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MacLEOD &
STUTELEY ON TOP AT SNETTERTON
4 June, 2007:
Two race victories and a brilliant recovery drive, which netted
him fourth place, helped Callum MacLeod extend his British Formula
Ford Championship points lead this weekend (2/3 June) at
Snetterton, with Linton Stuteley the meeting's other winner - his
maiden success.
A "fantastic
restart" in Saturday's race, after an early safety car
period, sealed MacLeod's fifth victory of the season. "It
really took the pressure off me. Five out of six is a really good
start," said Callum.
MacLeod led from
pole position and took James Nash with him to open up a small gap
to the pursuing pack, which was nullified when the safety car came
out for an incident involving Jason Down and Chris Acton at
Riches.
As soon as racing
resumed MacLeod's Jamun Racing Mygale never looked threatened,
especially as the chasing pack were more interested in battling
amongst themselves. "We could have caught him," said
Nick Tandy, whose hopes of doing so took a knock when he left the
track at Riches. Tandy recovered to take fifth.
This left Stuteley
and Nash to dispute second place but then Nash ran wide at Coram
before he did a proper job at Riches after he had failed to find a
gear going into the corner. He regained the tarmac and finishing a
disappointed 17th.
This left the
steady Richard Tannahill to claim third place: "I just stayed
on the track and ended up on the podium," said the Ulsterman.
Jay Bridger claimed
fourth after fending off David Brown. The Scot was unable to
resist the recovering Tandy at the final corner and slipped to
sixth.
Jesse Krohn
finished in seventh place, just ahead of Sarah Playfair.
Completing the top ten were Daniel Murray and Marc Murray, the
pair swapping places two laps from the finish.
Freddie Hunt jumped
two places on the final lap at the Esses to finish in 13th and
score his maiden championship points.
McLeod, Tandy and
Stuteley were all trying to lead race two going into the Esses for
the first time. A cloud of dust spelt trouble for the series
leader - after contact MacLeod was left down in 14th place,
setting the scene for a brilliant fight back through the field
during which he lowered his own lap record - set on Saturday - and
posted the first 100mph racing lap of the Norfolk venue.
Stuteley and Tandy
swapped the lead between them while Nash, Tannahill, and, in the
early laps, Bridger kept a close watch on the action. Tandy
squeezed his JTR Ray ahead on lap four but was pushed back to
second two laps later. The pair swapped the lead several times
before the final lap, when Stuteley's move secured him victory,
helped by Philippe Layac spinning at Russell to make it a
no-passing zone.
Race officials
later handed Tandy a four-second penalty for his part in the
opening lap incident; this dropped him to fifth in the results,
behind Stuteley, Nash, Tannahill and the mercurial MacLeod.
"It was fun overtaking, but not as much fun as winning,"
said Callum.
Bridger took sixth
and Playfair jumped past Brown on lap 12 and held him off to claim
seventh. Marc Murray and Adrian Campfield rounded out the top ten
with Matt Dobson repeating his Saturday form to take the
Scholarship laurels.
Midfield mayhem on
the opening lap of race thee saw both Hunt and Takashi Nagase
stranded at Riches as Stuteley confidently led the race. Nash,
showing a better turn of speed, displaced the Mygale at the head
of the pack while Tandy's error at Riches on lap three saw him
fall back to fifth.
Tannahill then
displaced McLeod for third but two laps later contact between the
pair at Russell caused Tannahill's retirement.
MacLeod motored on
and was quickly able to pass Nash and Stuteley to take the lead on
the ninth lap. Thereafter he easily pulled away to claim his sixth
victory of the season. "It took a while to get to the front
but once there I got my head down. Job done," said the
winner.
Nash fought past
Tandy in the closing stages to claim second. "The car is much
better than it was on Saturday. At least I can draft by people on
the back straight. The team have worked very hard this
weekend," said a relieved James.
Tandy's third place
represented his best result of the weekend, while fourth placed
Stuteley looked a bit off colour in the final laps. Playfair was a
fabulous fifth having got by Bridger on the fifth lap and kept him
and Adrian Campfield at bay for a well deserved result.
After an early
battle with Marc Murray, Brown claimed eighth. A late charge by
Lee Mumford pushed Marc back to tenth at the flag. Dobson, for the
third time, claimed the Scholarship honours after catching and
passing Sean Gaffney. The latter straightlined the Russell chicane
on lap six, damaging his Mygale.
Provisional
results
British Formula Ford round 7 (of 25)
Snetterton 2/6/2007. 13 laps / 25.37 miles
1, Callum MacLeod, UK/Northampton, Jamun/Mygale, 19m 01.137s
2, Linton Stuteley, UK/Stevenage, Getem/Mygale, +4.232s
3, Richard Tannahill, UK/Coleraine, Mills/Van Diemen, +5.011s
4, Jay Bridger, UK/Tonbridge, Jamun/Mygale, +7.347s
5, Nick Tandy, UK/Bedford, JTR/Ray, +8.485s
6, David Brown, UK/Glasgow, Mills/Van Diemen, +8.693s
Scholarship class: Matt Dobson UK/Colchester, Van Diemen / 19th
overall
Fastest lap: MacLeod 1m 10.373s / 99.84mph Record
Round 8 /
Snetterton 3/6/2007. 16 laps / 31.23 miles
1, Linton Stuteley, UK/Stevenage, Getem/Mygale, 19m01.168s
2, James Nash, UK/Newport Pagnell, Mills/Van Diemen, +0.683s
3, Richard Tannahill, UK/Coleraine, Mills/Van Diemen, +1.135s
4, Callum MacLeod, UK/Northampton, Jamun/Mygale, +4.291s
5, Nick Tandy, UK/Bedford, JTR/Ray, +4.391s
6, Jay Bridger, UK/Tonbridge, Jamun/Mygale, +5.800s
Scholarship class: Matt Dobson UK/Colchester, Van Diemen / 20th
overall
Fastest lap: MacLeod 1m 09.906s / 100.50mph Record
Round 9 /
Snetterton 3/6/2007. 16 laps / 31.23 miles
1, Callum MacLeod, UK/Northampton, Jamun/Mygale, 19m13.070s
2, James Nash, UK/Newport Pagnell, Mills/Van Diemen, +2.947s
3, Nick Tandy, UK/Bedford, JTR/Ray, +4.715s
4, Linton Stuteley, UK/Stevenage, Getem/Mygale, +6.138s
5, Sarah Playfair, UK/East Lothian, Jamun/Mygale, +6.868s
6, Jay Bridger, UK/Tonbridge, Jamun/Mygale, +7.848s
Scholarship class: Matt Dobson UK/Colchester, Van Diemen / 16th
overall
Fastest lap: MacLeod 1m 10.752s / 99.30mph |
