FORMULA FORD MEN READY TO ROCK!

Argentinian Eric Lichtenstein will be aiming to repeat his Brands Hatch form at Rockingham. Photo: www.jakobebrey.com

Six races in to the new season of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain and, with four different race winners and some tense and exciting encounters up and down the field, there is a real air of unpredictability as the series heads to Rockingham this weekend.

At Brands Hatch last month the new EcoBoost-powered chassis provided not only some close and traditional Formula Ford racing but also a new race winner in the form of Argentinian 17-year-old Eric Lichtenstein, who triumphed for Jamun Racing on home ground in two of the three races.

But it is Finnish Formula Ford Champion Antti Buri who leads the championship, thanks to two wins in the Mygale prepared by JTR, Rockingham’s most local team. Antti was on top in the wet first round at Oulton Park at Easter and again in one of the Brands Hatch races; he’s also finished second three times and third once.

Lichtenstein’s Jamun team-mates Jake Cook and Luke Williams were both winners at Oulton, and Rotherham-based Cook’s greater consistency has helped him up to second in the championship, 35 points adrift of Buri.

Others to look out for in the EcoBoost division include Fred Martin-Dye, who has finished every race in the top seven to go third overall; JTR’s other men, Ecuadorian hot-shot Julio Moreno and Matlock-based Cavan Corcoran; and promising rookie Ryan Cullen in the Cullen Motorsport entry.

In the ever-exciting Duratec division, Mexico’s Fabian Welter has been on impressive form for the Rendez-Vous Racing team. The 16-year-old Mygale pilot was twice a winner in the wet at Oulton Park and did a double again at Brands Hatch.

Enigma Motorsport’s Olly Rae started to show his true pace last time out, however, beating Fabian to the flag in one of the Brands races and showing good pace in the other two. “I think that mentally it all came together at once for me at Brands Hatch,” said the 21-year-old Australian. “I got my head around things and sorted them out. Mentally, I was better prepared for Brands Hatch. I’m definitely very pleased with how I went; it was a good result and evidence of what I can do, and that’s the reason I came over here from Australia. Hopefully I can get some more results on the board at Rockingham.”

Olly is just ahead of his team-mate George Blundell in the Duratec points standings. Other Duratec drivers expected at Rockingham include Fluid’s Van Diemen pilots Matt Rao and Alex Drabble.

For more information about the championship visit www.britishformulaford.co.uk