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The final championship rounds were at Brands Hatch on 20 & 21 October at the Formula Ford Festival Meeting.

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Ford Fiesta Championship

Ford Fiesta Championship - Rounds 14 & 15

Brands Hatch Indy - 20 & 21 October

The final rounds of the Ford Fiesta Championship were showcased in front of the Formula Ford Festival last weekend. This festival is steeped in history and previous drivers who have raced at the festival include Michael Schumacher & Ayrton Senna. The event is the highlight of the Formula Ford year and large attendances were evident throughout the weekend including Ford senior management.

Five Fiesta STs were entered with Richard Kemp returning after severing a tendon in his hand whilst fitting his race exhaust. 32 cars were to race over the Brands Hatch Indy circuit – the maximum number of cars allowed on the grid which is a testament to how well the series is supported. After the final race on Sunday the series coordinator gave feedback from Ford senior management who were present at the festival. They were impressed with the level of entries in the Ford Fiesta Championship and enjoyed the good close racing with a view to potential factory support in 2008. 

Representatives from both of the team’s major sponsors – Kempster Ford and Orion Engineering – were present at the meeting so John Findlay and Nick Sanderson were determined to put on a good show and round out the season with some good performances.

Testing 

Nick unfortunately was unable to test prior to this meeting, work commitments meaning he was out of the country. John however tested on the Wednesday prior to the meeting. Only six other saloons were booked in so John was guaranteed an empty track to experiment with his technical setup. John was suffering from a ‘tummy bug’ and not feeling 100%, his race mechanic later reported that his fastest laps were just before he came in to answer the call of nature! 

The first session was on a damp, but drying track and driving the circuit in these conditions would be useful if the forecast weekend weather took a turn for the worst. Conditions improved for the remainder of the day and John generally used the time to increase his knowledge of the circuit.   

The last session of the day was run with a low sun which meant the turn in points for Druids and Clearways were almost blind and this was a piece of information filed away for race day. 

David Ellesley also tested in his Fiesta Si although his day came to an abrupt end when he rolled his car down Paddock Hill Bend although it was relieving to hear that David was unhurt during this incident. 

Qualifying 

31 cars lined up for the 15 minute qualifying session after one car pulled out with mechanical problems. The team noted from earlier sessions that the cars which went out on circuit first actually caught the end of the field coming out on to the track from the pit lane so they decided to go out mid-pack and make some space for themselves. John got away first and got a few good laps in to be running 7^th. Nick stormed onto pole position early in the session and remained there for the majority of the session. John then got caught up with slower cars and gradually slipped down to 10^th as others improved their lap times. When he saw this on his pit board, he knew he would have to find some space and two laps later had improved back up to 6^th. Nick continued on pole until the second last qualifying lap when he was just pipped by Dan Rose by 0.073 seconds into 2^nd place.   

With the experience of a previous race meeting behind them, both drivers improved their fastest Brands Hatch lap time and qualifying positions considerably.

 Qualifying Result 

Nick Sanderson – 56.880 – Position: 2^nd.

John Findlay – 57.760 – Position 6^th.

Round 14 

The sun was low when the cars went out to race and John improvised a sun screen by attaching a piece of gaffer tape to the visor of his helmet, allowing him to easily adjust the height of it depending on the sun. This was to prove useful for the Cooper straight where the sun was directly in the drivers eyes. 

The last race meeting of a season can sometimes prove to be eventful  as some drivers, knowing they have all winter to repair their cars seem to be a bit cavalier in their approach. Unfortunately, this would prove to be the case during this race.  

At the start, Nick, Dan Rose & Ben Roper charged down Paddock Hill Bend heading the field with John a few places, but close behind. Gordon Tomkins lost it going down Paddock Hill Bend whilst outside John and careered off into the tyres. Roper & Rose then came together at Graham Hill Bend. This left Sanderson in a clear lead. John Findlay meanwhile safely negotiated his way through Roper and Rose’s parked cars after a slight delay. It appeared that there had been more carnage behind Findlay as he had a huge gap behind him and he was looking forward to concentrating on the cars in front without needing to defend.  

Unfortunately as the cars came over the start / finish line the red flags came out to signal a race stoppage. It soon became clear as to the cause as cars were strewn across the track on the approach to the Druids hairpin.  

When Dan and Ben collided, Nick took avoiding action and went into the lead of the race and would have been in an excellent position to take another race win. However, although disappointing given both John & Nick’s race positions, stopping the race was definitely the correct decision.  

Both Dan Rose and Ben Roper made it to the restart and after a word or two from the clerk of the course, all the cars raced off the line again for a shortened race of 15 minutes. Brian Roper made a great start and was up the outside of John going into to Druids Hairpin. Brian got half a car ahead but then turned in, with the end result of John Findlay T-boning him all the way round the hairpin. This slowed John down and a couple of cars went past but then Roper and a\nderson lost it independently at Graham Hill Bend and collected each other when coming back on, Nick hitting Ben’s car hard whilst travelling backwards. This put Findlay in 7^th position (2^nd in class) and he set about closing down David Nye who was a few seconds up the road. John caught him on lap 5 and after Nye defended for a couple of laps he got past on lap 7. John’s car then started understeering - a problem that worsened as the race went on. It was particularly bad at Druids Hairpin as the car would simply not turn in. This halted John’s progress and he remained comfortable in 6^th until the chequered flag. 

Nick set about making up the lost places after rejoining in 24^th place. He charged through the field behind Ben Roper and the two STs were dicing hard and after many attempts, Nick finally got past Ben to finish 8^th overall, 3^rd in the Fiesta ST class.

Round 14 Result

Nick Sanderson – 8^th (3^rd in ST class) - Fastest Lap 57.244

John Findlay – 6^th (2^nd in ST Class) - Fastest Lap 57.933 

Summary 

An eventful race which saw Findlay finishing in a season’s best position of 6^th and 2^nd in class, comfortably on the pace and looking forward to the final race the following day. Sanderson’s car required more preparation  for the following day including re-attaching the rear bumper after his off in teh first race. Fortunately the marshals retrieved it from the side of the track. 

Round 15

Findlay’s understeer had been traced to a loose nut which once re-torqued, resolved the understeer problems. David Nye made a blistering start and got up the inside of John who lost the place, but came out of paddock still in 6^th position as David Ellesley was overtaken. Nick Sanderson got up John’s outside at Druid’s and the cars briefly touched resulting in John’s passenger wing mirror being flattened against the window. With Nick now on the inside for Graham Hill Bend, John conceded the place and Nick set about closing down the leaders. The safety car was deployed on lap 2 due to Gordon Tomkins’ car being stranded at the top of Paddock Hill Bend after a coming together whilst jockeying for position. At this point John was 8^th and Nick  6^th. The safety car obviously closed the field but it was all systems go on lap 3 when the safety car went into the pitlane. Ben Roper pulled a big move on Nick at the re-start and went through on the outside at Paddock Hill Bend – a brave move and very well executed. Nick improved a position when he got past Tim Bennett but Tim then chose to vigorously defend his position against John who could not get past. 

Right behind John was Richard Kemp and David Ellesley. This four car train were nose to tail lap after lap but losing time against the cars ahead due to Tim’s resolute but fair defending. David briefly got past John on lap 11 but John retook the place on lap 12. John went for a gap on lap 15 which Tim closed at the last minute forcing John to back out of it and lose momentum.  This allowed both Richard and David to get past and by this time the four car train had been joined by Richard Durham who eventually sneaked up John’s blindside on lap 19 leaving John at the end of the five car train which was covered by under 2 seconds as they took the chequered flag. 

Whilst all this was going on Nick continued to make up places and moved into 3^rd place overall when David Abbott left his braking a little late and went off at Graham Hill Bend. Although Nick had made up five positions, he couldn’t quite catch Ben or Dan who were battling for the lead but came home in a strong 3^rd position.  

Round 15 Result 

Nick Sanderson – 3^rd (3^rd in ST class) - Fastest Lap 57.354

John Findlay – 10^th (5^th in ST class) - Fastest Lap 58.234 

Summary 

Both John and Nick had exciting final races to the season and finished with big smiles on their faces. John’s steering wheel had worked loose during the race and it finished with quite a bit of “play” in it. John only noticed this after the race had ended! For his efforts, John won driver of the day for the Saturday race.  

Final Championship Standings – ST Class  

Considering the 2007 season was a development year for the team’s new Fiesta STs, the programme has been a great success with some excellent results. The cars have proved to be reliable and technical knowledge has been learned throughout the season. Both factors give rise to optimism for next season. 

With Nick finishing 3^rd overall and John finishing 4^th overall, both drivers will receive championship trophies at the BRSCC Awards Ceremonies. 

Both cars will now be fully maintained back to concourse condition and will be on display in the Kempster Ford showroom over the course of the winter. The cars can be made available for events during the close season. Both drivers are committing to the 2008 Ford Fiesta Championship where the team will be challenging for the championship title. 

A special thanks from both Nick and John to Kempster Ford and Orion Engineering for their support during the season and we look forward to extending our relationship for the next phase of the programme. 

Congratulations to Dan Rose on winning the inaugural Fiesta ST Class Championship. A comic moment to mention, as Dan went into the final round of the season, in his rush to re-join the grid, he managed to hit himself in the head with his crash helmet, resulting in a huge black eye! It didn’t stop him taking the fastest lap and winning the race though… 

A season DVD will be available later in the year from AMG Television showing coverage of all the rounds throughout the season, as broadcast on Motors TV & Channel 5. Rounds 12 & 13 will be televised at 9pm Friday 26 October on Motors TV. John had the ‘in car camera’ for Round 12, with it transferring to Nick’s car for Round 13. 

Rounds 12 & 13 – Brands Hatch 1 & 2 September 2007 

oops!

The latest rounds of the championship saw the team head for Brands Hatch in Kent. There were 28 Ford Fiestas entered which would ensure some close and exciting racing over the weekend. Again, neither John nor Nick had raced at this circuit before so a full days testing was run on the Friday with both cars gaining faster lap times as the day progressed. After testing, both drivers were lapping the 1.2 mile Indy circuit in the low to mid 58 second bracket. Paddock Hill Bend was the most difficult corner to master and both drivers felt there was more time to be gained for the overall lap time at this corner. 

Qualifying 

The qualifying session began in good weather but the session was red flagged very early on as James Styles in one of the Si cars went wide at Paddock Hill Bend, ran into the gravel trap and barrel-rolled twice, bending most panels on the car. Fortunately, James was OK although he went to hospital for precautionary checks as standard procedure. The Daniels Motorsport mechanics did an amazing job of rebuilding his car and James made the grid for the afternoon’s race. 

At the re-start, Nick realised he needed to get some decent laps on the board and made an uncharacteristic mistake at Paddock Hill Bend. The rear end of the car slid out and although Nick tried to correct the slide, the natural camber of the corner worked against him and he speared off to the inner side of the track and hit the tyre barrier head-on at an estimated 70+ MPH. The car went into the tyres up to the windscreen and then shot back in the air and spun around, facing back up the hill. Nick was just a passenger in the high speed impact which managed to bend the Armco even although it was protected by a three-deep tyre wall!!! 

John was following close behind Nick when he went off so had a grandstand view and was relieved to see Nick out of the car when he came round again.  John was understandably cautious at Paddock for the rest of the session but put in one quick lap to qualify well. Nick reported that he struggled to get his breathing back under control as the harness had winded him due to the hard impact. 

John continued to improve his lap times and put in a creditable best lap time of 58.645 resulting in 8^th position for the grid. As Nick didn’t manage a clean fast lap, his best time was well down the grid but the main concern was whether the car could be repaired in time for the race. 

Qualifying Result 

John Findlay – 58.645 – Position 8^th.

Nick Sanderson – 1:00.251 – Position: 20^th.  

Round 12 

The ICR mechanics had a lot of work to do to get Nick’s car in shape for the race but amazingly, the damage wasn’t as bad as first feared as Nick hit the tyres head-on so the impact was spread across the front of the car. Fiesta ST rival Ben Roper also came along and helped fix some of the damaged components which shows the friendliness of the www.dees.co.uk Ford Fiesta Championship – Dan Rose also supplied some fittings later in the weekend to help the team and our thanks go out to both. 

John had the Motors TV Television camera installed in his car for the race. Both cars would be starting from outside berths on the grid -  a major disadvantage at Brands Hatch as cars usually get ‘hung out to dry’ at both Paddock Hill Bend and the tight Druids hairpin. This was to prove the case for John who was unable to get to the inside of the track and lost several places by the exit to Druids. 

Nick was flying through the field on the opening laps and was catching John who got tangled up with Gordon Tomkins at Graham Hill bend and both lost momentum up to Surtees. This let Nick who had another blistering start alongside and it was three abreast going into Surtees, with Nick passing both with two wheels well onto the grass. Something had to give and unfortunately Gordon came across John, who with no place to go could not give him enough room resulting in Gordon spinning off. This delayed John and a gap opened up in front of him. He closed down on the next cars and was then catching Nick who was having power steering problems – a result of the morning’s accident. 

John continued to close on them and was only half a second behind when he came across a back marker at the top of Paddock Hill Bend. The back marker did not seem to see John and forced him wide and made him put one wheel into the gravel. John got past at Druids but Nick and Co had opened up a gap which John would not be able to close in the remaining two laps however coming out of Druids, John had lost all drive and he had no option but to park his Fiesta ST on the exit of Graham Hill Bend. A broken drive flange was later diagnosed as the problem, possibly as a result of the short gravel excursion at Paddock Hill Bend. 

Nick continued behind Terry Upton and Tim Bennet to finish 11^th overall as he could not make up the positions with the steering becoming progressively worse. Nick actually waved Terry past earlier in the race as he felt it was unfair to defend due to the steering problems as Terry was fighting an Si battle with Tim – Nick getting a great seat to watch all the action! 

Round 12 Result 

Nick Sanderson – 11th (3^rd in ST class) - Fastest Lap 58.280

John Findlay – DNF - Fastest Lap 58.468

Round 13 

With race one resulting in a DNF for John, he would start in 24^th position on the grid. The drive flange would prove to be a very difficult repair which resulted in the car only being ready one hour before the start. The ABS warning light indicated a problem but with Nick’s car still not ready to race, there was no time to diagnose what was wrong, far less fix it. John would have to drive with whatever problem was there. Worryingly, if the problem only affected one front wheel, the car was likely to spear off the track under race conditions. 

Nick was having serious dramas as the front-end of the car was missing when the final call for the Ford Fiestas was made over the tannoy. The mechanics were working hard and as soon as the car was dropped off the jacks, Nick raced up to the grid and just managed to join the grid before the green flag lap – panic over! 

It turned out after the race that the BRSCC Clerk of the Course actually allowed an extra five minutes which effectively allowed Nick to join the race. A big thanks to the BRSCC for this action – Nick visited race control after the race to thanks the officials personally. 

John got a decent start and made three or four places by Paddock Hill Bend. He also got to the inside in the run up to Druids but found his path blocked although one or two cars were hung out to dry and John made a couple more places up the inside. John almost ran into the back of Jamie Ackers as his ABS simply did not work and he had trouble stopping the car in a straight line. Braking was to prove a race long problem for John as he could not stop the car in anything like the previous stopping distances. This resulted in minor contact with Barry Edwards in his Zetec. One of the STs main advantages over the other cars is the ABS and without this John was to struggle. He did however improve his position up to 15^th place - the braking problem meant his lap times were approximately one second slower than the Saturday race. 

Nick had the Motors TV television camera installed so the whole race was captured from his position. Nick had a storming run in a patched up car which did not handle quite as it should. There was no time to even check the tyre pressures or tracking so he just drove the car as best as he could. Starting 11^th, he made up many places and eventually finished the race in 5^th position, having great battles with series stalwart Peter Daniels and David Ellesley. 

Round 13 Result 

Nick Sanderson – 5^th (3^rd in ST Class) – Fastest Lap 58.101 + Driver of the Day Award

John Findlay – 15^th (4^th in ST Class) – Fastest Lap 59.343

Summary 

A torrid weekend for the team with both cars requiring major surgery to get them anything like fit for racing. John’s DNF in Race 1 was particularly hard to swallow and his Race 2 problems limited the progress he could make from the back of the grid. 

For Nick to get two finishes over the weekend was an achievement in itself due to his high speed exit in qualifying – the biggest accident of Nick’s career. 

The team worked magnificently to get the cars out racing but both cars require further work to be ready for the last meeting back at Brands Hatch in seven weeks time. 

A big thanks to our fellow competitors Ben Roper and Dan Rose (and their teams) for helping out with the repairs to our cars. Also, a big thanks to Orion Engineering, Petrofac and the ST Owners Club (www.stownersclub.com) for supporting the team over the course of the weekend. 

Current Standings 

*All rounds score points but the final total is all rounds minus two ‘dropped scores’. 

Ford Fiesta Championship – ‘French Connection’ weekend

Rounds 8 & 9

Croix-En-Ternois, France

Introduction 

The BRSCC Ford Fiesta Championship made its annual trip to the French circuit at Croix-En-Ternois for Rounds 8 & 9, with a good turnout of 27 cars making the trip. In Class C, there were 4 Fiesta STs with Stewart Scott making his series debut, deputising for John Findlay who couldn’t make the journey due to work commitments. 

The testing sessions were used to learn the circuit since neither Nick nor Stewart had visited Croix before and also for Stewart to get used to the handling of the Fiesta ST having previously only raced the Fiesta XR2 model in Scotland.

Qualifying

The qualifying session was on the Saturday lunchtime and 27 cars went out in good sunny conditions. Nick made an embarrassing start pushing too hard too soon and had a half spin at Virage de l’ecole, the only damage being to his pride!

Both Stewart and Nick then set about putting in quick laps and at the end of the session Nick put his Fiesta ST on the front row in 2^nd place and Stewart put his in an excellent 7^th place at the first attempt. 

Ben Roper took pole position with the championship leading Fiesta ST of Dan Rose in 3^rd place with an identical time to Nick to the thousandth of the second – Nick getting the 2^nd position as he’d put the time in earlier in the session. 

Qualifying Result 

Nick Sanderson – Position 2^nd – Fastest Lap 1:05.405

Stewart Scott – Position 7^th – Fastest Lap 1:06.206

Round 8 

Nick got a decent start from the grid but David Abbott got past in the lighter Si car. As Nick realised that Ben had the first corner, he slotted in behind to keep Dan Rose behind in 4^th place. Stewart lost a couple of places on the run into the first corner and then set about making them back with some close dicing with the front running Si cars. 

Nick had Dan Rose crawling all over his rear bumper for the first few laps but having got past David Abbott, he pulled out a small  gap and set about closing down Ben Roper. The gap was coming down until Nick was on Ben’s bumper but Ben eased out a gap whilst passing some of the backmarkers in the Zetec cars. 

Stewart continued to dice with the Si cars but had a moment at Virage de l’epingle whilst overtaking a backmarker who turned into the corner and the side of Stewart’s car, bending the wing and passenger door. 

As this race was 25 minutes long, the tyres started to ‘go off’ and Nick struggled to continue pushing and had to settle for 2^nd place, with Dan Rose closing on the last laps. Nick also took the fastest race lap and won the Fiesta ST driver of the day trophy. 

Stewart made up some of his lost places and brought his car home in a creditable 9^th place in his first Fiesta ST race.

Round 8 Result 

Nick Sanderson – 2^nd place overall (2^nd in Fiesta ST Class) – Fastest Lap 1:05.243 (Overall Fastest Race Lap) – Fiesta ST Driver of the Day 

Stewart Scott – 9^th place overall (4^th in Fiesta ST Class) – Fastest Lap 1:05.906 

Round 9 

The cars went out onto the circuit in variable conditions so we opted to go out on the full wet Dunlop tyres. Nick started on the front row of the grid in 2^nd position with Stewart on the inside of the 5^th row in 9^th place. Nick got a great start and pulled half a car length in front of poleman Ben Roper but Ben kept his foot in to hold the lead into the first corner. Stewart also made a better start and held his position, with some of the Si cars losing control in the wet conditions, sliding into the gravel at the first corner. 

Nick was chasing Ben for the lead but again had championship leader Dan Rose glued to his rear bumper. After a few laps, Nick opened up a gap from Dan after he’d made many lunges and set about closing down Ben. Mid-race, Nick was right on the rear of Ben’s car but again Ben opened up a gap whilst overtaking the backmarker Zetec cars. 

Stewart was fighting hard with the leading Si cars and worked his way through the field. Dicing hard with series veterans Peter Daniels and David Abbott, Stewart made the place his own, moving up to 4^th place overall. 

Meanwhile, Dan Rose had dropped back from Nick, allowing him to challenge Ben but at the chequered flag, Ben took the win by 1.296 seconds. Stewart crossed the line in a very impressive 4^th place overall in only his second outing in the borrowed Fiesta ST. Stewart fittingly won the Fiesta ST driver of the day trophy for a storming drive from 9^th to 4^th place. Nick missed the fastest race lap by one hundredth of a second to Ben. 

Round 9 Result 

Nick Sanderson – 2^nd place overall (2^nd in Fiesta ST class) – Fastest Lap 1:09.178 

Stewart Scott – 4^th place overall (4^th in Fiesta ST class) – Fastest Lap 1:09.958 – Fiesta ST driver of the day. 

Summary

The ‘French Connection’ weekend was a big success for the Kempster Ford / Orion Engineering backed cars with solid results for both cars. Stewart has bought a new Fiesta ST for conversion into race trim with the intention of being ready to race at the final rounds at Brands Hatch. Iain Cowie who runs the cars is also in the process of buying another Fiesta ST so the team should have four cars by the end of the season.

The Fiesta race also set a record with the largest grid at Croix-En-Ternois (27 cars) and the French circuit made us all very welcome. The BRSCC should be commended for their hard work in arranging this event with the Ford Saloons also enjoying the meeting.

Current Standings

*All rounds score points but the final total is all rounds minus two ‘dropped scores’ (best 13 results from 15 rounds count).

Round 5 – Oulton Park 30 June 2007

After our debut meeting at Anglesey, the ICR Motorsport mechanics continued to develop our Fiesta STs. The major change was to solve the power-steering problems experienced at the previous meeting. The best solution was to fit a new cooler system, seal the power-steering fluid tank and fit a breather pipe. Limited testing was carried out at Knockhill and the problem appeared to have been fixed. 

Additionally, the exhaust system was improved in accordance with the championship regulations with a new Miltek Flexi-pipe and non-resonated CAT-back pipe fitted to John’s car although problems were experienced with the flexi-pipe on Nick’s ST so it only received the CAT-back pipe until modifications can be made.  John’s car also received a brand new gear linkage after his gear selection problems in the second race at Anglesey. 

A new ST debuted at this meeting with Richard Kemp joining the series, bringing the total of ST entries up to five, with more in build. We are currently sourcing the shell to commence build for our third car. 

Testing 

Rain greeted us on arrival at Oulton Park and it would be an eventful mornings testing with both sessions red flagged due to cars spinning off.  Having not driven the track before, John spent these sessions learning the circuit, gradually getting quicker as the sessions progressed. This was Nick’s first time driving the car in the wet and was soon on the pace once he got comfortable with the incredible amount of grip the Dunlop wet tyres gave.  

Good news tt was that the work done installing the cooling system to correct the power steering issue which had plagued both cars at the previous meeting had fixed the problem. John’s gear selection problems were also fixed. 

Both afternoon sessions were run on a dry track and this gave both Nick and John the chance to really let the STs stretch their legs and both cars performed excellently. 

The final session was cut short when a BTCC support Renault Clio Cup car experienced a suspension failure at the very fast Island Bend, resulting in a big accident hitting the tyre wall and ending up on its roof.

Qualifying

27 cars went out for qualifying on a wet track which was very busy so we knew it would be difficult to get good clear laps. Nick was on pole until the final lap of the session when Dan Rose pipped him by 0.033 of a second. 

John struggled to get up to speed and was overly cautious having had a serious near-miss early in the session when he almost visited one of the tyre walls at the exit of Lodge corner where there isn’t a great deal of run-off for when things go wrong! Nick also had a ‘moment’ through the double-apex right-hander Druids, taking the whole corner sideways but he managed to keep on the power to pull it through the other side safely.

Qualifying Result 

Nick Sanderson – 2:13.364 – Position: 2^nd.

John Findlay – 2:22.073 – Position 12^th. 

Round 5

The rain had returned for our 20 minute race - this was to play a major part in both cars finishing positions. 

John’s car lacked traction at the start and 6 or 7 cars went past. By the Avenue, John had regained several of those positions due to an incident ahead. He then set about the cars in front of him and had improved up to 8^th when the red flags came out on lap 3 due to Andy Neate’s Si being beached at Druids. Although by this time the front three STs had gone, John was confident that he would have easily reeled in the cars up to 4^th had the race not been stopped. 

Nick also had problems getting traction off the line, as did our main rivals Dan Rose and Ben Roper with the Si cars being quicker off the grid. Andy Neate had a spin at the Shell Oils Hairpin which allowed Dan Rose to take the lead with Ben Roper and Nick chasing. Nick lunged up the inside of Ben at Lodge, resulting in them being side-by-side over the start-finish straight. Although Ben was on the inside, he over-shot Old Hall and Nick went past on the inside. 

At this point, the red flags came out and the race was to be restarted with the grid being formed from the position at the end of the previous lap. John was gridded 11^th at the restart, losing three places he’d made up on the lap which was lost on count-back. Nick also lost the place he’d made passing Ben due to the same reason and therefore started 3rd. 

The re-start race was to be 10 minutes (4 laps) once Andy’s car had been cleared to safety. Again John’s start was marred by wheelspin, losing several places but he continued where he had left off in race one and sliced through the field to finish 10^th.  Three further places were within his grasp but the chequered flag halted his progress. 

At the front, Dan, Ben and Nick fought hard for the full ten-minutes with Ben making a forceful move to take the lead at the hairpin. Dan was pushed on to the grass and Nick dived past before the Knickerbook chicane. 

Going into Druids on what was to be the final lap, Ben lost control whilst leading and went across the gravel, Dan nipped past Nick on the inside to take the lead having got a better run out of Knickerbrook and took the win by 0.469 of a second from Nick. Ben recovered to finish in 3^rd place. 

In addition, Nick took the fastest race lap with a 2:14.278 and we also won the “Team of the day” award for the best presented cars.  

Summary 

Another great result for Nick with another fine podium finish. John’s lack of experience around Oulton Park hampered his qualifying position but his race pace showed that with more time round these circuits, which are all new to him, there is plenty still to come. Both cars returned unscathed from the meeting so do not require any remedial work before the next rounds other than weight reduction. 

John carried the television camera in the car for the race which will hopefully provide lots of action and exposure of the car which will be shown on Motors TV on Friday 3^rd August at 9pm (with many repeat showings). 

The full official Ford Racing UK race report will be forwarded once received from the championship coordinators. 

The cars are going back to Knockhill as there is work to do to get both cars down to the minimum weight per the regulations. The minimum for car + driver is 1110 Kgs – at Oulton Park, Nick’s total was 1141 Kgs and John’s was 1160 Kgs so both cars should be faster once this is resolved. 

Current Standings