have a solid base to build on for the next round.”

After finishing her karting career with a third place in Super 1 National championship Rotax Mini Max class, Richardson made her car debut in Ginetta Juniors in 2009 and made it to third in the standings in the subsequent sophomore season.

She racked up five wins in Ginetta GT50s between 2011 and 2013 before joining British Formula Ford last year. She became a regular presence on the Scholarship class podium, ending the season in fourth in class standings.

Richardson Racing’s second car will be empty at Brands, but the team are hopeful of signing a driver by round two at Donington.

2015 MSA Formula line-up so far

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