FFord Carnival @ Combe

[Marshal]

So, who's coming this Saturday to the FFord carnival at Combe? Should be great

[Lorna]

Hello Mr Marshal person. Long time no see! Will be at Brands this weekend and spindly things really, really, really don't do anything for me. Give me tin tops anyday

[Lola]

What do you mean?
These are real racing cars!!!!
Not road cars converted....
Last year my old FF1600 lapped quicker around combe than any of the Ferrari challenge cars including F40's ...........
Should be a good day out.....Dont think i will make it, im buying a race engine on saturday
I have driven saloon and single seaters, once you have tried one they are addictive.
Better drivers as well because they dont need all that body work for protection

[Paul V]

I shall be around Camp corner/Scrutineering as usual, hopefully the predicted rain won't spoil the fun too much (makes the wife grumble).

As an aside, it is the last meeting for Chief Scrutineer Terry Nichols, who has been checking race cars for over 40 years (43 iirc).

Is anyone doing the bike race?, I do have a choice of 2 bikes but I also have 4 flat tyres

[Dan Friel]

I'll be there somewhere. One thing guaranteed, we're all going to get wet / cold / entertained by hundreds of Forumal Fords!!

[Lee Purnell]

I shall be there, not 'till later though as I am having a test drive in an Impreza!!!!!!!! The pay rise is a wonderfull thing!

[Dan Friel]

Bring on Tomorrow.. enjoy the Subaru Lee.

[Lee Purnell]

Well, it was a pretty good day in the end.
How is Brett Francis? Does anyone know? That looked like a monster shunt.
I was stood at Camp corner, and all I saw was the underside of a FF1600, flying towards a corner on the opposite side of the track!!!

Oh, and does anyone know who will insure me for less than £1,700? That car has to be mine!!!!

[Dan Friel]

I thought that it was easily the best racing I've seen all year - anywhere. The Final was just amzing, top quality drivers showing their stuff.. We heard that Francis had a monster shunt - presume he's ok, the car didn't look too bad when it came back.

Camp Corner, one of the best places to watch Formula Ford action in the country??

[Craig]

Press release:

PA Motorsport
PRESS RELEASE

Castle Combe, England - 6th October, 2001

Francis may miss Festival due to injury

Double Kent Formula Ford Champion, Brett Francis, may be forced to miss this years most prestigious
junior formula event, the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, due to injuries sustained during an
accident at the Castle Combe Carnival today. The young Australian was holding second place in the
final of the FF1600 race and catching race leader and eventual winner Adrian Cottrell when third
placed driver Alx Danielsson lunged Francis at the quick Tower Corner on the penultimate lap. The
PA Motorsport Swift SC93F was flipped into the air at over 70mph, precariously close to rolling over
completely, before crashing into the barriers head-on at unabated speed.
Francis had his right foot caught in the pedals for a short while after the impact, but after
releasing his foot was able to climb from the wreckage unaided despite obvious pain in his leg. The
front of the car was destroyed and many components had come back into the pedals and cockpit area.
Away from the circuit it was discovered that Francis had suffered damage to the ligaments of his
right knee, bruising of the coccyx at the base of his spine and bruising to his right foot. It is
thought that the damage to his knee may be the injury that will keep him from racing for a few
weeks.
Surveying the wreckage of the car that has taken the Maidstone-based Brisbane driver to two
consecutive Kent Formula Ford Championships and a Formula Ford Festival FF1600 race win, Francis
commented on the accident:
"It was a stupidly desperate move on Danielsson's part. He wasn't close enough to have a serious
go, and put me in a position where I either had to drive off the circuit and into the barrier
anyway, or leave as much room as possible and hope that we could both make it around the corner.
But of course the line he was taking into the corner and the speed he was carrying meant that he
slid into me. I stayed as wide as possible but his front wheel slid into my rear and flipped me
up."
"At first I thought I was going over - the car definitely had the attitude to do it. If that was
the case I would have gone into the barrier top-side first, which wasn't going to be pretty.
Luckily it started to come back down, but of course being in the air it didn't slow at all before it
hit the Armco. There was a single row of tyres in front but they didn't do anything except make
sure the wheels were ripped off. In reality I was lucky not to be more seriously injured, but
naturally not very happy."
"We had been dicing cleanly up until that point. Countless times we had gone through
various corners side-by-side and given each other room. It looked as though Adrian was struggling
with a problem, because we were catching him very quickly. I don't know if he just eased off, but
it was going to be an interested last lap if I'd made it that far. Unfortunately it seems to be the
mentality of drivers these days that if you can't get by fairly, you do a desperate move and hope it
works out for you. It did for him, but I'm left with a stuffed racing car and a limp. These guys
don't have any race-craft and aren't able to set up a passing move. I always thought that most
passes were planned corners if not laps in advance. He must think that a pass is planned at the
moment of impact. It will be touch and go now if I can race at the Festival.