Formula ford 2013.

[FFfan]

Scott's (Malvern) only previous visit to Thruxton was when he raced there lat year in Formula Renault. That was his first & only other visit. He had 15 mins warm up to learn the circuit and qualified grid 2 out of 28 for both races and went out and won race one. In race 2 he was leading with a lap to go when hit from behind by Josh Webster. He recovered to take 5th and fastest lap.

Taking nothing away from Harrison yesterday and he Scott know each other well from karting days (Scott was actually his mechanic for a while) but he has probably had almost as much time around Thruxton As Scott has and Scott will tell you it's not the most difficult of circuits to learn but it is bloody quick (over 150mph through the chicaine). It's true though that Falcon did fit new rubber & he popped in the quickest lap right at the last knockings when the track was drying rapidly. Scott was running Tyres that had already been used for 70 odd laps so you can appreciate probably wasn't pushing as hard as he might.

And yes Flavio you are completely correct. Until last year my most recent previous visit was 1985. The place hadn't changed much!

[Gilles lives!]

Ford could spice things up by putting the top 5 Super One Rotax Max drivers in these cars for a one off meeting and if Harrison Scott is 'blowing away' the opposition in testing, imagine what Sean Babington would do ! Now if ever there's a kart driver who needs a helping hand into cars, he's the man .

I go along with the theory that there are too many Jnr Formulae spreading the talent and unless something radical changes, this series and others will flounder badly, leaving us with distant memories of the Festival days.

[EastonNeston]

Only 9 cars were running during the official test at Donington Park yesterday.
http://www.tsl-timing.com/toca/2013/131641foz.pdf

Timing data courtesy of TSL

[Deemun]

Originally Posted by EastonNeston

Only 9 cars were running during the official test at Donington Park yesterday.
http://www.tsl-timing.com/toca/2013/131641foz.pdf

Timing data courtesy of TSL

Unless someone can help to get Scott Malvern back into this championship it will be a cakewalk for Dan Cammish. No disrespect to Dan, who is doing a great job, but if I were Ford I would be concerned and want to have Scott back there to have someone who could at least run Dan a bit closer.

[gomick]

Why would Scott Malvern want to run this championship when he has already dominated in it?

[EastonNeston]

Having seen teh series live for the first time this season, I was most impressed by the debut performance of Sam Brabham and the 3 strong drives from Harrison Scott.

Yes, Dan Cammish did a thoroughly professional job winning all 3 races, but with significanly more racing experience, much of it at a higher level, he is almost 'expected; to win by large margins, and the true race is between the less experienced racers.

[Peter Cammish]

I post under my own name so no need to declare an interest, with regard to FF200 then perhaps I can have a motorsport fans input. I have been around the National Single Seater championships since 09 so have some low level knowledge I guess. The 2013 FF car is basically a very fast car , to put in perspective the circuit was very green for Donington Qualifying having been unused since Thursday, our car ran a lap under 1min 5.5 seconds and would have probably done a very low 5 next lap but Dan had to lift down the craners as he encountered another competitor. On the test day we did there we had similar conditions but cooler also a lot of cars had been on track, at the end of the day without new tyres our car ran a 1 min 5.3 second lap so with new tyres on that day it is highly probable that an FF200 car would have run a lap close to 1 min 4.3 seconds although for sure the cool conditions were good for the turbo engine, that is a very fast lap around Donington Short circuit in a car with only 150Kg of rear downforce. Dan tells me the car is nervous on the limit and has nothing of the over gripped confidence boost of the 2011 /12 generation FR UK cars. When the younger drivers get confident in the car and can push the limits the racing will become closer , like wise if any experienced single seater guys turn out then the racing becomes closer. There is no doubt that the current generation of FF is a world away from the Spectrum car that we had in 2009, Dan qualified that on the front row 2/10 of pole in his first ever car race, but I think he would not be able to do that in todays cars so the gap to Maranzano we had in qualifying was a very good effort by Maranzano, good drivers learn fast and I think that there is some good young talent in the championship I am impressed by Halminen and Scott is from a high level karting background and will develop well also I believe this generation of car will be a good starting point for FR 2.0 i as you need to have good rolling and minimum speeds which you did not need in FF back in 09 and 10 so moving to FR 2.0 in the UK was a step , In fact concentrating on rolling and minimum speeds which is so vital in high grip low power single seaters was not the right way in the Duratec era of FF as we found out in 09 when the ADAC and FF program we did caused some confusion to Dan and he lost his way a bit on the FF program, that would not be the case with this car. On the championship I hope it develops, I loved FF and the racing in 09 and 10 was superb but time moves on the new class is more relevant and the Championship is superb much better than FR 2.0 UK which frankly intimidated me among all the moneyed high roller parents, bag carriers, water carriers, agents, middle men etc, although they never approached me as it was pointless it did for me change my whole perception of motorsport which I had cherished as a boy and which I also kept faith in for another other 35 years, FF200 does go someway to restoring that faith. I say forget career ladders, forget impossible dreams but get out on track and enjoy the moment in a fast single seater in front of 30,000 people you only as far as I am aware come this way once.. I promise I will not post until end of season.,. Many Regards Peter

[FFfan]

Originally Posted by Peter Cammish

I post under my own name so no need to declare an interest, with regard to FF200 then perhaps I can have a motorsport fans input. I have been around the National Single Seater championships since 09 so have some low level knowledge I guess. The 2013 FF car is basically a very fast car , to put in perspective the circuit was very green for Donington Qualifying having been unused since Thursday, our car ran a lap under 1min 5.5 seconds and would have probably done a very low 5 next lap but Dan had to lift down the craners as he encountered another competitor. On the test day we did there we had similar conditions but cooler also a lot of cars had been on track, at the end of the day without new tyres our car ran a 1 min 5.3 second lap so with new tyres on that day it is highly probable that an FF200 car would have run a lap close to 1 min 4.3 seconds although for sure the cool conditions were good for the turbo engine, that is a very fast lap around Donington Short circuit in a car with only 150Kg of rear downforce. Dan tells me the car is nervous on the limit and has nothing of the over gripped confidence boost of the 2011 /12 generation FR UK cars. When the younger drivers get confident in the car and can push the limits the racing will become closer , like wise if any experienced single seater guys turn out then the racing becomes closer. There is no doubt that the current generation of FF is a world away from the Spectrum car that we had in 2009, Dan qualified that on the front row 2/10 of pole in his first ever car race, but I think he would not be able to do that in todays cars so the gap to Maranzano we had in qualifying was a very good effort by Maranzano, good drivers learn fast and I think that there is some good young talent in the championship I am impressed by Halminen and Scott is from a high level karting background and will develop well also I believe this generation of car will be a good starting point for FR 2.0 i as you need to have good rolling and minimum speeds which you did not need in FF back in 09 and 10 so moving to FR 2.0 in the UK was a step , In fact concentrating on rolling and minimum speeds which is so vital in high grip low power single seaters was not the right way in the Duratec era of FF as we found out in 09 when the ADAC and FF program we did caused some confusion to Dan and he lost his way a bit on the FF program, that would not be the case with this car. On the championship I hope it develops, I loved FF and the racing in 09 and 10 was superb but time moves on the new class is more relevant and the Championship is superb much better than FR 2.0 UK which frankly intimidated me among all the moneyed high roller parents, bag carriers, water carriers, agents, middle men etc, although they never approached me as it was pointless it did for me change my whole perception of motorsport which I had cherished as a boy and which I also kept faith in for another other 35 years, FF200 does go someway to restoring that faith. I say forget career ladders, forget impossible dreams but get out on track and enjoy the moment in a fast single seater in front of 30,000 people you only as far as I am aware come this way once.. I promise I will not post until end of season.,. Many Regards Peter

Dan is doing a very good job in what looks to be a very well sorted car. Scott planned to give him a run for his money this weekend (just to keep him company up front ) but unfortunately he was overtaken by events totally out of his control which meant he was out of a drive at Donington. The championship is now very much Dan's to lose but Scott may well be back to compete for race victories later in the season. In the meantime you & Dan are justified in enjoying the moment. What else can the likes of Dan & Scott really do? Maybe we should talk about pairing them in a GT car next year?

Best of luck to you

Dominic Malvern

[BtccLee]

A few questions for those who know...


Is there a Ray in build and does anyone have any intention of running one?

How are things going with Beta Epsilon and again do they have interest?

Are other Sinters going to come to play?

Are there many other drivers or teams assessing the series currently?

And finally, where do you see the UK single seater ladder balancing in terms of FFord, F4 and FRenault BARC?

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

A few questions for those who know...

And finally, where do you see the UK single seater ladder balancing in terms of FFord, F4 and FRenault BARC?

My personal guess would be, in order of relevance as things stand at the moment: F4, BARC Renault, FF200.

That's taking into account grid size, likely competitiveness of the championships given grid size and likely perceived "prestige" of the respective titles.

It's early days yet though, so it could still change.

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

A few questions for those who know...


Is there a Ray in build and does anyone have any intention of running one?

How are things going with Beta Epsilon and again do they have interest?

Are other Sinters going to come to play?

Are there many other drivers or teams assessing the series currently?

And finally, where do you see the UK single seater ladder balancing in terms of FFord, F4 and FRenault BARC?

Motorsport News has answered the first 4, all a very good yes.

I will say when entries have normalised (I:e 2014) taking into account the costs and power levels... I can see FRenault BARC being bottom rung, F4 middle and Formula Ford top.

But we will see!!!

[BtccLee]

Am I right in thinking we will see an increase in entries next weekend????

[PaddysPower]

Well once you've hit rock bottom (and surely things are the worst they've ever been in the history of this once-great championship) - the only way is up!

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by PaddysPower

Well once you've hit rock bottom (and surely things are the worst they've ever been in the history of this once-great championship) - the only way is up!

I believe we may see another two or three for Thruxton and a couple more at Oulton...

[BtccLee]

Is Scott Malvern now out of the series, or will we see him returning later this year?

I can't see Dan Cammish winning all three at Thruxton, Harrison Scott was fast in testing and could spring a surprise...

Also have the Mygales been forced to enlarge their fuel tanks for Thruxton, and could this put the Sinters at a slight advantage...

[simon drabble]

I wish Lindsay and the rest of the Sinter team well and will come and watch them as it is my local circuit. As the small guy (in every sense!) it would be great to see him get one over the Mygales.

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by simon drabble

I wish Lindsay and the rest of the Sinter team well and will come and watch them as it is my local circuit. As the small guy (in every sense!) it would be great to see him get one over the Mygales.

I hear we may see a third Sinter at Oulton, but I don't know who is behind the wheel????

[BtccLee]

Interesting from the SWB Motorsport website...

"We still have a seat available in Formula Ford and are looking at expanding to perhaps even 3 cars for the new generation series"

Also on the costs "An all inclusive budget for the 30 race, 10 weekend series begins at £85,000 +VAT."

And tesing is listed as £1,250 +VAT per day for airfield testing and up to £2050+VAT for an exclusive day at their private use test track...

Also anyone much about these teams listed on the website but that we haven't seen year...

Getem Racing

In2Racing

Race Car Consultants

RaySport

Rendez-Vous Racing

[FFfan]

[QUOTE=BtccLee;3240615]Is Scott Malvern now out of the series, or will we see him returning later this year?

It wasn't Scott's choice to be out of the series. The car he used at Brands Hatch is now up for sale. Another driver may possibly be in the car from Oulton Park Park onwards.

Scott was the most successful driver of the Duratec era (2006-11) and is one of the most successful in the entire history of the category.

He remains open to all offers!

DM

[BtccLee]

David Wagner to join Falcon at Thruxton, http://www.britishformulaford.co.uk/...n-with-falcon/

Am I right in saying he his taking Neil Winn's seat????

[BtccLee]

To answer my own question, yes he has, which seems a shame... I wonder if we see Neil out later in the year...

Two other questions: are the EcoBoost rules still UK only?

And how many EcoBoost cars actaully exist, I make it about 14 or 15???

[kipper]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

are the EcoBoost rules still UK only?

EcoBoost rules only apply in Britain (which probably doesn't help to encourage larger production runs of cars).

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by kipper

EcoBoost rules only apply in Britain (which probably doesn't help to encourage larger production runs of cars).

Very true, but the same applies with BRDC F4. Is there a chance for the rules to expand beyond the UK???

I am hoping for another improvment for the series at Thruxton, as Donington improved on Brands Hatch.

I still hold that the mid-part of the year is critical for the series, as that is when we should see an upturn in entries...

[BtccLee]

7/7 FOR Cammish :http://www.britishformulaford.co.uk/...ion-continues/


And now 8/8...


Can he be beaten tommorow?

For those who watched the races today, what were they like???? Looking forward to going myself tommorow...

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by BtccLee

I still hold that the mid-part of the year is critical for the series, as that is when we should see an upturn in entries...

It's not an upturn in entries you need, it's an upturn in potential race winners.

With the greatest respect, most are relative novices and Cammish is simply in another class. Without Malvern who is honestly likely to challenge him? He was cruising today in race 2.

It's an interesting problem for the promoters because whilst I'm sure the others will improve with seat time, better set up and so on at the moment it doesn't look like it's going to make very exciting TV does it?