British Formula Ford 2009!!

[Deemun]

Originally Posted by FFmygale

Really!??? So you seriously believe that someone who came 9th or 10th, or whatever it was in the championship last year has already, or most likely is about to win this years championship without 'vastly improving' as a driver???????? If that were the case then by implication that doesn't say much for the abilities of the people who are finishing behind him!

I think you are (perhaps deliberately?) missing the point which is that even when Jamun are not firing on all cylinders, as I do not belive they have been this year, is that they still have enough in reserve to beat everyone else.

I have nothing against James Cole; quite the opposite, he is a very personable young man and he has done a good job this year. But the fact is he a 2nd year driver, in the best team with the best car, and he has not asserted himself in the way that Boyd did last year or McLeod did the year before. Therefore I stand by what I say he has not "vastly" improved over his performances last year and this is based on hard evidence of race data and lap times. However is a better driver than he was certainly 12-18 months ago but I would say the majority of that improvement came in the later stages of last season, particularly at the Festival where he put in an inspired peformance and with an injury from a practice accident earlier in the week! I would have liked to have seen him carry more of that determination into this year and while there have definately been instances of it they have not been consistent. Improved yes definatly; "vastly" improved? No not yet!

I also don't believe, without casting any aspertions on the abilities of this years drivers that there has been the depth of talent shown last year by Boyd, Blanchard, Corea, Maliapard, Sorrenson but that is a personal perspective which I understand others may not agree with.

All that said it has been great to see a more open contest this year and some very entertaining races and I'm looking forward very much to Combe and the Festival.

[50-SIX]

Originally Posted by Deemun

I also don't believe, without casting any aspertions on the abilities of this years drivers that there has been the depth of talent shown last year by Boyd, Blanchard, Corea, Maliapard, Sorrenson but that is a personal perspective which I understand others may not agree with.

.

Agree to an extent, but surely its more a case of lack of 2nd year drivers than lack of depth of talent. All the guys you mention above that were consistantly at the front had car racing experience prior to UKFF. There are alot of first year car drivers on the grid this year that have done extremely well considering the lack of car experience, certainly as well as Correa who was in the same situation last year or year before, I forget

Stutetly, granted been out the car for some time, who used to mix it with the past drivers didn't fair amazingly well last time out. I think this year is a strong year. More inexperienced than previous years maybe, but certainly not lacking in talent in comparison.

Cole - a good 2nd year driver, with the best team was always going to win it.

[Deemun]

Originally Posted by 50-SIX

Agree to an extent, but surely its more a case of lack of 2nd year drivers than lack of depth of talent. All the guys you mention above that were consistantly at the front had car racing experience prior to UKFF. There are alot of first year car drivers on the grid this year that have done extremely well considering the lack of car experience, certainly as well as Correa who was in the same situation last year or year before, I forget

Stutetly, granted been out the car for some time, who used to mix it with the past drivers didn't fair amazingly well last time out. I think this year is a strong year. More inexperienced than previous years maybe, but certainly not lacking in talent in comparison.

Cole - a good 2nd year driver, with the best team was always going to win it.

Hmmm....well you maybe right about Cole was favourite to win it but then with the greatest of respect to JTR (who do an excellent job) if Newgarden had signed with Jamun then I think it may well have been a different story although I for one am glad that he didn't as it made for a better championship.

I cannot remember how many 2nd year drivers we had in 2008 but certainly Cole, Findlay (4th year?), Jones & Palmer were of course all in Duratec last year and many of this years grid have single seater experience such as Erikson, Newgarden and McKenna.

I know there was a lot of debate earlier this season about what constitutes a novice & we don't need to revisit that but I'm not sure what constitutes an experienced driver? Newgarden was a new driver this year but was far from inexperienced. If next year we have (as may well happen) Rory Butcher at Fluid, Felix Fisher at Juno, Marcus Allen at KMR & Scott Malvern at CDR would they, should they be regarded as rookies?

[FaCr]

Originally Posted by 50-SIX

Stutetly, granted been out the car for some time, who used to mix it with the past drivers didn't fair amazingly well last time out. I think this year is a strong year. More inexperienced than previous years maybe, but certainly not lacking in talent in comparison.

I have it on Good authority that Linton had a slight problem with the car during the weekend. Straight Line speed was compromised, as could be seen when Hill shot straight past him nd continued to pull away.

I agree, definately a more inexperienced year. As for talent, Im not going to air my views on that level, as I believe this years group of drivers have been exemplary, once again. A real Gem for British Motorsport and a great addition to whatever level of Motorsport they move onto over the enxt few years.

However, as mentioned above, times and data show that last years drivers were perhaps slightly faster. Maybe its not fair to say that there is less talent, but that the Talent is yet to develop? There may not have been as many people battling for the overall championship, but the mid table battles have been brilliant, and in my view, slightly overlooked

[alias99]

I think you are right by saying the talent is yet to develop. At brands on the GP circuit which is known to seperate the field a considerable amount due to its fast and gutsy nature, the majority of this years field were within 2s of each other (1-19) not incl the last 3 drivers.

This shows that it is pretty competitive out there right to the bottom and is a good measure of the quality of the grid. Its not like say Formula Renault BARC where the field split is like 2s for the top 10 and around 5s in total.

Id imagine that Cole and Newgarden will be battling it out again in British F3 next year?

Also in terms of out right speed the fastest guys are just about as quick as the fastest guys form last year, and even a few lap records broken.

[keith vernon]

Having worked this year with the excellent John and Felix Scott, who did a really good job with the Spirit chassis, that with a little more development would be very competitive, it is clear that first one must have both the time and the money to spend on the car to refine it, attention to the smallest detail is extremely important, that is why Felix is so good to have working on the technical side as he does just that. Steve Wills is a very good engineer who handmade all the replacement parts to upgrade the chassis to where we had it very competitive at Brands Hatch, but chose the wrong time to change the clutch? The top teams are the teams that can afford to spend the incredible time needed to make the cars near perfect as can be, who can test 30 to 40 times a season, who have all the experience and knowledge gained from previous years and being able to run 3 to 4 drivers to compare notes and help in qualifying. So what has been achieved with Steve Wills, John and Felix this year to get the Spirit right up there with minimal testing, minimal time to work on the car and of course minimal money, does show what can be achieved, so all involved, including Kieran must be very proud.

[Morris Dancer]

Does anyone have any news from Castle Combe? The results table on autosport.com shows Chrissy Palmer won the first race, which is no real surprise considering he was the pace-setter in Thursday testing according to Daniel Erickson's website (www.demotorsport.com.au).

It's just so frustrating with no 'live timing' to get an inkling of what's going on as it happens for all of us who can't get to the circuit. Hopefully there'll be 'live timing' at the Festival.

[Morris Dancer]

Results from race 1 are on the British Formula Ford Championship website http://www.britishformulaford.co.uk/2009results.htm (bottom of the page - full results are on the PDF): 1. Palmer 2. Newgarden 3. Hill (from last on the grid) 4. Cole 5. Fisher 6. Barker 7. Erickson (apparently after a drive-through penalty) 8. Benson 9. Vernon 10. de Zille

From the lap times it was a wet race with times in the 1m 20s compared to 1m 7s in the dry.

There were 8 DNFs including Findlay, McKenna, Jones, Cammish (both KVM drivers on the same lap - maybe they took each other out?!) and de Wit

[gomick]

Chrissy Palmer won race 2 at Castle Combe aswell...

2009 Final Points...

James Cole - 597
Josef Newgarden - 549
Gary Findlay - 493
Chrissy Palmer - 485
Daniel Erickson - 410
Daniel Cammish - 388
Rogier de Wit - 353

[gixxer]

Originally Posted by Morris Dancer

Results from race 1 are on the British Formula Ford Championship website http://www.britishformulaford.co.uk/2009results.htm (bottom of the page - full results are on the PDF): 1. Palmer 2. Newgarden 3. Hill (from last on the grid) 4. Cole 5. Fisher 6. Barker 7. Erickson (apparently after a drive-through penalty) 8. Benson 9. Vernon 10. de Zille

From the lap times it was a wet race with times in the 1m 20s compared to 1m 7s in the dry.

There were 8 DNFs including Findlay, McKenna, Jones, Cammish (both KVM drivers on the same lap - maybe they took each other out?!) and de Wit

A lot of damage not only in race 1 but also in qually Quarry the first corner looked more like a car park on both occasions!

Hill did drive extremly well which is more than i can say for some of drivers and during a waved yellow during qually..............have to admit the conditions didn't help very very slippery pity really the rain spoiled it in my view

[Morris Dancer]

There's a report about Castle Combe from Daniel Erickson's viewpoint on his website (www.demotorsport.com.au).

[Triple J Motorsport]

"PRESS RELEASE – For immediate release, 12th October 2009

ZETECS ARE GO!

The start of Formula Ford Festival week begins with some great news for campaigners of the 1800cc Zetec cars. The BRSCC has today confirmed that the category has been allocated its own 20 lap Final this coming Sunday afternoon.

Festival co-ordinator James Beckett is delighted with the news, “I am really pleased that we have been able to grant competitors in the Formula Ford Festival with Zetec cars their own Grand Final. I am confident that by handing this opportunity to Zetec drivers the category has been further boosted and will now grow as everyone works towards the 2010 Festival”.

The move follows a lot of hard work by Zetec competitors Mark Edwards and John Whitbourn who have been determined to ensure the category is well represented at the annual end of season event. “This really is fantastic news for everyone who owns a Zetec as it offers them an opportunity to race their car at one of the best meetings on the calendar. We want to make the Festival the centre of the Zetec owners racing season for many years to come, as well as encouraging more owners into what is essentially a cost effective clubmans class. I hope this news may now encourage a few more Zetecs to enter before the weekend”, said Mark Edwards who will be racing his Mygale SJ00.

At last year’s Festival the Zetecs ran on the same grid as the Duratecs with Neil Tofts taking the title with a 17th place finish in the Duratec final. Neil is back this year to defend his crown and will be determined to take the chequered flag in his own right.

The Formula Ford Festival is at Brands Hatch this coming weekend, Saturday 17th to Sunday 18th October. Entries are still being taken in Zetec, Duratec and Kent categories and an entry form can be at www.brscc.co.uk/formula-ford-festival.html

For more information contact:

James Beckett

BeckettJE@aol.com

Tel: 07764 177125"

[Morris Dancer]

Can someone please tell me how the grids for the Formula Ford Festival heats, semi-finals and final are composed. Also, what's the 5-lap 'Last chance' race?

The official Festival website (http://www.brscc.co.uk/formula-ford-festival.html) has nothing about this, or anything else that's newsworthy (eg. the entry list) - just a boring story about a new staff member!

[Valker]

Originally Posted by Morris Dancer

Can someone please tell me how the grids for the Formula Ford Festival heats, semi-finals and final are composed. Also, what's the 5-lap 'Last chance' race?

The race format of the Festival is explained in "Final Instructions" document (sections 19 and 20).

The document may be somewhere on the festival site, but you can find that, and the entrylist, easier from Finnish Zetec racer Per Stenius' website: http://www.s2i.info/index.php/news/b...l-instructions

[alias99]

Only a few of the championship regulars are missing. Ones I spotted are Cammish, Jones, Jaffer, Mingay.

30 plus entrants should make it a good one. If racing is anything like the championship round there its going to be close.

[Morris Dancer]

Has anyone spotted these mistakes in the Final Instructions?

Semi Finals (20.3)
"• 2nd position on the grid in Semi Final one will be taken by the slowest heat 2nd place driver"
"• 2nd position on the grid in Semi Final two will be taken by the fastest heat 2nd place driver"

Surely "slowest heat" & "fastest heat" should be swapped?!

b) Corner cutting (22.1) - What about Paddock Hill Bend, which most drivers extend by driving over the exit kerb and onto the painted concrete strip beyond!


Finally, it doesn't look like there will be online 'live timing', which is ludicrous for a 'blue riband' event like the Festival.

[brakedisc]

With the season now over how do we think it went?

Did the right man win? Who was the biggest disappointment? Best team?

Already looking forward to next year.

[FFfan]

Originally Posted by brakedisc

With the season now over how do we think it went?

Did the right man win? Who was the biggest disappointment? Best team?

Already looking forward to next year.

Perhaps we should now be starting a brand new thread "British Formula Ford 2010" ???

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by FFfan

Perhaps we should now be starting a brand new thread "British Formula Ford 2010" ???

Yup anyone fancies starting a thread "2010 FF off season' (or similar) please go ahead.

[FFfan]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Yup anyone fancies starting a thread "2010 FF off season' (or similar) please go ahead.

It's been started already!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by FFfan

It's been started already!

Oh, well done!

[brakedisc]

Lets finish this year with a few thoughts.

Cole won it fair and square.
Chrissy was good.
Jo went with the wrong team.
Mygale the car to have.
Findlay wasn't the best.
KMR worked as hard as usual.
Hill disappointing.
James and his gang still the best team.

2011 regulations as I understand it, could mean 2010 as being the last good year.

[krt917]

As I understand it, the 2011 regs won't make a huge amount of difference. The main thing is that the category will then be able to expand into other countries that only use FIA regs, like Germany. That can only be good, surely? Maybe a few more Formula Ford championships around the world will mean we start getting bigger and bigger Brands Festival entries...

Think it's a little harsh to say Josef went with the wrong team. Really he lost the title due to the odd rookie mistake (Oulton R1 start, hitting McKenna and Findlay at Silverstone) and bad luck (being hit by Barker at Silverstone).

Also think Hill did a better job than you think. He had a stronger first season in the series (and his first in single-seaters remember) than Cole did in 2008, and look what James did this year! Hill's improvement suggests he could be a real force next season.

[Go_For_Pole]

Originally Posted by krt917

That can only be good, surely? Maybe a few more Formula Ford championships around the world will mean we start getting bigger and bigger Brands Festival entries...

The problem is that the world has moved on. Now there are so many cheap and well run junior series around europe that make FF looks like like a thing of yesterday. Sure, in UK it will live on but not in europe.

[Triple J Motorsport]

Sure Ford Europe would need to pump some money in, but if they do it will take off again.