Wayne Boyd has won the 2008 British Formula Ford Championship at Donington Park this weekend with 634 points, 50 points ahead of runner up and Jamun racing team-mate Tim Blanchard. Ulsterman Wayne has dominated the competitive BFFC field this year with the Jamun Racing team, achieving 14 victories and 20 pole positions.
He headed to the season finale with a 36-point margin and in a thrilling showdown Wayne, who celebrates his 18th birthday this month, took the Championship challenge down to the wire with his 21-year-old Australian title rival and team-mate, Tim Blanchard. On Saturday Wayne looked calm and confident, taking pole position for the first race with a lap time of 1m 10.367s in Qualifying to sit in front of Getem’s Chris Maliepaard and Matt Hamilton of JTR on the grid in the afternoon.
After a good start from the green lights for round 23, Wayne fought an exciting, but sensible race in tricky wet track conditions. With his title rival Blanchard out of the hunt in the early stages of the race, Wayne took the level headed decision to finish with a points haul rather than risk it all when he came under pressure from both Victor Correa and the Fluid Motorsport of David Brown at the end of the penultimate lap. The third place podium finish left Wayne needing only one point from the remaining two races to secure the BFCC title.
After a commanding start to Sunday’s proceedings, Wayne was awarded the title crown in round 24 of the Championship. From pole position he once again drove a measured race to ensure that he would come home in the points. Wayne crossed the finish line in second place ahead of Tim Blanchard.
The podium finish meant that Wayne’s claim to the title was secure and he was named 2008 British Formula Ford Champion. The third race this afternoon was a Formula Ford classic. With plenty of overtaking and position manoeuvres, Wayne fought through from fourth place to second and broke the lap record with a fastest time of 1m 10.8s.
Wayne Boyd, 2008 British Formula Ford Champion “
Qualifying went very well and we did exactly what we set out to achieve with two poles. In the first race I led the whole way until the last lap, but I was not prepared to take as many risks in the damp conditions as the other drivers were because Tim (Blanchard) had retired and I took the decision not to battle for the win, which isn’t like me, but I had to think about the bigger picture and the Championship win. The second race was really exciting, but I wasn’t prepared to push as hard as the other drivers were. I was determined to come home in the points and win the title so that it was not all down to the very last race.
“Winning the Formula Ford Championship means everything to me, three podiums and the lap record in the last round at Donington is brilliant. We have been dominant all year and to wrap up the championship like this is amazing. I would like to thank the Jamun Racing team for all their hard work and everybody who has supported me. Sadly I won’t be able to party with the team tonight as I have a test tomorrow, but roll on 2009!”
