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Erickson’s Maiden UK Win 

Australian driver Daniel Erickson has taken his maiden victory in round 13 of the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain at Donington Park over the weekend. Erickson led every lap of the race to win by a comfortable margin, having qualified his Australian built Spectrum chassis on pole position earlier in the day. The young driver from Orangeville, Sydney also secured pole position for round 14. 

In what was an outstanding result for the Kevin Mills Racing crew, Daniel’s team mates Alex Jones and Daniel Cammish finished 3rd and 4th respectively; Dan Cammish once again claiming the win in the Scholarship class. 

It was a timely result for Erickson, coming just a week after his family, friends and supporters had participated in a dinner and auction to raise funds to allow him to continue his UK racing campaign. “I am so pleased to be able to secure pole position and the win today,” said an ecstatic Erickson after the race. “This is the best way I know to thank everyone who has supported me. My family, the AMSF, Borland Racing and Spectrum cars, Kevin Mills Racing and my friends back home who have provided funds and ongoing encouragement,” he said. “It’s even better that my team mates were right up there with me to showcase how good the KMR team and Spectrum chassis are. We’re a small, close team and I don’t think anyone in pit lane works harder than our guys.” 

Kevin Mills was beaming with the results delivered by his young drivers. “That is mega!” he enthused. “We have been promising this for quite a while and it is terrific to deliver. Dan C has been solid all season and is dominating the Scholarship class, but Dan E and Alex have had more than their fair share of bad luck so far. It’s great for them to have a good, clean run and to see them on the podium where they deserve to be,” he added. 

“Fantastic!” was how Spectrum designer Mike Borland summed up the result. “We’re also racing at Sandown this weekend for the Victorian Championship. Spectrum chassis won the Formula Ford and Formula Ford 1600 races at Sandown and then we sat up to watch live timing and see the two Dans and Alex crowd the podium in their KMR Spectrums. It is very satisfying to see our cars winning races around the World within a few hours,” Borland said, adding “Congratulations to Kevin, his team and the drivers on a well earned result.” 

Round 14 of the Championship was a far more torrid affair, with a lead bunch of six cars fighting for most of the race. On the 11th lap, Erickson crossed the line five abreast with his rivals! After being shuffled back in the pack, he was able to fight back to 3rd at the finish and record another strong podium finish. After the weekend, Cammish remains 4th in the Championship points and comfortable leader in Scholarship class and Erickson has improved to 6th. The next outing is at the famous Silverstone Circuit on the weekend of 15 and 16 August.

College Spectrum Leads Combe Charge 

The Wiltshire College racing team has taken a commanding lead in the Castle Combe Racing Club FF1600 Championship at the half way point. Last weekend, driver Ben Norton extended his lead aboard the Australian designed and built Spectrum 011, taking 1st and 3rd in the two races. This takes the tally for the College team to four wins and a 3rd place from five starts this season!  

After five of the nine rounds, Ben enjoys a 20 point lead in the outright Championship and a 22 point lead in the ‘A’ class. With 30 outright and 15 ‘A’ class points on offer for each of the remaining races, there is still plenty of work for Ben and the College team to do before the season is out. 

Michael Borland, designer and manufacturer of the Spectrum chassis, has been keenly following the team’s progress from his Melbourne base. “It’s fantastic to see Ben and the College team doing so well this year,” said Borland. He added, “Haydn Earl (Wiltshire College Motorsport Director) gave me a tour of the College’s facility at the Combe Circuit on one of my recent UK visits and it really is something. The students and the local community are very fortunate to have such a well run and well appointed facility.” 

“There is no better way for the students to learn about motor racing than for them to actually prepare and run a racing car. Ben’s background as a driving instructor, along with his obvious talent as a racing car driver, make him the ideal person to have in the car, as he can assist in the student’s learning and development,” said Haydn. “I’m very proud of what the team has achieved this year and look forward to adding some more silverware to our trophy cabinet!” 

Ben Norton is obviously pleased with his season to date and is equally pleased to be able to enjoy his racing, whilst contributing to the College’s educational goals. Ben said, “The Spectrum is just a delight to drive. The students do a great job in preparing the car and giving me the opportunity to win races. I would like to thank them for their efforts, as motor racing truly is a team sport and I couldn’t so this without their support.” 

The next round of the CCRC FF1600 Championship is on Saturday 18 July. We wish Ben and the Wiltshire College Motorsport Team the best of luck in continuing their winning ways! 

pic Richard Pascal 11/56 Motorsport

KMR Spectrums Flying in UK 

Rounds seven, eight and nine of the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain were held last weekend at Scotland’s Knockhill circuit. From the first practice session on Thursday, the Kevin Mills Racing Spectrums set the pace with the fastest times and all three cars in the top five. 

The times in practice had been incredibly close, with mere hundredths of a second separating the competitors. Track position in the red flag interrupted qualifying session was critical. The KMR team did not get the best run, however still qualified with Jones in 3rd, Erickson 5th and Cammish 7th. Erickson was just 0.062 off the pole time and Cammish 0.118! Qualifying for the next race saw the drivers fare better, with Jones qualifying in pole position, Erickson 2nd and Cammish 5th. Again it was tight at the top, with Cammish on 0.13 behind Jones’ pole time! 

Round seven saw Jones make his way into 2nd, with his team mates inside the top five. Unfortunately for Jones the input shaft on his Hewland gearbox broke, forcing him to retire from the race. Cammish and Erickson pushed on and had secured 2nd and 3rd by the end of the race. 

Jones made a blinding start from pole for round eight. The officials of the meeting deemed it to be a little too good and required him to serve a drive through penalty. Erickson and Cammish in 2nd and 3rd were making inroads on the leader when Erickson clipped a tyre bundle, dragging it onto the track in front of Cammish. Both cars had damage to their steering as a result, ending any opportunity to make an assault on the lead car. Erickson held onto 2nd, whilst Cammish fell back to 6th. Jones had made a brilliant charge back from last after his black flag drive through and was up to 8th on the last lap. With only a couple of corners to go, he crashed with another competitor attempting to move into 7th. 

The final race of the weekend featured an action packed opening corner, with several cars spinning and running off the circuit. When the dust had settled, the lead car had bolted and Erickson was in 2nd place, albeit with a reasonable gap ahead of him. He reeled of a series of fastest laps, taking the lead and starting to build a gap. Unfortunately he made a small mistake, which moved him back into 2nd. On the final lap of the race, Erickson was holding 2nd when he was involved in contact from his team mate, who was attempting a move from 4th place. Erickson did not finish as a result and Cammish fell back to finish 6th. Erickson took some solace from the fact that he had set the fastest lap of the race. Jones moved through the filed to finish in 8th position. 

Team principal, Kevin Mills was pleased with the pace of the cars at Knockhill, but knows they had the speed to have achieved better results. “It was great to see the pace from the cars and drivers this weekend. We know we had the cars to have stood on the top step of the podium, but that’s racing, isn’t it?” said Kevin. “We’re looking forward to Snetterton in a few weeks to see if we can put the whole package together,” he added. 

After nine rounds, Daniel Cammish holds 3rd place in the Championship and is the leading Scholarship Class driver; Daniel Erickson has moved into 7th after his pair of 2nd place finishes at the weekend. The team has secured two pole positions, five podium finishes and nine top four results in the season to date