'speedy' Dan Clarke - Top Brit In Croft Qualifying

[Ed Jones]

COMTEC's DAN CLARKE was literally an inch away from grabbing his maiden 2003 UK Formula Ford Championship victory in Rounds 12 and 13 at Croft last weekend but still remains upbeat after his now customary masterclass in the art of overtaking - he incredibly made more passing manoeuvres in one race than the rest of the field put together!

"I have the raw speed," said Clarke, "I have proved that, I just need that little bit of luck and extra concentration to convert it to victories. It will come."

Clarke has been looking for more consistency in qualifying and the omens looked great for the 19 year-old speed-king when he qualified on the front row just four hundredths off pole - he was the top British driver on the grid and easily the quickest from the Comtec stable.

He started the race well, held onto 2nd place and was biding his time when a mistake on the tight chicane on the 2nd lap saw him clip the tight tyre-wall, an error of judgement of less than one inch, but enough to damage the notoriously fragile Van Diemen wish-bone and force the retirement.

That's when the real fun started for Clarke. Starting from 26th out of 27 on the grid in the second race, he threw caution to the wind and set off on a magnificent charge up the field, clawing his way at a rate of over a car a lap to finish the race in 12th; disappointing considering his initial qualifying but a staggering result in the circumstances.

Clarke said: "I was pleased with the way I drove apart from one tiny error, but that's racing I suppose. The distance between victory and defeat is minuscule sometimes. On the plus side, the difficulties we have experienced have forced me to test the car to the limit, and I've learned so much over the past few races. There have been huge performance improvements, especially in terms of throttle control and road handling under the most extreme pressure.

"We know we can match anyone for speed, I've proved that several times now, but for one reason or another it's just not quite all clicking into place on race day. However, I'm getting closer and one thing's for certain, this continued frustration just spurs me on even more."

The next races take place at Snetterton on the weekend of August 9th and 10th.