26 May, 2008: Three Rockingham races - three different winners. That was the result this weekend of the British Formula Ford Championship's visit to the Northamptonshire Motor Speedway, with championship leader Wayne Boyd winning one event, his chief title rival and team-mate Tim Blanchard taking one also, and Dutch driver Chris Maliepaard claiming the other after Boyd and Blanchard collided on the last lap.

Ulsterman Boyd, who now has a total of 10 race wins under his belt for the Jamun Racing team, leaves Rockingham with his lead in the Ford-backed series cut to 36 points.

Sunday's torrential rain did its best to wreck the first of the Bank Holiday Weekend's three Rockingham races, with Blanchard lucky to take victory after surviving a lurid first-lap spin.

Blanchard had denied pole position to his Mygale running mate Boyd with a dramatic last-gasp qualifying lap which shaved a tenth from Boyd's best, but Tim chucked away his advantage right at the start of the race when he overcooked it out of Turn 1 and spun through 360 degrees. That the Australian Champion managed to gather things together in time for the Deene hairpin, and that none of his rivals hit him, was testament both to his skill at the wheel and to his luck.

With Blanchard's hands full Boyd wasted no time in assuming the lead, chased by another Aussie driver, Glen Wood, who had made an excellent start from fourth on the grid in his Kevin Mills Spectrum. A chastened Blanchard held third for a lap before displacing Wood for second.

Conditions through the last corner of the Rockingham lap, the appropriately named Brook, were more suitable for powerboats than Formula Fords, and it was here that the first serious incident of the race occurred when, on the opening lap, Maliepaard skated into the rear of the Mygale of his Getem Racing team-mate Linton Stuteley. "It wasn't Chris's fault and it wasn't mine," said Linton. "I hit a wall of water and slowed and there was no way he could have avoided me. The conditions were terrible."

This collision and several other stranded spinners led to a safety car period which, just as at Oulton Park in March, led to a Blanchard victory. Boyd slithered out of the lead after the restart and handed the win on a plate to his team-mate. Tim was delighted: "That was one tough race," he said. "I made a mistake on the opening lap and to win after something like that is amazingly lucky."

It looked set to be an Australian 1-2 until Wood's hopes of finishing second slipped from his grasp with a last-lap off; Boyd it was who took runner-up spot. Wayne had rejoined fourth after his moment and lifted third from Maliepaard on the penultimate lap. Chris held on to third ahead of his compatriot Rogier de Wit, whose fourth-place finish, just ahead of his JTR Mygale team-mate Matt Hamilton, was his best result of the season.

From 17th on the grid to sixth at the flag was a good result for David Brown and his Van Diemen. The Scotsman finished just ahead of the Mygale of Garry Findlay, who excelled in the wet to take his sixth Scholarship Class win of the season. James Cole splashed his way to eighth ahead of Chrissy Palmer, Victor Correa, Adrian Campfield and Philippe Layac.

Monday's opening race was dry, to the relief of all on the grid. It was packed with drama also, with the two chief title protagonists, team-mates Boyd and Blanchard, going head to head for victory, and a surprise winner in the shape of Maliepaard.

Chris was gifted the win on the 12th and final lap when Boyd, who had been bottled up behind pole-sitter Blanchard since the start, launched a do-or-die manoeuvre into the Deene hairpin. "I got a good run on him," said Wayne. "He blocked me and I tried around the outside. Then he braked too late and we touched."

"They both braked too late," said chief witness Maliepaard, who gleefully accepted the lead when both Blanchard and Boyd spun after their contact. "I am very grateful to them!"

Boyd admitted to feeling cross after the incident but Blanchard was all smiles and shrugs: "We were going for the same bit of road and we touched wheels," said the Aussie. "It happens…"

Maliepaard may have been handed the win but he thoroughly deserved the victory after a fine drive from sixth on the grid. The Dutch Getem Racing driver made up two places on the opening lap and then displaced Correa from third with a startlingly brave manoeuvre at the hairpin on the penultimate lap.

Correa followed Maliepaard through the last-lap dramas to take second, with Blanchard recovering to third. De Wit was fourth once again after passing his team-mate Hamilton four laps from the end. Boyd placed sixth behind Hamilton, and Layac was seventh.

Alex Jones's decision to switch to one of the Kevin Mills Racing team's Spectrums at Rockingham was rewarded with eighth place overall and a convincing Scholarship Class win. Cole placed ninth ahead of one of the trio of Dutch guest drivers, Liroy Stuart, with Palmer 11th and Stuteley, who came together early on with Wood's Spectrum, 12th.

Boyd had a point to prove in (wet again) race three and the 17-year-old wasted no time in making it, getting a better start than pole man Blanchard to claim the lead through Turn 1. Wayne was given no time to stretch his legs, however - before the lap's end the safety car was in play after the cars of Wood and Findlay tangled and came to a halt. Blanchard dogged Boyd from the restart two laps later, no doubt hoping to force another error, but none came. Though Boyd was never able to shake off his pursuer, nor did his lead ever look under much threat. He won by a shade less than a second.

"It's good to get a win at the end of what has been a pretty bad weekend for me," said Boyd. "Tim never gave me any peace and it was just a question of keeping my concentration."

Maliepaard held third early on before slipping behind Correa, whose second consecutive podium finish promotes him to championship third to make it a Jamun 1-2-3 in the driver points.

De Wit capped an excellent weekend for him with fourth place yet again, ahead of his compatriot Maliepaard and sixth-placed Palmer, who shone in the wet again to take Scholarship Class honours. Layac and Hamilton were both delayed on the final lap and Cole nipped through for seventh, with Layac recovering to take eighth ahead of Stuteley, Rogier Jongejans, Hamilton and Marco Sorensen.

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