23 September, 2007: Callum MacLeod today clinched the 2007 British Formula Ford Championship title in the finest possible style, leading every inch of the 23rd round of the series from pole position to chequered flag. For good measure, he lowered his own circuit lap record on the way to his 12th race victory of the year.

It was a copybook performance from the Ford-backed championship's season-long leader, and the 19-year-old Northampton driver was delighted: "It's a great way to win the championship. I decided to get my head down at the start and to push as hard as possible; I was able to get away and then relax a little towards the end."

Callum paid tribute to his car, the French-designed Mygale chassis, to his engine supplier Scholar, and to his team, Kent's Jamun Racing, for whom this was a third successive British Formula Ford Championship victory: "My car has been fantastic all season and I couldn't be with a better or more supportive team. I'm delighted to have been able to repay all their hard work."

MacLeod wins not only a year's use of a Ford Focus ST road car but also a free registration into the 2008 British Formula 3 International Series. He has tests lined up with both the Fluid Motorsport and Ultimate Motorsport F3 teams and has, he says, every intention of being on the F3 grid next season.

Both of the Brands Hatch rounds provided superb entertainment for the large and appreciative crowd gathered for the prestigious World Touring Car Championship event. A 25-car Formula Ford field gathered in Kent, with drivers from seven nations taking part.

Saturday's race was a cracker, with three different leaders and the top three separated by less than four-tenths of a second at the line. MacLeod led initially - from his 15th pole position of the season - but an astute Linton Stuteley seized the advantage from the champion elect on lap two, setting up the move into Paddock Hill Bend and executing it beautifully through the Druids hairpin and Graham Hill Bend.

MacLeod fought back with gusto but his Mygale became tangled with that of Stuteley at Westfield on the fourth lap, leaving the way clear for another of the French chassis, driven by Jay Bridger, to shoot past both of them and into the lead. "I could see that something was going to happen between them," said Jay, "and I just waited and positioned my car perfectly to benefit when it did…"

But although claiming the lead was relatively easy for Bridger, hanging on to it was going to be another matter entirely. Jay came under intense pressure from MacLeod for the remaining eight laps but never gave his opponent a moment's opportunity to pull alongside. At the chequered flag they were separated by a shade under a hundredth of a second, and Haynes of Maidstone-backed Bridger was jubilant finally to have broken his British Formula Ford Championship duck, on what was his 20th birthday weekend.

Stuteley's grasp of third place was loosened completely on the seventh lap, a horde of rivals muscling their way past with Tandy at the head of the queue. But it was not Nick who claimed the final podium place - that honour went instead to David Brown, who was driving his Kevin Mills Racing Van Diemen like a man possessed.

Brown outmanoeuvred Tandy for third three laps from the end, having already posted fastest lap of the race, and was crawling all over the back of MacLeod on the final lap. "I just kept pushing and pushing," said the Glasgow 19-year-old. "My twin aims for the season were to get on to the podium and to set a fastest lap. I never thought I'd achieve them both in the same race."

Tandy held on to fourth ahead of Stuteley, James Nash, Marcus Weller, Steve Roberts and Sarah Playfair, with South African Marc Murray rounding out the top 10 and taking 'international class' honours, just ahead of Japan's Takashi Nagase and Finn Jesse Krohn.

The best placed of the visiting Australian drivers was Joshua Scott, who piloted his Spectrum to 13th on his UK debut. His compatriot Ashley Walsh was on the brink of the top 10 when he ran off the road on the ninth lap. Another visiting Aussie, Nicki Templer, placed 20th.

Once again on the pole today, MacLeod concentrated on opening a gap on his pursuers, led by Stuteley and Tandy, right from the outset. By the end of the opening lap he was half a second in the clear and had extended that to 1.6 seconds by the end of lap two, aided by a record-breaking sub-90 second lap of the Brands Grand Prix circuit. Callum's 12th win was never in doubt after that.

Behind MacLeod a furious battle raged for second between Stuteley, Tandy and Bridger, with Nick and Jay bumping Linton back to fourth out of Paddock Hill Bend on the fourth lap. Tandy was quick to distance himself and secure second, but Bridger was unable to shake Stuteley from his tail and Linton repassed for third six laps from the end.

Murray claimed fifth after finding a way past Nash early on, with James happy enough to secure sixth spot and maintain his modest lead over Tandy in the battle for championship runner-up spot. Brown placed seventh and Adrian Campfield eighth, with Walsh making up for his Saturday disappointment to take ninth.

Tenth place looked to be going the way of Freddie Hunt after Steve Roberts' Van Diemen expired on the final lap, but Playfair nipped ahead of the late World Champion James's son at the last to push Freddie back to 11th; it was nonetheless Hunt's best result of the season.

Neither Scott nor Templer made the end: Joshua clipped Marcus Weller's slow-starting car away from the line while Nicki's Spectrum expired five laps from the end.

With the championship now settled, MacLeod can relish the prospect of a carefree finish to his British Formula Ford season next weekend at Rockingham, and also look ahead to his bid for Formula Ford Festival glory, back at Brands next month.

Provisional results
British Formula Ford round 22 (of 25)
Brands Hatch 22/9/2007. 12 laps / 27.61miles
1, Jay Bridger, UK/Tonbridge, Fluid/Mygale, 18m22.202s
2, Callum MacLeod, UK/Northampton, Jamun/Mygale, +0.094s
3, David Brown, UK/Glasgow, Mills/Van Diemen, +0.365s
4, Nick Tandy, UK/Bedford, JTR/Ray, +1.144s
5, Linton Stuteley, UK/Stevenage, Getem/Mygale, +5.494s
6, James Nash, UK/Newport Pagnell, Mills/Van Diemen, +5.816s
Fastest lap: Brown 1m30.396s / 91.63mph

Round 23 / Brands Hatch 23/9/2007. 12 laps / 27.61miles
1, Callum MacLeod, UK/Northampton, Jamun/Mygale, 18m13.472s
2, Nick Tandy, UK/Bedford, JTR/Ray, +6.651s
3, Linton Stuteley, UK/Stevenage, Getem/Mygale, +9.343s
4, Jay Bridger, UK/Tonbridge, Fluid/Mygale, +9.633s
5, Marc Murray, ZA/Sudbury, Jamun/Mygale, +10.216s
6, James Nash, UK/Newport Pagnell, Mills/Van Diemen, +13.047s
Scholarship class: Matt Dobson, UK/Colchester/Van Diemen RF03, 16th +1m5.424s
Fastest lap: MacLeod 1m29.958s / 92.08mph Record