Sam Brabham has confirmed that he will miss this weekend’s round of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship at Croft, North Yorkshire. The 19 year-old BRDC Rising Star is currently experiencing a shortfall in budget but is working to secure the required funds to complete the season while taking the longer term view and working towards key plans for 2015.
The grandson of the late Sir Jack Brabham has already shown he’s a winning force this season, becoming the first in family history to take British Formula Ford victory last month when he turned his first career pole positions in to double lights-to-flag race wins at Thruxton.
His Formula Ford Championship hopes and budget, however, suffered a serious set back when a heavy accident severely damaged his JTR Mygale and put paid to his Oulton Park race weekend. Unbeknown to Brabham, a wheel wide at Cascades on lap three of race two caused right rear wishbone failure two laps later heading into Ireland, sending him into a double barrel roll.
Brabham commented: “It’s perhaps a popular misconception that because I’ve got a famous racing name, I’m bound to have the budget to compete. It makes no difference if I’m a Brabham or not, the budget required is the same for everyone and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s been challenging this season and our luck, like at Oulton Park, just hasn’t played to running on restricted finances.
“I’m not in the championship hunt anymore this year, so I need to look at the bigger picture. We’re talking to a few interested parties and I hope we can either work up some new deals or find some new backers. We’re certainly not giving up and if anything this just makes me stronger and even more determined.”
David Brabham added: “It’s a shame Sam’s got to miss Croft this weekend, but it’s really just down to circumstances. I’ve been working on a big project involving the wider Brabham brand for some years now, which has had to absorb a lot of my time and resources. I’ve had to look at the long term, causing a short-term shortfall for Sam.
“So the last couple of years have been tight on budget and Sam has done a tremendous job in the circumstances, when he sometimes hasn’t known if he’s racing from one round to the next. It’s not fair to Sam to race under that pressure and at this stage it’s important he races under the right circumstances. Our aim now is for Sam to have a strong end of season, using every tool possible to ensure he has a proper chance.”
