Sam Brabham and Juan Rosso are the fourth and fifth different race winners of the Formula Ford seasonGreat return at Thruxton for Ashley Sutton: two Scholarship wins for Jamun Racing
It was a destiny-fulfilling day at Thruxton for Sam Brabham, the JTR team driver claiming his first pole positions in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain and then going on to record his maiden race win in a car. The 19-year-old led Round 7 from pole position to chequered flag despite a tricky safety car period. In Round 8, it was the turn of Argentina’s Juan Rosso to claim the win – his first of the season for the Radical Motorsport team.
Championship returnee Ashley Sutton delighted his new team by claiming Scholarship class honours in both races, as well as an impressive overall podium finish.
Round 7 reportFresh from securing his first-ever pole position, Sam Brabham followed up by collecting his maiden victory in a car, leading the seventh round of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain from start to finish.
It was a tricky win for the Oxfordshire 19-year-old: not only did he have to fend off his championship-leading JTR team-mate Jayde Kruger at the start, and thereafter a determined Harrison Scott (Falcon), he had also to contend with a lengthy safety car period while debris from an accident was cleared. Just as he had made an impeccable start, Sam nailed the restart also and kept Scott at bay for the duration to win by half a second.
Said Sam: “I wasn’t too worried when the safety car came out because I knew I had the pace to stay in front. I just needed to get a good restart and I did so. Harrison was giving me a hard time the whole race and I had that pressure… I’m so pleased finally to have won my first race. Now to win some more.”
Having qualified fourth behind JTR men Brabham, Kruger and Max Marshall, Scott was taking no prisoners: he muscled his way past Kruger through the narrowest part of the chicane at the end of the first lap. “He wasn’t giving me any room and I wasn’t going to let him stop me from coming through,” said Harrison. “It was a move I had to make and it worked out for me.”
An impressively good start from Scott’s team-mate Chris Mealin saw the Manxman gain four places to fourth, right on the tail of the leading trio. Alas the Falcon car’s front wheels tangled with the Kruger’s rears at the end of lap two, and Chris speared off into the barriers at high speed. He was quickly out of the car, shaken but otherwise OK. Kruger was forced to the pits and retirement with suspension damage.
The retrieval of Mealin’s car and barrier repairs necessitated a six-lap safety car interlude. Scott did what he could to unsettle the leader but had to give best to Brabham. “After the safety car I had a big moment through Church and had to back out to save myself,” said Harrison, “and then I dropped out of Sam’s tow a bit. But to go from fourth to second and with Jayde not finishing – not a bad result for me.”
Ashley Sutton, returning to the championship with his new team, Jamun, after missing Donington, was delighted to take third on a track he had never raced before: “That’s what we came back to do – it’s a bit of dream return. I got fifth on the first lap and then Chris went off and Jayde retired, so that was me up to third. I’m really pleased.” Sutton was the Scholarship class winner by a six-second margin, and collects a £500 prize.
Marshall broke Dan Cammish’s circuit lap record en route to fourth, with Juan Rosso bouncing back from qualifying problems – he missed most of the session with a battery failure – to claim fifth ahead of his Radical team-mate James Abbott. “The car is good and I made a good start,” said Juan. “We need to change some things and maybe James and I can fight for the win in the next race.”
Connor Mills and his Meridian team-mate Bobby Thompson placed seventh and eighth to complete the Scholarship class podium, with Ricky Collard ninth after a brief pit stop. Ovie Iroro (Richardson Racing) stalled on the startline but recovered to beat Greg Holloway (SWB Sinter) to 10th.
Round 8 reportJuan Rosso became the fifth different race winner of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship season, the 20-year-old Argentinian leading round eight at Thruxton from pole position to chequered flag. It was his first win for the Radical Motorsport team, and brings him within a single point of second in the championship. Harrison Scott finished third behind Rosso and Max Marshall to extend his points lead over erstwhile championship front-runner Jayde Kruger.Gifted the pole by dint of his fifth-place finish in the first race of the Thruxton weekend, Rosso made an excellent getaway to beat JTR man Marshall to turn one. By lap’s end Juan was 0.9s ahead of his pursuer, and that was as close as Max would get. At its greatest Rosso’s lead exceeded three seconds, but he throttled back to cross the line 1.9s in front.“I’m so happy for all the team,” said an ecstatic Rosso on the podium. “We have worked so hard for this. We knew that we could win but we have had some bad luck at times; now the car is wonderful and I am really pleased with my race.”“I had good pace,” said Marshall, “but it was a case of trying to manage the tyres so that there is some life left in them for tomorrow’s race… Rosso was very quick, I have to hand it to him. I’m happy, and my tyres look all right.”Scott made another great start to claim a place on the opening lap, the Falcon man slotting into third behind Rosso and Marshall, with race one victor Sam Brabham right behind him. As Scott took a look at Marshall on the 13th lap, Brabham sensed an opportunity to attack at the Complex. “I tried to go up Harrison’s inside but he moved across on me,” said Sam, “and I had just to stop, and Ashley Sutton just went past me. If I had tried to defend we would have crashed, and I need the points…”Sutton, who held fourth for the final four laps, said: “They were battling it out and I just made the most of the opportunity.” Ashley was again the clear Scholarship class winner.Scott was pleased with his day’s work: “Two races, two podiums – it’s not a bad result for me, although I didn’t have the pace to get on terms with the leaders in this one.”After his race one retirement and some hasty repairs by the JTR crew, Kruger started from the back and climbed to sixth by the end, behind Brabham. “By the time I had got through the backmarkers the guys in front were a long way ahead and I didn’t quite have the pace to catch them,” said Jayde. “The handling wasn’t perfect but all credit to the guys for getting me to the grid.”Ricky Collard returned to the Scholarship class podium with his eighth-place finish ahead of Connor Mills, with Mills’s Meridian team-mate Bobby Thompson completing the top 10 ahead of Ovie Iroro (Richardson Racing) and Greg Holloway (SWB Sinter). First-race casualty Chris Mealin was unable to take the start, and his Falcon Mygale is too badly damaged to race tomorrow either; he plans to return at Oulton Park at the end of the month.Sunday’s live-TV Thruxton finale is scheduled for a 1515 start.
Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship GB
Provisional results Thruxton 3 May 2014
Qualifying times1 Sam BRABHAM/GBR (Banbury) JTR Mygale 1:11.5522 Jayde KRUGER/RSA JTR Mygale 1:11.5943 Max MARSHALL/GBR (North Kilworth) JTR Mygale 1:11.6404 Harrison SCOTT/GBR (Althorne) Falcon Mygale 1:11.7195 *Ashley SUTTON/GBR (Bishops Stortford) Jamun Mygale 1:12.3566 James ABBOTT/GBR (Thurlby) Radical Mygale 1:12.4207 *Ricky COLLARD/GBR (Eversley) Falcon Mygale 1:12.5808 *Chris MEALIN/GBR (Braddan, IOM) Falcon Mygale 1:12.7279 Juan ROSSO/ARG Radical Mygale 1:13.14710 *Connor MILLS/GBR (Upminster) Meridian Mygale 1:13.49911 *Ovie IRORO/NGR Richardson Mygale 1:15.40012 *Bobby THOMPSON/GBR (Hornchurch) Meridian Mygale 1:15.67113 Greg HOLLOWAY/AUS SWB Sinter 1:18.976*Scholarship Class runners
Round 7 provisional results13 laps / 30.63 miles1 BRABHAM 20m 56.516s / 87.75mph2 SCOTT +0.504s3 SUTTON +0.991s4 MARSHALL +1.581s5 ROSSO +2.228s6 ABBOTT +3.609s7 MILLS +7.343s8 THOMPSON +11.394s9 COLLARD +15.046s10 ORORO +23.707s11 HOLLOWAY +33.103s
Scholarship class 1 Scott, 2 Mills, 3 Thompson etcFastest lap Marshall 1m 12.040s / 117.73mph Record
Round 817 laps / 40.05 miles1 ROSSO 20m 37.852s / 116.48mph2 MARSHALL +1.870s3 SCOTT +2.566s4 SUTTON +3.114s5 BRABHAM +6.857s6 KRUGER +11.952s7 ABBOTT +12.996s8 COLLARD +24.522s9 MILLS +27.719s10 THOMPSON +52.504s11 IRORO 16 laps12 HOLLOWAY 16 laps
Scholarship class 1 Sutton, 2 Collard, 3 Mills etcFastest lap Brabham 1m 11.910s / 117.94 mph Record
Full times
Provisional championship standings1 Scott 184 points; 2 Kruger 176; 3 Rosso 175; 4 Marshall 170; 5 Abbott 160; 6 Brabham 134 etc.Scholarship class 1 Mills 129; 2 Collard 116; 3 Sutton 104; 4 Mealin 91; 5 James Webb 72; 6 Iroro 46 etc
Thruxton Sunday...
Round 9 live on ITV4 &itv.com @ 1515
