Best-yet field gathers for Formula Ford

The British Formula Ford Championship is set for its most competitive, exciting and unpredictable season in recent memory. That’s the view of seasoned series watchers awaiting with keen anticipation Oulton Park’s opening rounds of the Ford-backed championship on Easter Monday (24 March).

A grid of 25 Duratec-engined Formula Fords is expected at the Cheshire circuit, and it’s not only the biggest ever first-event gathering of such machinery but also a field offering the greatest depth of talent and the strongest international flavour in recent years. Championship-winning youngsters from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are facing talent of equal stature from Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France and the Netherlands, underlining Formula Ford’s status as chief supporting event to the British F3 International Series and reinforcing its position as Formula 3’s leading feeder series.

At stake for the youngsters is the chance to win one of the most prestigious prizes in world motorsport and perhaps the opportunity to add their names to those of F1 greats like Senna, Schumacher, Hakkinen, Mansell, Hill and Button in the Formula Ford hall of fame.

David Addison, Britain’s leading circuit commentator and the voice of Formula Ford on Sky Sports, can’t wait to see what will happen: “It’s absolutely wide open, with potentially as many as 12 different drivers who could win a race and probably eight of those who should do so.

“There are young British drivers with really great talent making their debuts and going up against some with two or even three seasons experience; there’s a returning Formula Ford Champion; an Australian Formula Ford Champion; and exciting young talents from Brazil and Europe. It’s great to see such an impressive entry and Formula Ford back where it belongs, providing great racing and attracting drivers from all over the globe.”

Leading the field into battle is the super-strength four-man squad from Jamun Racing, the Kent team bidding to win its fourth consecutive British Formula Ford title, using the latest chassis from French manufacturer Mygale.

Jamun’s drivers are reigning Australian Formula Ford Champion Tim Blanchard; Northern Ireland FF1600 Champion Wayne Boyd; Club Formula Ford North-West Champion James Cole; and Brazilian Victor Correa, who has a string of kart titles to his name as well as the 2007 Formula Sao Paulo single-seater championship crown.

Joe Tandy Racing – last year the only team consistently to challenge Jamun’s dominance – returns with three new drivers and a switch to Mygale chassis. On the driving strength are Matt Hamilton, a race winner in Formula Palmer Audi last year; Frenchman Philippe Layac, who has a year’s experience of Formula Ford under his belt already; and Dutch driver Rogier de Wit, a frontrunner from the Benelux FF series.

Another team fielding Mygales is Getem Racing, with another Dutch youngster, Chris Maliepaard, on the squad and its other car being handled by one of the pre-season favourites, Linton Stuteley. Linton is the only driver on the grid with recent UK experience of winning in a Duratec-engined Formula Ford; he was fourth in the championship in 2007 and placed third in last October’s Formula Ford Festival.

There are many teams determined not to let the Mygale men have it all their own way, however. Among their number is mighty Comtec Racing, which returns to the championship it won in 2000 and 2002 with a new, in-house chassis design and a team led by ’02 champion Westley Barber. Talented Brazilian kart star Francisco Weiler – just 16 and the youngest in the field – will race the second Comtec while Jamie Jardine will pilot a ‘semi-works’ third car prepared by ACER Motorsport.

The pickings have been slim in recent seasons for once-dominant Van Diemen, but experienced Formula Ford and F3 team Fluid Motorsport Developments plans to set the record straight for the Norfolk chassis builder in 2008 with a squad led by Danish karting prodigy Marco Sorensen and by 2006 Scholarship Cup winner David Brown. Brown ended his ’07 season on a high note with fourth in the Formula Ford Festival.

Last year’s Scholarship winner, Matt Dobson, will be flying the Van Diemen flag also with the help of the Inter Motorsport team, as will the Myerscough College entry, Alex Jones.

Kevin Mills Racing is another team to switch chassis for 2008. The Gloucestershire-based outfit will be fielding two of the Australian-built Spectrum machines, one to be driven by Australian FF Championship frontrunner Glen Wood and the other in the hands of Adrian Campfield, who is embarking on his second full Formula Ford season.

A late entry for Oulton is that of Adam Blatch, a leading British Super 1 karting competitor for the last three seasons; he will drive a works Ray.

Other confirmed entries for the coming season include those of experienced Formula Fordsters Matt Payne and Garry Findlay. Championship newcomers Felix Scott, Daniel Walker and Chrissy Palmer will join Alex Jones in pursuing Scholarship Cup honours.

“It’s an incredibly exciting line-up,” says Sam Roach of championship promoter RacingLine. “As well as several proven race winners at this level there is a host of talent coming in from other directions, and I for one am not sticking my neck out just yet to say who I think will emerge on top…

“It’s great also to see new chassis and drivers from as far afield as Brazil and Australia, whose arrival underscores the international prestige of the British Formula Ford Championship.”

British Formula Ford is this season supporting British F3 at all but one of its UK dates. It will additionally feature alongside British GT at Knockhill, with A1GP at its sole British round, and will also take in a visit to the Belgian Grand Prix circuit of Spa-Francorchamps. Five double-header meetings and five events featuring three Formula Ford races combine to provide a gruelling 25-round championship.