14 April, 2009: First-round dominator James Cole and American hot shot Josef Newgarden were the men to beat in the second and third rounds of the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain yesterday, taking a win apiece in their Mygales for the Jamun Racing and JTR teams.

Cole led Saturday's opening round of the Ford-backed series from pole position to chequered flag, and he did so again in round two, once again under intense pressure from Van Diemen pilot Garry Findlay.

Unlike Saturday's race the grid made a clean getaway… Instead it was a few yards down the road, at Old Hall Corner, that catastrophe struck. A spinner in the pack led to a collision which resulted in Alex Jones, Patrick McKenna and Jordi Cunill retiring from the race.

The top four - Cole, Findlay, Daniel Cammish and Newgarden - quickly broke from the chasing pack, using each other's tow to increase the gap between them and fifth-placed Peter Barrable and his immediate pursuer, Juno Racing's Chrissy Palmer, who had made another lightning getaway. Heading into Hislop's Chicane on lap three, Palmer launched himself up the inside of Barrable's Fluid Motorsport Van Diemen, stealing fifth. Barrable fought back to begin a battle that would last to the chequered flag.

After pushing Cole throughout Saturday's season opener, Findlay was eager to take the top step of the podium second time around, trying his utmost to find a way past the Jamun Racing Mygale. Inches behind, Cammish and Newgarden were echoing this behaviour, with Newgarden piling on the pressure.

Cole started to make his push for victory on the fourth of the 11 laps, building a one-second gap which he was able to extend to nearly three seconds in the closing stages as Findlay fell back into the clutches of Cammish's KMR Spectrum and Newgarden's JTR Mygale and all three started to scrabble for the same piece of tarmac.

Behind, Liroy Stuart and Josh Hill were battling for sixth, with Hill enjoying his first proper Formula Ford race after crashing out in Saturday's startline shunt. Despite Hill's best defensive efforts, Dutch driver Stuart managed to find a way past and began gradually to pull away.

After eleven laps Cole exited Deer Leap to see the chequered flag. "The start was really good," said James. "Nearer the end I could see Garry catching me so I had to push a little bit and made sure I finished." Newgarden finished third, with Cammish fourth, again top of the Scholarship Class.

Rogier De Wit in his Getem Racing Mygale stormed through from eleventh on the grid to fifth, ahead of Stuart and Hill, while Australian Daniel Erickson powered from 22nd to ninth, finishing less than a second behind Palmer. The final lap saw Kieran Vernon overtake Zaamin Jaffer for 10th.

With Findlay starting race three from the pole, Garry was hoping to make it to the top step of the podium for the first time, but with the determined Newgarden alongside it was always going to be difficult…

Newgarden launched into Old Hall ahead while Cole, starting from the second row, followed him through. Stuart took up third, progressing from sixth on the grid to temporarily jump ahead of Cammish. An unlucky Findlay lost out at the lights, losing several places while the fast-starting De Wit exploded off the line to join the leading quartet for track position.

After a brief safety car period, caused by the Ray of Luke Williams becoming beached on the kerbs, Newgarden made the best of the restart, pulling a useful gap over Cole and more or less ensuring that the rounds one and two victor would not be able to get close enough to attempt a pass. Hill made a good restart also and joined in the battle for seventh with Palmer and Barrable.

A recovering Findlay, now right on the tail of third-place man Cammish, was eager to find a way past and to get up with the leaders. Cammish had other ideas, however, defending well until an error a lap from home through Old Hall allowed Findlay up his inside and into third.

Newgarden crossed the line three-tenths clear of championship frontrunner Cole and was pleased to take the top step of the podium: "It was a tough race, one of the toughest races I've dealt with," he said. "But I'm happy we've finally got a win under our belts."

Findlay held off Cammish for third, while the early pace of De Wit secured him fifth. Stuart crossed the line sixth, ahead of the Barrable-Hill battle. Erickson managed to jump Palmer for ninth, with the latter rounding out the top ten.

Alex Jones, having had three good starts in as many races, again suffered bad luck. "In the third race I managed to get up to 12th after starting 21st," he said. "I was going really well, really flying until a mechanical problem coming out of Shell put paid to my race," said the Welsh driver.

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