FORMULA FORD BATTLE RESUMES AT DONINGTON PARK

With just two points separating the top two in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, next weekend’s (19/20 Apr) Donington Park rounds of the series look set to provide further live-televised thrills as the protagonists bid to gain a decisive upper hand in the title fight.

South Africa’s Jayde Kruger arrives at the Leicestershire circuit as the man with the slender points lead, and the JTR Mygale EcoBoost racer is undaunted by his lack of Donington experience. “I’ve never raced at Donington, but it looks a great track – fast and flowing, which I like – so it will be interesting,” said the 26-year-old victor of two of last month’s three Brands Hatch races. “We need to try to carry on as we left off, but by the same token we need to approach it as a fresh weekend and start again from zero with the aim of building the most points we can.”

Buoyed by his swift pace in testing this week at Thruxton, 18-year-old Harrison Scott is hoping to get his first 2014 wins on the board for Falcon Motorsport at Donington and to overhaul Kruger in the standings: “Brands was a positive meeting for us overall; we had the two seconds even though fourth in the final race was a little disappointing after leading it for so long. I feel comfortable with the car, I feel comfortable that we have the pace and Donington is a track that I love… For sure I am going to attack it and hopefully get those wins on the board.”

Sam Brabham has his sights set on catching up the title-race leaders after what was, by his standards, a disappointing Brands Hatch weekend. He showed his determination this week at Thruxton by chasing down Scott and ending the day just four-thousandths of a second off his testing pace. Sam, 19-year-old son of Le Mans winner and 1989 British F3 Champion David Brabham, enjoyed his first taste of Formula 3 power this week also, when he tested at Donington with Carlin: “Everything about the test was just fantastic; I loved the track and the car was incredible, so well balanced, and I wasn’t too far off the pace given my lack of experience. I’m excited for the races next week: I think we will be stronger at Donington. I prefer the longer circuits. It will be less close – I think we will see larger gaps between the cars and there is the chance that someone, hopefully me, could build a bit of a lead.”

The other Brands Hatch Formula Ford podium men will be keen to collect more silverware at Donington – James Abbott was the reverse-grid race winner in Kent, and his Radical team-mate Juan Rosso hit second spot in the finale. Meanwhile, Jack Barlow hopes to bounce back from his Thruxton testing crash to put the Jamun Racing team back on the podium.

There’s excitement building in the Scholarship class for rookies, with Falcon Motorsport team-mates Ricky Collard and Chris Mealin separated by a single point after Brands Hatch, where Collard took class honours twice and Mealin once. Not far behind them are the Meridian men Ashley Sutton and Connor Mills, along with Richardson Racing’s Louise Richardson and SWB’s James Webb.

Pre-event testing takes place at Donington next Thursday, with qualifying and the first race of the weekend on Saturday. There will be a double helping of Formula Ford action on Easter Sunday, with live coverage on ITV4 between the British Touring Car Championship races.

Image by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

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