In atrocious conditions at Zandvoort (Sunday), Danish driver Dennis Lind came out on top to win the second Formula Ford race of the weekend and the eighth round of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain. In a race that was red-flagged after 10 laps, the Fluid Motorsport Van Diemen pilot claimed victory from Cliff Dempsey Racing's Scott Malvern, who leaves the Dutch track with a championship lead extended to 43 points.
The Formula Ford race rounded off a great day of racing at the former Grand Prix circuit in the North Sea dunes which attracted a crowd of 43,000. Race day started off in bright sunshine, but rain set in during the afternoon and before the Formula Ford race, the track was really wet. As a result, the clerk of the course decided to allow two formation laps to enable the drivers to familiarize themselves with the changed conditions.
Starting from pole, Jamun Racing driver Josh Hill took the lead, followed by Malvern, Lind and Dutch championship driver Rogier Jongejans. On lap two, Lind overtook Malvern for second and soon inherited the lead as Hill slid off the slippery track and dropped back to 24th. Hill was by no means the only victim of the adverse conditions: on lap three, Jake Cook and James Tucker independently spun into retirement. Other drivers having troubles included Raysport's Tristan Mingay, JTR driver Tio Elinas and Dutch driver Jean-Paul van Dongen.
Out in front, Lind's first place was undisputed, but Malvern had to defend his second place from a charging Jongejans. Danish driver Vestergaard drove one fastest lap after another in fourth place and also closed up to Jongejans.
More drivers spinning off the track caused the clerk of the course to bring the red flag out on lap 10. As usual, the classification after nine laps was the basis for the results with Lind winning from Malvern, Jongejans and Nils Vestergaard. The latter two not being eligible to score in the British series, Saturday race victor Daniel Cammish, who was placed fifth overall, took the points for third place and the final step on the podium.
Jamun drivers Emil Bernstorff and Jeroen Slaghekke were fourth and fifth among the British championship finishers, ahead of Antti Buri and Malvern's Ray-driving team-mate Cormac O'Neill.
After a good recovery, Hill made it across the finish line in eighth, three places ahead of Scott Pye, who had come from the back of the grid following a technical problem in qualifying. As on Saturday, Scholarship Class honours were taken by Mexican driver Dani Domit, who moves to second in the standings within 10 points of class leader Luke Williams, who failed to finish today.
Race winner Lind commented: "Racing in these conditions was really difficult. On the opening lap, I tried to overtake as many people as possible. The red rear lights from other cars were the only orientation."
Provisional resultsDunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great BritainRound 8 (of 25) Zandvoort 6/6/20109 laps / 24.09 milesPos Driver Nat/Home Team/Chassis Time1 Dennis Lind DEN/Roskilde Fluid/Van Diemen 18m 01.358s / 77.16mph2 Scott Malvern GBR/Ilford Dempsey/Ray +5.301s3 Daniel Cammish GBR/Leeds JTR/Mygale +18.368s4 Emil Bernstorff DEN/Cascais Jamun/Mygale +20.808s5 Jeroen Slaghekke NED/Wassenaar Jamun/Mygale +22.488s6 Antti Buri FIN/Masku Enigma/Mygale +23.095sScholarship class: Dani Domit MEX/Mexico City +1m 16.386sFastest lap: Lind 1m 58.109s
Provisional championship placings1 Malvern 197 points; 2 Cammish 154; 3 Scott Pye (AUS/Jamun) 145; 4 Buri 140; 5 Jake Cook (GBR/Getem) 117; 6 Josh Hill (GBR/Jamun) 107 etc.Scholarship class 1 Luke Williams (GBR/Juno) 151; 2 Domit 141; 3 Tristan Mingay (GBR/Ray) 109 etc.
