Ashley Sutton to race for Jamun, Bobby Thompson returns with the Meridian teamChampionship title fight set to hot up in Hampshire at season’s fastest venue
Promising young talents Ashley Sutton and Bobby Thompson are to return to the grid next weekend (3/4 May) at Thruxton for the latest rounds of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain. Sutton, 20, will race an EcoBoost Mygale prepared by multiple championship-winning team Jamun Racing while 17-year-old Thompson will pilot the Meridian team chassis in which he made an impressive championship debut at Donington Park.
Sutton, who opted to miss the Donington rounds, enjoyed a successful test with Jamun at Brands Hatch on Friday. “Testing went really, really well with Jamun,” said Ashley. “I’m happy with the outcome, happy with the team and looking forward to working with them. I opted to take a step back from things at Donington and have a rethink, and have opted to go with Jamun to further my Formula Ford campaign. Thruxton is going to be interesting – I’ll be going straight into qualifying and trying to learn the circuit, so that will make things exciting. The plan is to try to pick up some points and then to go on to the next round to see what we can do there.”
Despite a late call-up to the Meridian team for Donington, ex-Fiesta racer Thompson acquitted himself well on his single-seater debut, qualifying and racing inside the top 10 with a highlight of fifth place overall and a Scholarship class podium in the final race of the weekend. “I’ve never raced at Thruxton,” said Bobby, “and it’s only my second time in a single-seater, so it will be tough. I plan to work my way into it, approach it as a bit of a practice and hopefully cut down some of the time differences between myself and the other drivers. It would be nice to get back into the top five, though…”
There’s a major battle looming at Thruxton as Falcon Motorsport’s Harrison Scott bids to close down JTR man Jayde Kruger’s championship lead, which currently stands at 25 points. South African Kruger has taken away two race wins each from Brands Hatch and Donington, while Scott has one victory and a further three podium finishes to his credit. Both Scott and Sam Brabham (JTR) will be out to erase the painful memories of the Donington finale, which both of them led before falling by the wayside.
Scott was fastest by a slender margin in testing at Thruxton earlier this month, 0.004s separating him and Brabham, with Donington podium finisher Max Marshall (JTR) third fastest ahead of Radical men Juan Rosso and James Abbott, and Kruger sixth fastest.
Thruxton, the quickest venue on the Formula Ford calendar, will be a busy place on Saturday with qualifying and two races on the schedule. Sunday afternoon’s ninth round of the championship will be screened live on ITV4.
