Croft race winner Ashley Sutton leads the way in testing in NorfolkMax Marshall second fastest as points leader Harrison Scott struggles for grip
Ashley Sutton set the pace Fridayafternoon at Snetterton in pre-event testing ahead of the weekend’s rounds of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain. The 20-year-old from Bishops Stortford was the only driver to set a sub 1m 50s lap around the three-mile track, his EcoBoost Mygale making the most of a new set of Dunlop slick rubber.
On old tyres in the morning, Sutton was half a second adrift of the pace set by championship leader Harrison Scott in his Falcon Motorsport Mygale. Both opted for fresh tyres for the afternoon, but Scott could find no improvement while Sutton gained 1.3 seconds.
“We knew we were on the back foot this morning because we were using old tyres,” said Ashley, “so we were quite pleased with P2. The new tyres this afternoon made a hell of a difference and we’re really pleased.” Scott was baffled that he could find no advantage in his new tyres: “For some reason I found no time in them at all… We will have to sit down and look at the data and analyse what is going on.”
Harrison was pushed back to third fastest by the JTR Mygale of Max Marshall, with Falcon man Ricky Collard fourth quickest after a solid pair of sessions, ahead of Juan Rosso (Radical) and championship newcomer Michael O’Brien in the second MBM Motorsport Mygale. “It’s been hard,” said former historic single-seater driver Michael, “because really it’s my first proper time out in the car and learning all about it is difficult – it’s all completely new to me.”
Jayde Kruger, vying with Scott for the championship lead, completed only six laps of the morning session before mechanical problems sidelined his JTR Mygale. He ended the day seventh fastest ahead of James Abbott’s Radical car and Louise Richardson’s Richardson Racing Mygale. Chris Mealin was 10th for Falcon, gaining ground in session two until a small off at the Bombhole damaged his Mygale’s underside.
Qualifying is scheduled for 1020 Saturday at Snetterton, with the first race of the weekend following at 1445. Sunday’s Snetterton event, to be televised live on ITV4, will feature two Formula Ford races.
Official testing Snetterton 1/8/14 (am/pm)
1 *Ashley SUTTON/GBR (Bishops Stortford) MBM Mygale 1:51.119 / 1:49.8712 Max MARSHALL/GBR (North Kilworth) JTR Mygale 1:51.534 / 1:50.3093 Harrison SCOTT/GBR (Althorne) Falcon Mygale 1:50.660 / 1:50.6904 *Ricky COLLARD/GBR (Eversley) Falcon Mygale 1:51.612 / 1:50.7635 Juan ROSSO/ARG Radical Mygale 1:52.218 / 1:51.2686 *Michael O’BRIEN/GBR (Silverstone) MBM Mygale 1:53.344 / 1:51.7067 Jayde KRUGER/RSA JTR Mygale 1:51.879 / no time8 James ABBOTT/GBR (Thurlby) Radical Mygale 1:52.483 / 1:51.8799 *Louise RICHARDSON/GBR (Grantham) Richardson Mygale 1:53.399 / 1:52.27410 *Chris MEALIN/GBR (Braddan, IOM) Falcon Mygale 1:55.812 / 1:53.20611 *Connor JUPP/GBR (Ongar) Meridian Mygale no time / 1:55.34612 Greg HOLLOWAY/AUS SWB Sinter 1:56.796 / 1:56.33913 *Jai NIJJAR/GBR (Bedford) Meridian Mygale no times*Scholarship Class runners
Snetterton informationSat 2 Aug Qualifying 1020,Round 16 1445Sun 3 Aug Round 17 1030,Round 18 1740
TV ITV4 live Sunday 1100-1800
