Tie for times at the top between JTR's Jayde Kruger & Falcon's Harrison ScottRicky Collard leading Scholarship class contender ahead of weekend's openers
Formula Ford’s action-fuelled new season got underway in the best possible style at Brands Hatch yesterday with an ultra-close pair of test sessions. By the end of nearly 90 minutes of running the top two competitors – JTR’s Jayde Kruger and Falcon Motorsport man Harrison Scott – could not be split by the timekeepers.
Both Kruger and Scott set 45.234s lap times around the 1.2-mile Brands Indy circuit, with JTR man Sam Brabham just a hundredth behind them on 45.244s. Less than a quarter-second covered the top seven runners in the 15-car field.
“I can’t believe that Harrison and I set exactly the same time, to the thousandth,” said South African racer Kruger. “Hopefully there will be a bit more of a gap between us tomorrow…”
Scott set his quick time after recovering from a minor electrical fire in the cockpit. “I was battling a few problems today,” he grinned, “but it was good to be on the pace, and we still have plenty of areas where we know we can improve things, so it stands to be even closer tomorrow.”
Brabham, who led the way in the first, rather more damp session of the day, added: “It’s all very close. I was very pleased to be in front in the first session and with the way the car is handling. We’ll see what happens in qualifying tomorrow.”
Max Marshall made it three JTR EcoBoost Mygales in the top four, the Leicestershire racer recovering well from a first-session issue with a loose rear wheel. Argentina’s Juan Rosso completed the top five for Radical Sportscars, saying: “I couldn’t believe it when they showed me a pit board that I was only a tenth down, but still only P5. It’s so close it’s unbelievable. Tomorrow it will be a war.”
The leading driver new to the championship was Jamun Racing’s Jack Barlow, sixth, just ahead of the top men in the Scholarship class for rookies, Ricky Collard and Chris Mealin. “The car’s going really well,” said Falcon man Collard. “My goal this weekend is to make the top three – I don’t feel quite near that yet but we’ll find out in qualifying…”
Official qualifying for the opening rounds of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain is scheduled for 0900 Saturday, with races one and two of the weekend following this afternoon
