Simms wins eventful evening encounter

Benn Simms was the winner of the last race of the day at Donington, taking another SDC Classic Formula Ford victory from Callum Grant.

Simms, in his Jomo, and Grant in a Merlyn Mk20 were once more the drivers to beat at the front, swapping the lead frequently in an intense, but clean and poised battle. It did look as if Grant had the upper hand towards the end, but a last-lap pounce by Simms meant that he took it by just over a tenth of a second.

They had been followed by a chasing group, not too far back to challenge, for much of the race. Andy Gosling had been on pole in his Van Diemen RF79, followed by Matt Wrigley’s Merlyn and Rick Morris in his Royale RP29. They swapped places regularly, although Gosling was probably the quickest of the three and the one who challenged the leaders most strongly. This all came to an end, however, on the penultimate lap, when Morris spun while passing Wrigley, sending Wrigley into a spin and then into the gravel at Redgate. A helpless Gosling was caught and also ended up in the trap with a damaged car. Morris carried on, having lost some places, but a hefty 15-second penalty for violating track limits dropped him to 18th.

This promoted Neil Hose to third, a welcome development after the Scottish Merlyn driver had spun out of Race 1. Chris Porritt’s Titan was next across the line, with Porritt also having a less eventful race and having dealt with the steering problems he was experiencing earlier.

Stuart Kestenbaum was fifth in his Van Diemen RF81, having made terrific progress from the back of the grid after running out of fuel in Race 1. He gained 17 places during the race, the same number as James Rigby, who he kept at bay on the final lap. Rigby’s 1979 Van Diemen was running much better after fuel pickup issues put him out of Race 1, causing him to start at the back too.

Class B Merlyn driver Jonathan Speak was on the heels of Rigby as he crossed the line in seventh, and therefore within range of Kestenbaum as well, but he did not find an opportunity to attack. There was a gap between him and eight-placed Cal Bennett (Van Diemen RF80), but then a close midfield group followed. Ben Powney was ninth in Mark Bates’s Royale RP24, closely followed by Richard Yeomans’s Crossle and Alan Fincham in another RF80. Ben Hadfield brought up the rear of the group in his RF79, having enjoyed some close competition. Their fun was interrupted by a short safety car period for the removal of Phil Attwood’s stopped Crossle late on.

Oliver Chapman’s Lola had been part of their group, but a spin avoiding an incident dropped him to 14th, behind Andy Warburton in the Caldwell. Chapman had spent all day helping to install a new engine in his car after it blew up in qualifying. He missed Race 1 but ran as high as ninth in Race 2, pushing Bennett and Powney for position.

Full results at TSL Timing

Harrison makes up for Race 1 penalty

Samuel Harrison won the second Formula Ford 2000 race of the weekend from 16th on the grid, after being demoted from his first win on Saturday.

As his engine blew in qualifying and his second fastest lap was an out-lap, Harrison was already down the order, without the additional motivation of losing his win after he was judged to have made contact with Graham Fennymore’s car.

Fennymore’s Reynard SF81 was sitting on pole and he did lead for the majority of the race. His chief rival in the early stages was Ben Glasswell in his 1977 Reynard, with Glasswell quickly passing the SF79s of Richard Coleman and Ollie Roberts after a safety car period. The safety car had come out while Alisdair Graham’s Delta was being retrieved. Glasswell had already passed Jordan Harrison’s Lola; Harrison was struggling for pace and hadn’t had the best of starts.

Samuel Harrison was already in eighth place at the restart and quickly scythed through the rest of the field, pulled closer together by the safety car. He had to wait until the last lap to make his move, positioning himself at Hollywood and attacking on the straight. He also scored a point for a blistering fastest lap, beating Benn Simms’s record.

Glasswell was third, even with the late efforts of Jordan Harrison to take the place from him. Both received track limits penalties that did not affect their final positions. Roberts was also penalised, but dropped from fifth to tenth place. He and Coleman had a coming-together at the restart, the main casualty of which was the front wing of Roberts’s car, which was split and bent upwards. Coleman’s car had a significant oil leak, but he held on for fifth. Sixth-placed Tony Hancock (Delta T81) had been part of their pack until the final lap, by which time they were extremely close together. Hancock in turn had escaped from Andrew Storer in his SF79, although Storer was back on his tail when they crossed the line.

Jonathan Hair (Reynard SF78) and Anthony Denham (Delta T78/9) were on their own in eighth and ninth place, separated by about two seconds. Roberts was tenth, ahead of Stephen Glasswell’s SF79 and the Delta of John Moore, some way further back.

Full results at TSL Timing

Simms wins as Grant spins

Benn Simms won the first SDC Classic Formula Ford race of the day from Andy Gosling, after Callum Grant had a spin.

Simms, in his Jomo JR17, and Grant, driving his Merlyn Mk20, began the race by renewing the good-natured rivalry which ran all through last year’s Historic season and was renewed recently at Cadwell. Simms got a good start and Grant was soon with him, coming from fourth on the grid to a close second within a lap. The pair traded the lead until a small spin for Grant dropped him away from Simms and the lead pack, to fifth. He quickly made up some ground and took third at the end, after Matt Wrigley’s Merlyn was dropped from second to fourth by a five-second track limits penalty.

Wrigley had never been far from the lead and had also enjoyed some opposition from polesitter Andy Gosling’s Van Diemen RF79 and Rick Morris’s Royale RP29. All three took turns at the head of the chasing pack, with Gosling the strongest contender and the eventual runner-up. Wrigley launched an attack on the last lap, but did not know that he had been penalised and that his efforts were in vain.

Morris finished behind Grant and Wrigley, not far ahead of the green Royale RP24 driven by series newcomer Ben Powney. Powney, a race winner in the 750MC Ma7da series, was fifth for quite a lot of the race, despite his inexperience with Formula Ford.

Neil Hose, in a Class B Merlyn, had a safe and uneventful race, finishing seventh. Chris Porritt (Titan Mk6) was eighth, still trying to drive a car that wouldn’t really turn right after his incident in the Historic race. He managed to get away from Jonathan Speak’s Merlyn this time, having earlier got past Cal Bennett’s Van Diemen RF80 and Stuart Kestenbaum’s 1981 Van Diemen. Bennett was eleventh after also receiving a track limits penalty and Kestenbaum suffered what is euphemistically known as “fuel pressure issues” in the closing laps.

Richard Yeomans was tenth in his Crossle 25F, while his normal sparring partner, Van Diemen driver Ben Hadfield, had been locked in a furious battle for twelfth place with Alan Fincham in another Van Diemen. Fincham managed to out-brake Hadfield and took the place, behind Bennett.

Crossle driver Grace Parkington had been in another intense little rivalry with Pete Lavender’s Merlyn Mk11A/17, but she went off on the gravel going into Hollywood and shortly after had to retire. James Rigby was another casualty, his Van Diemen RF79 having an intermittent fuelling problem.

Full results at TSL Timing

Wrigley runs away with the win

Matt Wrigley won the second Historic Formula Ford race of the day by an impressive five seconds, having come through a classic Formula Ford slipstreaming contest.

Wrigley, driving his Merlyn Mk11A/20, spent the first part of the race switching the lead with the similar but later Merlyn of yesterday’s winner, Spencer Shinner. It looked as if this would be the main story of the twenty-minute event, even after a brief safety car period while Neil Hose’s Merlyn was recovered from the gravel at Redgate. However, a coming-together with Chris Porritt’s Titan at the chicane bent Shinner’s suspension, dropping him out of winning contention. He kept going and hung on impressively to fourth.

Porritt also suffered suspension damage in the collision. He had started at the back after not finishing Race 1 and had promptly made his way to the sharp end of the pack. He was running in third when the coming-together happened and also carried on, finishing eighth.

Christian Goller took second on the track, driving a Lola T200, but a five-second penalty dropped him to fifth, behind Shinner. He had briefly challenged Wrigley for the lead before the Merlyn driver eked out space between them. His penalty promoted Cormac Flanagan (Alexis Mk14) to second. Flanagan had started more cautiously, but caught up with the leading pack, coming out on top of a three-way scramble for second at the start of the penultimate lap. Ross Drybrough was part of this trio with Goller, having kept his Merlyn in front of Flanagan for most of the race but losing a position to him on the final lap. Drybrough took the last step of the podium and the Over 50s award.

Another Merlyn driven by Mark Wilkes narrowly held off the challenge of Paul Unsworth’s Lola, with Unsworth attacking on the final lap but having to settle for seventh, with Wilkes sixth. Similarly, Porritt held off the Merlyn of ninth-placed Jonathan Speak on the final lap, by a very small margin. The two had been close rivals after Porritt’s slip down the grid.

Two Lotus 61 wedges driven by Nigel Adams and Dick Dixon followed, having furiously tried to out-brake and out-manoeuvre one another for the whole race. Adams was tenth and Dixon eleventh. The final two places were taken by newcomer Sam Gillis (Merlyn Mk20) and the earlier Merlyn of Nick Sheppard. These two cars had swapped places several times, but Gillis was able to build up a small gap in the closing laps.

Full results at TSL Timing

Harrison wins after high-speed engine change

Samuel Harrison has won the first Formula Ford 2000 race of the weekend, with a new engine fitted to his Reynard SF79 with just minutes to spare.

Following a broken conrod in qualifying, Harrison’s participation was put into doubt, but a quick purchase of Benn Simms’s championship-winning engine and the combined efforts of his team got him onto the grid, with work still being completed in the collecting area.

Hopes were not huge that Harrison would even finish, as he hadn’t tested the car, but within a couple of laps, he had moved up from fourth to second and was snapping at leader Graham Fennymore’s heels. Fennymore had got a good start and built up a small lead in his SF81, but Harrison was determined not to let him get away. A decisive and robust move just after Redgate put Harrison ahead fairly early, and he never relinquished the lead after that, despite Fennymore catching up when backmarkers got involved.

Fennymore was not happy with Harrison’s move and complained to the Clerk of the Course, which resulted in Harrison receiving a reprimand, but the result was allowed to stand.

Reynard SF77 driver Ben Glasswell was third, having started strongly and passed Richard Coleman’s SF79, as well as the sister car of Ollie Roberts. After his initial advances, he settled into his position, about ten seconds behind the leaders. Roberts had an early tussle with Coleman and then passed Jordan Harrison in his Lola T580, which by that point was lacking its rear wing. Harrison had little mechanical grip and lost third place, although he did well to hang on to fifth. Coleman was sixth, having had a spin while chasing Roberts and then having to avoid a backmarker. His car’s front wing was damaged and came off after another spin on the final lap. He had challenged the second-placed Harrison on the first lap, but went slightly wide and lost his chance.

Andrew Storer tried to catch Coleman in his own SF79, but could not quite make a move stick. He was part of a shifting midfield group including Jonathan Hair (Reynard SF78) and the Delta of Anthony Hancock. Hair and Hancock switched positions several times throughout the race, with Hair finishing eighth behind Storer. Hancock spun and was beached on the side of the track in the closing minutes, causing the red flag to come out two minutes early.

This left ninth place for Stephen Glasswell in his Reynard SF79, closely pursued by Adrian Reynard in his 81SF. Antony Denham’s Delta was within half a second, having lost a couple of places to the pair.

Full results at TSL Timing

Jeopardy for Harrison in Formula Ford 2000 qualifying: day 1 qualifying roundup

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

First win feelings

The SDC Classic Formula Ford championship produced another new winner at Donington: Jake Shortland.

Shortland and his Lola T440 won’t be in action at Brands Hatch next week, but they were very much in evidence at Donington, running the front all day and winning the first race.

With its forward seating position, high shark-fin rear bodywork and pointed profile, the T440 wasn’t hugely successful when it first raced in 1976, only winning one heat of the Townsend Thoresen championship that year, driven by future Lola director Mike Blanchet. However, it proved popular in Australia a few years later and even took Stephen Brook and Phillip Revell to the TAA Driver to Europe championship in 1980 and 1981 respectively.

Shortland is proving it can be competitive again.

“It gets a lot of attention,” he says.

“It’s nice to have something different and to show everyone it’s as good as the Van Diemens, really.”

This is his first win in cars.

“I won in karting a few years ago, back on short circuits, but that was a while back.

“It feels good. It feels like it’s been a long time coming. I haven’t really had the luck or the time in the car to be able to get this far, really.

“It feels nice to finally get there.”

Shortland will be out again at Croft, at the beginning of September.

(Image courtesy of Andrew Ellis)

Stutely prevails in Donington duel

Linton Stutely was won his first Historic Formula Ford race of the season, coming out on top in a two-way lead battle after he and Callum Grant broke away from a front-running pack.

Stutely, in his Royale RP3, crossed the line with eight seconds to spare, but the time sheet tells a misleading story. He spent the majority of the race sparring with Grant’s Merlyn Mk20 and it was only minor contact at the chicane in the closing laps that gave him breathing space, when Grant went off-track. Previously, Grant had led Stutely by around a second, having made a break from being side-by-side with his rival for lap after lap, trading the lead.

Grant incurred the further misfortunes of a low-revving engine and a missed gear in the final lap, allowing Matt Wrigley’s Merlyn Mk11A/20 through to take second from him. Grant was third, with Benn Simms not far behind in his Jomo.

The initial lead group of Grant, Stutely, Wrigley and Simms effectively split up into two pairs after some pack drafting manoeuvres early in the race, particular involving Wrigley, Grant and Stutely. Simms was still somewhat down on power but drew closer towards the end. Their squabbles almost let Grant get away when Stutely was locked in, but he pushed back.

Will Nuthall (Jamun T2) was at the back of the leaders in the opening laps, but his car gradually lost power and he parked up on lap eight. His place was later taken by Sam Mitchell’s Merlyn. Mitchell had started at the back following his problems yesterday and done well to make up that many places with little incident, but he was unable to catch the front-running quartet. Still, he was fourth overall, safely ahead of fifth-placed Cormac Flanagan in his Alexis. On the way to his first Over 50 class win, Flanagan enjoyed a scrap with Merlyn Mk20 driver and fellow Over 50 leader Ross Drybrough, with Drybrough finishing sixth.

Spencer Shinner also had to start at the back after his off in Saturday’s race. He did not get quite as a far as Mitchell in his Merlyn Mk20/50, but was a respectable ninth, behind Jonathan Speak’s Merlyn. This was in spite of a track limits penalty.

Chris Willoughby completed both a Merlyn foursome and the top ten, a fair distance from Shinner and chased quite strongly by Jack Butterworth’s Lola.

Merlyn driver Mark Wilkes lost a top-ten position via a hefty track limits penalty, which dropped him to 12th. His team-mate and yesterday’s Over 50 winner Chris Porritt broke a gear linkage on the first lap and had to retire.

Full results at TSL Timing

Gardner gains win on countback

Mike Gardner has been declared the winner of a red-flagged second SDC Classic Formula Ford championship after a crash halted a thrilling five-way lead battle.

Gardner’s Crossle 32F was just about in the lead on the final lap, chased by Rick Morris in his Royale RP29, Race 1 winner Jake Shortland’s Lola T440, Ben Tinkler in a Van Diemen RF80 and Andy Gosling in a 1981 Van Diemen. A robust defensive move at Redgate sent Morris flying over Gardner’s wheels and towards the wall, bringing out the red flag. Morris was fortunately unhurt.

Tinkler was second after coming from the back of the grid, having retired from Race 1. He passed Shortland in the closing laps of the race after overcoming Gosling a lap earlier, having joined the five-strong lead group. He had been looking at an attack on Morris when the crash happened.

Shortland was third. He had started from pole but Morris proved much quicker off the line. Gardner soon attacked as well and the lead group increased to three. Shortland dropped as low as fourth, but passed Gosling early on to push himself up to third. Gosling in turn had closed the gap to the lead trio in the first few laps. He was fourth overall.

Class B winner Chris Porritt was fifth in his Titan. He made up some places during the race and passed James Rigby’s Royale convincingly, although he could not get on terms with the leaders. Rigby was sixth, with Mark Harrison (Lola T540E) some way behind and followed closely by James Fettiplace’s Van Diemen RF80.

Ben Hadfield’s 1979 Van Diemen occupied ninth place, sixth seconds further back, surprisingly accompanied by Joe Ahrens’s Royale RP26. Ahrens had started from the back after a non-finish in Race 1 and was still struggling with his car. A plug lead had come off and its carburettor problems from earlier still hadn’t been solved completely.

Stuart Kestenbaum had a lengthy off due to brake problems and slipped to the back of the grid from sixth. He recovered to eleventh in his Van Diemen RF81. Andrew Smith (Van Diemen FA73) passed Rudolf Ernst’s Titan for 12th and Tony Kiss (Lola) was the last driver on the lead lap in 14th. Mike Saunders was 15th in his PRS RH01.

Full results at TSL Timing

Image copyright Ben Lawrence/HSCC

Historic thriller ends on countback – Grant wins

Callum Grant has won the first Historic Formula Ford race at Donington after a late red flag meant final positions were decided on countback.

Grant, in his familiar orange Merlyn Mk20, was a worthy winner, but the red flag cut short a finely-balanced contest between him and Linton Stutely, which ended on-track in a photo finish.

Stutely’s Royale RP3 had the upper hand for a good portion of the shortened race, although Grant was never far behind and always ready to attack. The pair had broken away from a five-car leading group with Matt Wrigley’s Merlyn Mk11A/20, Benn Simms in a Jomo and another Merlyn driven by Sam Mitchell.

Wrigley was fourth. He briefly ran as high as second on the opening lap, but was not able to match Stutely and Grant. His principal rival was Simms, who was somewhat down on power but kept ahead of Wrigley when it mattered, taking the final podium spot. Mitchell retired late on with another ignition problem, which let Will Nuthall (Jamun J2) through into fifth place.

Spencer Shinner had been having a scrap with Nuthall in his Merlyn Mk20/50 and the two traded some robust moves. Shinner then spun negotiating a backmarker and was unable to start his overheated car again, bringing out the safety car.

Chris Porritt was sixth and took Over 50 honours. He was not close enough to Nuthall to attack, but did enjoy some tussling with Ross Drybrough’s Merlyn. Despite his best efforts, Drybrough remained seventh. Jonathan Speak was eighth in another Merlyn, hotly pursued by Cormac Flanagan’s Alexis. In a rather visually confusing battle of the orange midfield cars, Flanagan had passed Mark Wilkes’s Merlyn earlier. Wilkes followed him home.

Jack Butterworth was having his first race of the year in his Lola T200 and was eleventh. He had been rivalled by Damian Samuel-Camps’s Merlyn before a yellow flag to recover Shinner’s car, but dropped to 14th, behind the Merlyns of Craig Jamieson and Chris Willoughby.

The final red flag was brought out by Stephen Bayliss’s Lola, stranded in the gravel. With two and a half minutes to go, the race was not restarted.

Full results at TSL Timing