21 May, 2006: Peter Dempsey maintained his perfect UK Formula Ford Championship strike record this weekend at Donington Park, the Irishman winning both races to stretch his series lead to 19 points.

Win number three for Peter and his Cliff Dempsey Racing-run Ray came in Saturday's incident-packed sprint when he beat Nick Tandy and Nathan Freke into second and third respectively. And Dempsey made his fourth straight victory, on Sunday, look even easier despite streaming wet conditions, this time with Freke claiming second and Tandy third.

Dempsey's progress to victory on Saturday was every bit as impressive as his twin wins at Oulton Park in April, Peter leading every inch of the way from pole position to chequered flag.

His performance in qualifying was good enough to net him the pole for both races, with his best time nearly six-tenths ahead of that of his closest rival, Jay Bridger. Christian Ebbesvik lined up third on the grid on Saturday, ahead of Tandy, Freke and the impressively quick Brazilian teenager Adriano Buzaid, whose relatively elderly Scholarship Class Mygale topped the timesheets for a while during the session's early wet stage.

Bridger made an excellent getaway in the Jamun Racing Mygale but Dempsey's start was at least as good. The Irishman edged ahead into Redgate Corner with the clear intention of building an early lead. By the end of lap two Peter had eked out a 1.6-second advantage, only to see it wiped away when the Safety Car was deployed as the result of a three-car crash at Redgate.

As the snatch crews toiled to remove the stricken cars of Ruth Senior, David Mayes and Takashi Nagase from the circuit, Dempsey had to lead around a procession of slow-moving Formula Fords for four laps. Tandy was by this time Peter's closest challenger, the Bedford lad having pinched second from Ebbesvik on the second tour.

At the restart and with seven laps ahead of him, Dempsey made no mistakes and posted fastest lap as he charged away to rebuild his lead. Tandy, after fighting back a further challenge from Ebbesvik, was not slow to respond, twice setting fastest race lap himself, on successive laps, as he battled to reel back the Irishman.

Nick and his works-run Ray ran out of laps, however, and had to settle for second. "Peter pulled a brilliant manoeuvre at the restart," said Tandy, "and it was hard work to catch him up again. Another lap or two and I might have managed it."

"I pushed really hard to build a gap after the restart," said Dempsey, "and it was just as well that I did because Nick was catching me rapidly towards the end. That's another good result for the championship for me."

Freke dislodged Ebbesvik from third with three laps to go, resisting a last-lap effort which netted the Norwegian Team JLR driver the extra point for fastest lap. Fifth, just behind Ebbesvik, was Ulsterman Richard Tannahill, despite having started from ninth on the grid; Richard finished a place in front of his Kevin Mills Racing team-mate Steve Roberts for good measure.

South African Sean Petterson scored his first points of the year with seventh, with James Nash eighth, Jonny Baker ninth and Buzaid an excellent 10th, six places and 13 seconds ahead of his closest Scholarship rival, Simon Kinsey. Front row man Bridger's hopes of a strong finish plummeted on the final lap when, having slipped back to eighth, he spun down to 14th.

After Mayes' early departure, the Clubmans Class victory went to Neil Tofts, who finished some five seconds ahead of Craig Bell.

Sunday's dreadful weather did nothing to dampen Dempsey's spirit, Peter rocketing into an immediate and commanding lead from pole position, with Freke's Jamun Mygale and Tandy in hot pursuit.

Nick's hopes of keeping up with the leaders were dashed on the fifth lap when he was passed by Ebbesvik. Although the Norwegian handed third place back with a spin at the Old Hairpin on the following lap, Tandy's rivals were by this time long gone.

Freke did everything possible to keep tabs on Dempsey but admitted his cause was hopeless: "I think I had the quicker car but when I tried to close in the spray from Peter's car was so bad I couldn't see where I was going and had to back off." Dempsey crossed the line 2.4s in front - his biggest victory margin of the season to date - with Freke 11s ahead of Tandy.

Dempsey modestly put it all down to his mechanics: "The team gave me a brilliant car this weekend, it's been great in these conditions."

Ebbesvik recovered from his spin to once again set fastest race lap on the final tour and claim fourth ahead of Nash's battered Van Diemen, James surviving a 12th lap clash with Buzaid as they disputed fifth. Roberts was sixth ahead of Baker, Bridger and Tannahill, with Buzaid, despite the collision, finishing an excellent 10th overall and once again an easy Scholarship class victor, this time ahead of Takashi Nagase.

Mayes' miserable weekend continued, the 17-year-old's Ray one of several to slither off the track on the opening lap. Again Tofts enjoyed a largely untroubled run to Clubmans Cup victory, once more ahead of Bell.

Provisional results UKFF round 3, Donington Park, 20/05/2006. 13 laps / 25.4 miles
1, Peter Dempsey, IRL/Ashbourne, Dempsey, Ray, 20m 10.664s
2, Nick Tandy, UK/Bedford, Ray, Ray, +1.033s
3, Nathan Freke, UK/Kidderminster, Jamun, Mygale, +3.762s
4, Christian Ebbesvik, NOR/Bergen, JLR, Van Diemen, +3.953s
5, Richard Tannahill, UK/Coleraine, Kevin Mills, Van Diemen, +4.472s
6, Steve Roberts, UK/Whitchurch, Kevin Mills, Van Diemen, +5.098s
Scholarship Cup: Adriano Buzaid / 10th overall +13.185s
Clubmans Cup: Neil Tofts / 17th overall +35.185s
Fastest lap: Ebbesvik 1m 11.814 (est rec)

Round 4, 21/05/2006. 14 laps / 27.4 miles
1, Dempsey, 20m 57.890s
2, Freke, +2.472s
3, Tandy, +13.485s
4, Ebbesvik, +16.055s
5, James Nash, UK/Newport Pagnell, Fluid, Van Diemen, +28.742s
6, Roberts, +33.228s
Scholarship Cup: Buzaid / 10th overall +43.682s
Clubmans Cup: Tofts / 16th overall +1m 08.407s
Fastest lap: Ebbesvik 1m 27.883s

Links  |    Teams area   |    Archive  |    Site map  |