Jayde Kruger leads Harrison Scott home for Round 1 honours, with Scott second again in Round 2 as James Abbott seizes victoryRicky Collard the Scholarship class victor in both events on his car-racing debutBRANDS HATCH, 29 MARCH, 2014 – A superb start to the new season of Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain saw two different race winners – Jayde Kruger for JTR and James Abbott for Radical – a third driver, Falcon’s Harrison Scott, in the lead of the championship, and a great showing from rookie racer Ricky Collard to bag a brace of Scholarship class victories.
The action continues at Brands today(Sunday) with a finale to the weekend to be televised live on ITV4.
Round 1 race reportJayde Kruger returned the JTR team to victory lane this afternoon at Brands Hatch, the South African delivering a superb performance to win the opening round. Kruger seized control of the race at the start, making a brilliant getaway from P2 on the grid to overhaul pole-sitter Harrison Scott into Paddock Hill Bend.
Scott, the reigning Scholarship class champion, tried everything he knew to find a way past his rival and pursued him for 26 frantic laps of the Brands Indy circuit, rarely more than half a second behind, all the way to the chequered flag.
The need to pass some backmarkers late in the race handed Falcon Motorsport man Scott a slim opportunity to pounce, and he closed right on to Kruger’s tail on several occasions. The wily South African had the answer to his every move, however.
“It’s a good way to open the bank account isn’t it?” said Jayde. “Harrison was fast in qualifying but he didn’t do too many laps which were on that sort of pace. I knew that my speed was consistent going into the race. It was all about the start, really. After I got in front I just kept my head down and tried to stay ahead. We caught some backmarkers and he closed in a bit but I was able to fend him off. It was faultless; the car was good.”
Said Scott: “I got a bit too much wheelspin off the line and Jayde jumped me. I was able to close in on him at times but he drove a clever race and stopped me from getting a run on him. I’m happy to start my season with a podium; a win would’ve been nice but I’ll settle for second.”
Sam Brabham held third place all the way to lap 22, unable to get on terms with the leading duo but nonetheless able to muster the pace to keep ahead of the pursuing pack, led initially by Radical Sportscars driver Juan Rosso. The Argentinian was forced to cede fourth to Jamun man Jack Barlow mid-race, and from that point it was Barlow looming largest in Brabham’s mirrors.
“I didn’t get the best of starts,” said championship debutant Barlow. “I hadn’t even had the chance to practise a start before the race, so I dropped back and had to pick my way through them. I got up to behind Sam, who really put up a fight, a great job of defending, but he left the door open going into Druids and that was my opportunity to stick it down his inside.”
Jack snatched third from Sam and Juan attempted to follow him through, which led to contact between Brabham and Rosso. Said Sam: “Barlow got past me and I was trying to get on the power just as Juan came up the inside of me, we collided and I went up in the air before slamming back down. The whole car is bent. So frustrating because I was going well…” Brabham was out on the spot and Rosso continued after a spin.
Barlow was clear to take a richly deserved podium finish on his first outing, and was more than pleased: “A great first race in Formula Ford, and I’m looking forward to the next few,” he said.
Ricky Collard, son of BTCC racer Rob, made a big impression in his first-ever car race, starting sixth for Falcon Motorsport and maintaining station there up to the 22nd lap, when he was ideally placed to profit from the Brabham/Rosso incident. Collard was not only a clear Scholarship class winner on his debut – and £500 richer for his troubles – but also fourth overall.
Said Ricky: “My first-ever race… If it can continue like this it will be a magical season… I got a good old Collard start like my dad has been telling me to do for ages and it worked perfectly. I could see there was an issue forming between Brabham, Barlow and Rosso and I decided to take a back seat from that as a rookie to see how it unfolded.”
Round 2 race reportJames Abbott and the Radical Sportscars team were yesterday evening celebrating their maiden race victory in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, and with it a £1000 first-prize cheque. Abbott led the second round of the championship at Brands Hatch from pole position to chequered flag, pursued for the full distance by Falcon Motorsport twins Ricky Collard and Harrison Scott.
Scott overcame his team-mate to finish second for the second time today and claim the championship lead. Collard was third, his maiden overall podium in only the second race of his career, and was also the Scholarship class winner.
Abbott started from the pole by dint of the championship’s new reverse-grid format for the second of each weekend’s three races. No stranger to leading from the front thanks to his vast experience in Radical sportscar racing, 20-year-old Abbott made no mistake at the start to lead the pack into Paddock Hill Bend, pursued by JTR’s Max Marshall and then Collard and Scott.
Collard claimed second spot from Marshall within two laps, Scott following his example two laps later to push Max back to fourth. Abbott, Collard and Scott then circulated as one until the 13th lap, when Harrison’s greater experience told on his team-mate and he was able to seize second from Ricky through Clearways.Harrison tried his level best to hunt down Abbott but had to settle for the runner-up spot for the second time today, James taking the chequered flag four-tenths ahead. “It was really tight,” said Abbott. “It all depended where you started, and I was lucky to be on pole. Harrison and I were at it all the way in the second half; he was quicker through the first half of the lap and I was quicker in the second half. It was really just a case of staying consistent and trying not to make any mistakes.”
New championship leader Scott was pleased with his day’s work: “From fifth on the grid to come through to second, on a track where it is really hard to overtake as well – I have to be happy with that. It was the same story again: I got really close to the leader but I just didn’t have that little bit more in hand to pass him.”
Ecstatic to have secured his second Scholarship win and also his maiden overall podium finish, Collard said: “I make an improvement every time I go out in the car, and you can see that in the results. I’ve only been in cars for a couple of months and these are great results – all credit to the team. I couldn’t keep Harrison behind me; I was hoping that he would pass Abbott as well and that maybe I could follow through to make it a Falcon 1-2, but it wasn’t to be.”
Marshall, Jamun’s Jack Barlow and race one victor Jayde Kruger circulated as one for most of the race and finished in that order: fourth, fifth and sixth.
Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship GBProvisional results Brands Hatch 29 Mar 2014
Leading qualifying times 1 Harrison SCOTT/GBR (Althorne) Falcon Mygale 44.901s 2 Jayde KRUGER/RSA JTR Mygale 45.052s 3 Juan ROSSO/ARG Radical Mygale 45.102s 4 Sam BRABHAM/GBR (Banbury) JTR Mygale 45.129s 5 Max MARSHALL/GBR (North Kilworth) JTR Mygale 45.157s 6 *Ricky COLLARD/GBR (Eversley) Falcon Mygale 45.209s 7 Jack BARLOW/GBR (Hastings) Jamun Mygale 45.279s 8 James ABBOTT/GBR (Thurlby) Radical Mygale 45.403s 9 *Ashley SUTTON/GBR (Bishops Stortford) Meridian Mygale 45.669s10 *Chris MEALIN/GBR (Braddan, IOM) Falcon Mygale 45.690s etc*Scholarship class
Round 1 provisional results26 laps / 31.40 miles1 KRUGER 20m 11.048s / 93.36mph2 SCOTT +1.129s3 BARLOW +9.425s4 COLLARD +11.777s5 MARSHALL +12.070s6 ABBOTT +12.878s etcFastest lap Kruger 46.072s / 94.38mphScholarship class: 1 Collard; 2 Mealin; 3 Sutton etc
Round 226 laps / 31.40 miles1 ABBOTT 20m 13.602s / 93.16mph2 SCOTT +0.437s3 COLLARD +2.710s4 MARSHALL +2.945s5 BARLOW +4.094s6 KRUGER +4.465s etcFastest lap Marshall 46.046s / 94.44mphScholarship class: 1 Collard; 2 Sutton; 3 Collard etc
Provisional championship standings1 Scott 54 points; 2 Kruger 49; 3 Abbott 48; 4 Collard 46; 5 Barlow 44; 6 Marshall 43 etcScholarship class 1 Collard 56; 2= Mealin & Sutton 33 etc
