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JAMES HUNT'S SON TO
JOIN THE FORMULA FORD GRID
19 March, 2007:
Nineteen-year-old Freddie Hunt, son of 1976 World Champion James,
is to race in the British Formula Ford Championship, it is
announced today.
Having tested
several single-seaters over the winter, including Formula BMW and
Formula Palmer Audi, Hunt has opted to take his first steps in
motor racing with Formula Ford.
Freddie last week
tested the latest Van Diemen chassis at Snetterton, and signed
with the championship straight after. He is talking to several
teams and has yet to take a final decision about which chassis he
will race. Likewise, negotiations with potential sponsors are
ongoing to complete the necessary budget for the season. A further
announcement will be made in due course once Freddie's funding
package is finalised.
"I am relieved
and excited to have made this decision," said Freddie, ahead
of his maiden season of competition. "There is a range of
racing categories for young drivers to choose from nowadays, but
after long deliberations I have concluded that Formula Ford is the
best option for me.
"The fact that
my father and my uncle, David, both raced in Formula Ford is a
bonus and I am proud to be carrying on the family tradition with
Ford. I can't wait to get started."
Mike Norton, UK
Motorsport Manager for Ford TeamRS, is delighted by Freddie's
decision: "We could not be happier to welcome Freddie to
Formula Ford, the established training ground for Grand Prix
drivers of the future.
"Freddie's
late father cut his racing teeth in Formula Ford in the late '60s
and James's World Championship-winning McLaren Formula 1 car was
powered by Ford. It's marvellous to see another generation ready
to gain vital and valuable track experience with us, just as did
50% of the drivers on the 2007 Grand Prix grid."
Formula Ford
celebrates its 40th anniversary this season: it was conceived in
1967 and caught on like wildfire: in 1968 there were three
separate championships being organised in Britain and two years on
that number had grown to seven. Formula Ford reached mainland
Europe and the USA in 1969 and by 1971 had spread as far afield as
Brazil.
The record books
read like a who's who of international motor sporting endeavour.
Ayrton Senna won two British Formula Ford championships, and
Formula Ford was instrumental in the development of the careers of
many World Champions, not least Senna, Mansell and the most
successful driver in the history of the sport, Michael Schumacher.
Hunt and his fellow F1 Champions Emerson Fittipaldi, Jody
Scheckter, Damon Hill and Mika Hakkinen all started in Formula
Ford.
The most recent
graduate to be elevated to the rank of Grand Prix winner is the
1998 British Formula Ford Champion, Jenson Button. |
