UK Formula Ford Championship
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OULTON |  |
DONINGTON | |
SNETTERTON | |
BRANDS | |
ROCKINGHAM |  | |
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BRANDS_GP |  |
KNOCKHILL | |
SILVERSTONE | |
THRUXTON | |
COMBE | |
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Graham's weblog: 28th August: Brands GP  Back to Brands, - and our first win!Reflections The journey home from the previous round at Rockingham had been a sombre one. You would have thought that two-second places, two fastest laps and the championship lead should have had us all on a high but we all felt that we deserved a win. There was a two-week gap until Brands but due to the schedule later in the year, David went to Thruxton on the Wednesday for a test followed by a run at Castle Combe on the Thursday. The car got a quick check over on Friday before we had another run, this time at Knockhill on the Saturday. As usual the car misbehaved on a couple of occasions, but Kenny had a week to rebuild it and took the chance to fix a couple of things that had been troublesome all year. A good run at Knockhill meant we headed for Brands in good spirits. David has never driven on the GP circuit before but we all had walked it at the previous visit. It is a true driver’s circuit and I thought he would go well there. He did not disappoint me. It is a long way to get to Brands. In the truck we are close to 9 hours and everything depends on the traffic. We had a reasonable trip down with a quick stop for fuel being the only break. Brands looked well and we had an easy schedule, as there was only 30 minutes testing available on the Friday. David enjoyed it and his times were competitive. Running on the GP circuit is limited, and there had been only one chance before race weekend to drive it – which we missed! So we felt that the other drivers would not have as big a margin as is usual. In Qualifying we got a good run and David secured our first pole position. Race one David got off to a good start, and after a few quick laps he had a good lead. Better still, two of our rivals fell off in pursuit, which meant a points advantage to us. It was a double whammy but David was not impressed, the bold boy wanted a straight fight with all his rivals still on the track. His first win and still no huge smile on the podium. I take my camera with me and had it ready for the podium ceremony. First win and a picture for posterity, no chance the camera let me down. A great result and it was smiles all round back at the truck. Race two This was the one David was looking for. It was to be a real scrap amongst the title contenders. David led all the way, and even after the field closed up following a safety car period, the boy held his nerve and took win number two. Two poles and two wins were a great result and you could not wish for a better place to get them than at Brands Hatch on the GP circuit. I even managed to take this picture with my phone, saved it, sent it by email to my computer, and successfully downloaded it. Not bad for someone who cannot change channels on the TV. Dream-on! Apart from the Formula Ford brigade, Brands had the F3 and GT racers on the bill and I spent most of the weekend drooling over the F3 cars. What a piece of kit they are. I would love to get one for David but it would require a huge commitment in time and money. I am also keen on the GT cars particularly the new GT3 class where there is some interesting machinery being raced. It was a good meeting for dreaming. Next race: KNOCKHILL |
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