Graham Fennymore has put his Reynard SF81 on pole for Saturday evening’s first race, as his chief rival Samuel Harrison struggles to fix a blown engine in his SF79.
Harrison managed to set a single flying lap before pulling off track just after Redgate. His time stood as the one to beat for several laps and he is still nominally fourth on the grid.
Jordan Harrison, who shares a surname but no family links, was one of the chief beneficiaries, getting eleven laps in in his Lola T580 and lining up second, just under half a second behind Fennymore. Richard Coleman had a trouble-free run to clock the third-best time, heading a three-car SF79 queue of himself, Samuel Harrison and Ollie Roberts. The top five are separated by just over a second, with Ben Glasswell’s SF77 just over a tenth slower. Glasswell has been in form this season and should challenge.
Jonathan Hair’s SF78 was seventh quickest, ahead of the first Delta on the grid, driven by Anthony Hancock. Eighth-placed Andrew Storer is the filling of a Delta sandwich, with Antony Denham taking tenth spot on the 26-car grid.
Historic Formula Ford also qualified in the morning, with Neil Hose’s Merlyn Mk20 the fastest of the fourteen starters. Hose, who is now run by Nigel Grant, was almost half a second faster than the younger, but more experienced in single-seaters, Spencer Shinner, also in a Merlyn.
Ross Drybrough lined up third in another Merlyn, ahead of the earlier Merlyn of Matt Wrigley in fourth, only a couple of hundredths slower. Chris Porritt’s Titan will be the first non-Merlyn away from the grid in fifth.
Porritt leads a quartet of non-Merlyns in the midfield, with Cormac Flanagan’s Alexis sixth, followed by Lolas driven by Christian Goller and Paul Unsworth. Jonathan Speak and Mark Wilkes are ninth and tenth in Merlyns, with a pair of Lotus 61 wedges driven by Dick Dixon and Nigel Adams next. The grid is completed by newcomer Sam Gillis, in a Merlyn, and Nick Sheppard in another Merlyn.
Full results at TSL Timing
Vintage Formula Ford 