Easter Monday saw the start of what promises to be possibly the most competitive Formula Ford Championship ever at Castle Combe.
The Formula Fords started the days qualifying sessions at 8.45am, but it turned out to be a very difficult session, as someone dumped oil around almost the whole track on lap 2, making it virtually impossible to get a quick time unless you were lucky enough to get a clear run on lap 1. Steven got caught on the oil and very nearly had an ‘off’, so he elected to come into the pits and wait for the other cars to clean-up the track. The Safety Car was sent out, and as time was running out it became necessary to go back out and join the convoy, ready for a few last minute laps when the Safety Car pulled in. Unfortunately it was difficult to get a ‘clear’ lap, so Steven could do no better than qualify in 5th.
- Richard from A1 Tyres helps get the car ready for the main race
The race itself became another disastrous ‘oil run’ for Steven. A reasonable start saw Steven challenging hard for 4th place on the way out of Quarry on the first lap, but when 4th placed Oliver White hit the tyre wall hard on the way into the Esses chicane, Steven had to take avoiding action and lost ground to the front three. On lap 2 and 3 Steven posted second fastest times, and this enabled him to close down Andy Jones in 3rd place, but this is when his problems really began.
When he came within a couple of car lengths of Andy’s car, Steven’s helmet visor got completely covered with oil which was spraying from the back of Andy’s car, and visibility was reduced to a blur and he nearly ‘fell-off’ at Tower. He frantically tried to regain some visibility by wiping the visor with his glove, but it only partly worked. He managed to catch Andy up again, only to get ‘filled-in’ again, and having to drop back to clean the visor. This allowed Josh Fisher to catch up and pass, leaving Steven with 5th place at the line, which was disappointing, but due to circumstances beyond his control, and he felt that the car and he had a lot more to give, so looking forward to the next race on Bank Holiday Monday 3rd May.
- Dicing for position
