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BRANDS HATCH
VICTORIES FOR TANDY & MACLEOD
29 April, 2007:
A vast Brands Hatch crowd were this weekend treated to two
terrific British Formula Ford races, Nick Tandy yesterday
(Saturday) ending Callum MacLeod's unbroken streak and MacLeod
today bouncing back to take his fourth win of the season.
Though both races
were halted early by incidents, they nonetheless proved a superb
support to the A1GP series on its season-closing British visit.
Saturday's race
brought the first defeat of the year for MacLeod. Outpaced in
qualifying after a dashboard electronics glitch hindered his
efforts, MacLeod's Jamun Racing Mygale was left on the line as the
JTR Ray of pole man Tandy swept into the lead.
It transpired that
Callum was lucky to get going at all: "My clutch broke on the
warm-up lap," he said, "so it was a question of giving
it maximum revs, banging it into gear and hoping for the best…"
MacLeod's tardy getaway allowed Linton Stuteley and Jay Bridger to
push him back to fourth on the opening lap.
Tandy was meanwhile
building a handsome lead. By the end of the first lap he was 2.5
seconds in front of Stuteley's Getem Racing-prepared Mygale and he
proceeded to pull away at the rate of half a second a lap.
Clutchless Callum
was not hanging around either. Despite his handicap he nipped past
his Jamun team-mate Bridger on the way to Hawthorn Bend on the
third lap, and then two laps later seized second from Stuteley.
Tandy was long gone, however, and though he shattered the lap
record in his pursuit, MacLeod would have to settle for second.
A fantastic tussle
for third between Stuteley and Bridger was now the chief focus,
Linton resolutely defending the position from the Kent driver's
onslaught. But the fight was ended prematurely by red flags:
Freddie Hunt had spun his JTR Ray and came to a halt in a
dangerous position; race organisers chose to end proceedings a
couple of laps early.
Tandy was one
driver pleased to see the flags: "I wasn't disappointed…
It's a great relief finally to get on to the top step of the
podium. They say the first win of the season is the hardest to
achieve, and that's certainly been the case for me. Hopefully we
can build on this and go on to take some more wins."
Stuteley's second
successive third-place finish was reward for his sterling drive,
with Bridger just over a tenth of a second behind him.
Peter Dempsey,
making his 2007 debut at the wheel of a works-run Ray, endured a
troubled qualifying but fought through from 12th on the grid to
take fifth at the line, just ahead of the battling Van Diemens of
Kevin Mills Racing team-mates Richard Tannahill and James Nash.
Steve Roberts
placed eighth and Adrian Campfield ninth, the Surrey driver
enjoying his best outing of the season in the Celre Racing Mygale.
The top 12 was rounded out by young Finn Jesse Krohn, David Brown
and Marc Murray. James Stephen and Takashi Nagase ended their
races in the barriers at Sheene Curve after tangling at high
speed; neither driver was hurt.
Sean Gaffney's
Remita Racing Mygale triumphed in the Scholarship Class for the
second successive event, getting the better of a tussle with Chris
Acton.
Tandy was again the
pacesetter at the start of today's race, rocketing into the lead
once more from pole position with MacLeod, his car restored to
full health, slotting in behind for second position ahead of
Stuteley and Nash.
Keen to make amends
for his Saturday defeat, MacLeod wasted no time in challenging for
the lead and successfully attacked Tandy into Hawthorn on the
second tour. By lap's end MacLeod's Mygale had pulled a 0.4s lead,
and that was as close as anyone would come to Callum for the
duration.
Tandy's chances of
keeping tabs on his title rival were hampered by fierce attacks
from both Stuteley and Nash. The pressure finally told on him on
the sixth lap, Nick running wide out of Surtees and letting both
Linton and James past him.
Though Tandy
repassed Nash next time around his hopes of regaining second from
Stuteley were ended by more red flags, brought out this time in
the aftermath of a four-car shunt involving Dempsey, Roberts,
Campfield and Brown, who tangled while disputing seventh spot.
Thus MacLeod was
declared the victor by a 4.9s margin from Stuteley. Callum paid
tribute to his Jamun mechanics: "The boys were working till
past midnight to fix my car and having studied the data from
yesterday they found several improvements. My win was the result
of their hard work." MacLeod lowered his own lap record on
his way to his fourth win of the year, and in so doing became the
first Formula Ford driver to break the 90-second barrier for a lap
of the Brands Grand Prix circuit.
Tandy was not too
disappointed with third: "I'm still on the podium and still
smiling. Callum drove fantastically well and deserves the
win."
Nash was close
behind him for fourth, with fifth-placed Bridger catching him at a
rate of knots towards the end and Tannahill claiming sixth.
The ever-improving
teenager Krohn was an excellent seventh in the Spectrum, just
ahead of Sarah Playfair, who made a good start and battled through
from 12th on the opening lap. Nagase made up for his Saturday
disappointment to take ninth ahead of Lee Mumford, Daniel Murray
and Roger Orgee.
With Dempsey's
demise, Matt Dobson inherited the Guest Class win. There were no
Scholarship finishers, leader Gaffney's race ending in the Druids
Hill gravel trap after a collision with Craig Bell.
Provisional
results
British Formula Ford round 5 (of 25)
Brands Hatch 28/4/2007. 7 laps / 16.1 miles
1, Nick Tandy, UK/Bedford, JTR, Ray, 10m45.782s
2, Callum MacLeod, UK/Northampton, Jamun, Mygale, +4.117s
3, Linton Stuteley, UK/Stevenage, Getem, Mygale, +5.969s
4, Jay Bridger, UK/Tonbridge, Jamun, Mygale, +6.094s
5, Peter Dempsey, IRL/Meath, Ray, Ray, +7.907s
6, Richard Tannahill, UK/Coleraine, Mills, Van Diemen, +8.360s
Scholarship class: Sean Gaffney UK/Durham, Remita/Mygale 21st o/a
+44.232s
Fastest lap: MacLeod 1m30.865s / 91.16mph Record
Round 6 / Brands
Hatch 29/4/2007. 8 laps / 18.4 miles
1, Callum MacLeod, UK/Northampton, Jamun, Mygale, 12m10.704s
2, Linton Stuteley, UK/Stevenage, Getem, Mygale, +4.986s
3, Nick Tandy, UK/Bedford, JTR, Ray, +5.081s
4, James Nash, UK/Newport Pagnell, Mills, Van Diemen, +5.174s
5, Jay Bridger, UK/Tonbridge, Jamun, Mygale, +6.896s
6, Richard Tannahill, UK/Coleraine, Mills, Van Diemen, +9.523s
Fastest lap: MacLeod 1m29.998s / 92.03mph Record |
