Tom Kimber-Smith

Does any one know where he is going this year!!

[rdjones]

Yep, UK Formula Renault with JLR.

[Emma]

Isn't that a step back? Or have I got the wrong person, again?

[Kicking-back]

It's a step to a more appropriate situation.

Put it that way!

[Coops]

Tom done well with JLR when he was in Fourmula Ford.

[bella]

its not a step back. if he can step into a competitive car in a lower series surely that puts him in a better place overall than being in an uncompetitive situation in a higher series...

[Coops]

yeh i think ya right. tom's a good driver, give him a good car and he will be fast.

[bella]

well give most people a good car and they'll be fast. but that's another arguement. it's what you make of a situation, and i'm not sure tom's made anything more than average of any of his driving situations.

feel free to provide evidence to me wrong though.

[Coops]

Well I dont think the JLR formula ford team ever won the chamionship before tom drove the car, and this was the year when their was two works teams!

[bella]

that's not evidence really, is it though?

[Coops]

what more do you want. He won the championship and he was not in a works car. In Formula ford you have got to be good to do that!! Before FFord he had won the T cars Championship.

Also FFord cars are tricky cars to drive. To get the best out of them you have to be on top of your game.

[BillyT]

tbh The season Tom won the FFords was a much weaker year than the previous one.

[Coops]

there were still grids of 25-30 cars.

[BillyT]

Yeah but the quality was different. It dosent matter about the size of the grid really does it?

[Coops]

the Facts still stay the same Tom has won two chapionships! He didnt win both of them by luck did he!

[BillyT]

I wasnt taking anything away from him just stating the obvious

[Coops]

fair enough

[JNWRF01]

2003 wasn;t as strong as previous years....sorry but your talking garbage. If you think the talent needed to win the British FF series varies that much year to year then I think you need to check what your smoking. Using your rationale - you would say Micheal Vergers is rubbish because he only beat Gareth Rees & Fionn Murray to the title in 90? Or does that make Andy Priaulx useless just because he beat a load of clubmen to the Spider title.....errr no. To win any professional national championship you have to be very very good.

The pace at the front of national FF is high every year despite the depth of the grids...

[Richard Dean]

well said!

[newoutsider]

I don't think that Tom is really taking a step back - I think Euro F3 was a step too far straight from FF

[Jonny Apex]

Originally Posted by JNWRF01

2003 wasn;t as strong as previous years....sorry but your talking garbage. If you think the talent needed to win the British FF series varies that much year to year then I think you need to check what your smoking. Using your rationale - you would say Micheal Vergers is rubbish because he only beat Gareth Rees & Fionn Murray to the title in 90? Or does that make Andy Priaulx useless just because he beat a load of clubmen to the Spider title.....errr no. To win any professional national championship you have to be very very good.

The pace at the front of national FF is high every year despite the depth of the grids...

Agreed. Quality is always far more important than quantity. It doesn't matter if there are 50 or 15 cars on the grid. If you've beaten a handful of quality drivers at the head of the field then you've proved yourself. A few ignorant types will mock him for this, but with motor sport how it is - with the pressures on drivers to jump up the ladder too quickly - many never get a chance to reassert themselves. At least he's doing something about it. Good lad.

[medler]

Originally Posted by Coops

Well I dont think the JLR formula ford team ever won the chamionship before tom drove the car, and this was the year when their was two works teams!

I don't think beating works teams was really an achievement in 2003. In fact driving for JLR was a far better bet than being with a works team. I think stepping from British Fford to Euro F3 would have been a big step for any driver. Hopefully moving to Formula Renault show if he has the ability to go further and that the Fford championship was not a fluke.

[BillyT]

Originally Posted by JNWRF01

2003 wasn;t as strong as previous years....sorry but your talking garbage. If you think the talent needed to win the British FF series varies that much year to year then I think you need to check what your smoking. Using your rationale - you would say Micheal Vergers is rubbish because he only beat Gareth Rees & Fionn Murray to the title in 90? Or does that make Andy Priaulx useless just because he beat a load of clubmen to the Spider title.....errr no. To win any professional national championship you have to be very very good.

The pace at the front of national FF is high every year despite the depth of the grids...

Yes I appreciate that and all of the above comments. Yet I was stating that the quality of the field when Tom won FFord's was not as good as it had been in previous year. Like I said I was not taking anything away from him just stating the truth.

[JNWRF01]

I suggest you get out there and do some Formula Ford and try to run at the front year in year out - then your comments may just have a tiny amount of credibility....

[No 4]

During his FF national winning season Tom jumped in a ZIP Formula car at Donington and after just a few practice laps, put it on poll and won the subsequent race - beating in the process the likes of Tim Bridgeman, Jamie Morrow and Josh Fisher. The point I'm making is that Tom is a very capable driver, running for a very professional team in JLR, he'll be a force to be reckoned with.