British Formula Ford 2009!!

[Bill Erickson]

Why is so quite on FF forum this week? how did the test at Oulton go? any times? there must have been a few there, as the first round starts this Friday.
Best of luck to all.Hope it is a great round.

[Bill Erickson]

Originally Posted by Bill Erickson

Why is so quite on FF forum this week? how did the test at Oulton go? any times? there must have been a few there, as the first round starts this Friday.
Best of luck to all.Hope it is a great round.

What a megga drive by Daniel Cammish, and on his birthday weekend. Great work Daniel.

[Bill Erickson]

What happen at the start of the race? I only have TSL to look at.

[Matthews Dad]

Originally Posted by Bill Erickson

What happen at the start of the race? I only have TSL to look at.

lifted from the F3 chat about yesterday

Josef Newgarden didn't get away/got away slowly and Hill clipped him before collecting Gamberini and one other.
From my view i cannot say that Hill was involved in collecting Gamberini and the other car but he did clip Newgarden who it looked as if he stalled on the grid,

[Redracer77]

Originally Posted by Bill Erickson

What happen at the start of the race? I only have TSL to look at.

Hi Bill,

Matthew dad's version of the start is about right. Newgarden stalled and was clipped by Hill. It also delayed Alex who started right behind Joesef. He managed to react quickly to miss him but it also delayed him at lot and put him down to 18th I think from 6th on the grid.

Your Dan had a great fightback from his off in qualifying to get to 10th from 23rd on the grid, he was just about to pass Vernon for 9th when the flag came. But he did have the fastest section 1 and 2 of all the drivers. Just a shame he has to start at the back on Monday morning again....

Chris

[Bill Erickson]

Hi Chris, here you only qualify for the first race and pole. Then it is your finishing position in the race as to where you start the next race and so on
I beleive they should have two qualifing sessions in the UK for the first two races to make it fairer for all drivers if they continue in the same vain.
Just my thoughts.

[brakedisc]

Your second fastest lap in qualifying gives you your grid position for race two. It is only the grid for the third race, if there is one, that is based on the result of the second race.

[Bill Erickson]

Thanks brakedisc, What are your thougths on, starting the second race in the postion you finish the first race.

[brakedisc]

That is how it should be but the issue is fudged when you have 3 races in a meeting.

[gomick]

Is there 7 manufacturers racing in the 1st round?

James Cole won the 1st 2 races - he must be the next new star, will keep an eye on him...

[Bill Erickson]

Originally Posted by Bill Erickson

Thanks brakedisc, What are your thougths on, starting the second race in the postion you finish the first race.

Sorry, should be start races 2and 3 in the finishing order of the previous race.

[Sideswipe]

Was race 2 on saturday or is it today? On the website they have results for race 2 but not race 1 so I assume it is just mis-titled and they are actually the results for race 1.

Anyone have results for race 2 if it has happened yet?

--------

Don't worry just found them:

http://www.tsl-timing.com/?loc=major...&eventid=91505

[brakedisc]

"Brake disc......Thats the second time Findlay has topped the testing times in recent weeks, so maybe we should all watch this space!!"

Still watching.

4th season in UKFF and still no wins.

His fastest laps suggest his first win will come soon but there are other more impressive performers out there not to mention the 2008 FF1600 front runners who couldn't find the budget to even take part.

Looking forward to the next round already.

[FFmygale]

Brakedisc - I know where you are coming from. I know first hand that Findlay is quick but erratic. I would think that after competing for so long in the series though he surely must have ironed out the erratic part of his driving, and, as the lap times are showing this year, he must be up there for a win soon. With the right guidance from a team manager (interpreting data and thoughts on race/championship strategy) I think he could be a factor in the championship - if not, then who knows!

[50-SIX]

Originally Posted by brakedisc

Don't rekon on Findlay doing anything.

I think 3 podiums in a weekend is something. Its just you seemed to have dismissed him completely before this weekend, but the fact it is he was at the sharp end all weekend. Good on him I say.

Cammish was a star, would have loved to have been there to see the old novice cross on the front row. Considering this was his first weekend car racing, not a bad show at all. Infact, it was bloody impressive. Under-hyped pre-season and showed quite a few the way.

Cole proved me wrong as well - very strong showing.

Newgarden was expected to be there and was, and will get stronger as the season goes on I should imagine.

[slevin]

Newgarden will be the star this year. Cole on home ground and second season with the "best team" was surely the marker this weekend but my money is with Newgarden to break the jamun monopoly

[gomick]

You could be right slevin.

Newgarden got the race 3 win which is impressive. Followed him in Skip Barber in 08 when he finished a close 2nd in that championship....

[FFfan]

there are other more impressive performers out there not to mention the 2008 FF1600 front runners who couldn't find the budget to even take part.

Well said brakedisc! Unfortunately it's the old story of the most talented drivers not having the money. Graham Carrol should definately be in this championship and so should another newcomer Scott Malvern. With a cross on the back of his car he won first time out at Anglesey last week and broke the lap record against some very experienced FF1600 runners. I'd love to see him and Cliff Dempsey Racing in this championship. Congratulations to Dan Cammish; I for one wasn't surprised by his performance.

[Flavio Galtieri]

You're dead right there FFfan. Malvern was very impressive indeed in the Dempsey car but how about Rory Butcher who won race one from pole and came a close second in race 2 in an 18 year old Van Diemen?

We could go on and on but the fact is it's tragic that Ford have seen fit to raise the entry level budget to what was once the premier "level playing field" class in which to judge talent to such a height that only those with serious funds can compete.

Get rid of those stupid slicks and you'd find more depth of talent in the field I have no doubt.

[Gaz]

Great racing this weekend from the Formula Ford boys, there does seem to be a broad range of talent in the series this year. Quite a few names towards the top of the timesheets I'd never heard of before seemingly upstaging some of the more established names. James Cole drove very well all weekend and the race 3 battle with Newgarden was very tense, certainly more entertaining than those two F3 snoores!

[Andrew Kitson]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

Get rid of those stupid slicks and you'd find more depth of talent in the field I have no doubt.

Couldn't agree more. Who's idea was it to put FF on slicks anyway?
In the heyday...and it was, simply because of the amount of entries, higher prestige and lack of competition from other formulae, they were always on Dunlop treaded tyres. Taught great car control.

[FFfan]

You're dead right there FFfan. Malvern was very impressive indeed in the Dempsey car but how about Rory Butcher who won race one from pole and came a close second in race 2 in an 18 year old Van Diemen?

I agree Flavio; the only point I will make is that Butcher is in his third year of FF1600 where as Malvern is a novice who'd had one previous single header race at Mondello Park. But the pair were very much the class of the field (As borne out by the MN and Autosport race reports) with a pole and a win each but Malvern also took fastest laps in both races. Incidently I doin't think the age of the car is really a disadvantage in Kents; I still maintain the best thing to have is a 92 Swift but that's just my opinion. Fully support your view on tyres for the Duratec class. Incidently if you are (or connected with) who I think you are then it was good to see you going much better at Silverstone last weekend.

Unfortunately British FF is now all about budgets of £120k plus with top teams doing 40 days plus testing. Until this situation is addressed then it will continue to attract only drivers with access to plenty of money. Whilst I agree there are some very talented and experienced pilots this year, really there are only half a dozen or so genuine contenders and the top drivers in Kent could put the rest of the field to shame given the opportunity.

[Redracer77]

Originally Posted by FFfan

I agree Flavio; the only point I will make is that Butcher is in his third year of FF1600 where as Malvern is a novice who'd had one previous single header race at Mondello Park. But the pair were very much the class of the field (As borne out by the MN and Autosport race reports) with a pole and a win each but Malvern also took fastest laps in both races. Incidently I doin't think the age of the car is really a disadvantage in Kents; I still maintain the best thing to have is a 92 Swift but that's just my opinion. Fully support your view on tyres for the Duratec class. Incidently if you are (or connected with) who I think you are then it was good to see you going much better at Silverstone last weekend.

Unfortunately British FF is now all about budgets of £120k plus with top teams doing 40 days plus testing. Until this situation is addressed then it will continue to attract only drivers with access to plenty of money. Whilst I agree there are some very talented and experienced pilots this year, really there are only half a dozen or so genuine contenders and the top drivers in Kent could put the rest of the field to shame given the opportunity.

Have a look in the results at where the top FF1600 drivers came in UK Formula Ford at Oulton???? Other than James Cole....the answer is no where.

It is amazing how some of the FF1600 hotshots struggle in a closely matched formula where they cant have mega fast expensive engines and tyre softner Joking aside I dont think winning in FF1600 translates into winning in UK Formula Ford. So we cant be sure that Carroll or Butcher would do any better than the other champions in the championship. It was nice to see 3 different chassis in the top 4 all weekend. Unlike last year where Mygale was the dominant force.

You dont need £120k budgets to compete in UK Formula Ford you just need a good driver.

[DW23]

Originally Posted by Redracer77

You dont need £120k budgets to compete in UK Formula Ford you just need a good driver.

You certainly do NOT need mega budgets to race at this level, a decent car! Once DW gets to grips with my car im sure he will do fine.

[FFfan]

It is amazing how some of the FF1600 hotshots struggle in a closely matched formula where they cant have mega fast expensive engines and tyre softner Joking aside I dont think winning in FF1600 translates into winning in UK Formula Ford. So we cant be sure that Carroll or Butcher would do any better than the other champions in the championship. It was nice to see 3 different chassis in the top 4 all weekend. Unlike last year where Mygale was the dominant force.

Red Racer; it's amazing how when certain drivers are successful people like you naturally assume they must be cheating! It couldn't just be that they have a bit more talent than everyone else? I can tell you now where the most expenive engines are in FF1600 and the drivers that have them are so far coming nowhere!

So do you think Jamun have been cheating for the last 4 years in Duratec? They are successful because they test more than anyone else and therefore are better prepared but that's why the budget is over £120k!