FORMULA FORD 2012 RACE REPORTS

ROUND 1: BURI IS THE FIRST ECOBOOST WINNER

• Finn takes pole-to-flag victory for JTR and • Mexican 16-year-old Fabian Welter dominates the Duratec class

7 APRIL 2012 - Flying Finn Antti Buri claimed the maiden honours in the new era of racing, the 23-year-old winning in style for the JTR team at to record the first race victory for an the EcoBoost-powered chassis. Buri led all the way from pole position to take what was also his first win in the category after two seasons of trying. Mygale EcoBoost chassis from four different teams filled the top eight places in round one of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, with Buri lopping 2.5s from the old Duratec Formula Ford lap record for the Cheshire track to underline the pace of the new-era car. There was a great race also for honours in the Duratec class today, Mexico's Fabian Welter - the youngest on the grid at 16 - winning on his Formula Ford debut. Buri, who signed with 's JTR team only this week, made his intentions clear in qualifying, posting a best lap a shade over a quarter-second better than that of his closest rival, Jamun Racing's Luke Williams (Sowerby). Jamun's other drivers, Argentinian Eric Lichtenstein and Rotherham racer , lined up third and fourth on the grid, ahead of JTR men Julio Moreno and Cavan Corcoran. It was Williams who appeared to make the better start to the race, pulling ahead of Buri on the run to OId Hall corner. But Luke ran wide and allowed Antti to fight back to the front; by lap's end the Finn was 0.7s ahead and that was the closest his pursuers would get for the duration. Williams clung on well but alas his start was deemed by race officials to be have been too enthusiastic and he was summoned to the pits for a drive-through penalty. Williams delayed taking the penalty until three laps from the end, and rejoined fourth behind his team-mates Lichtenstein and Cook.

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Buri was 4.2s clear at the chequered flag and was delighted to break his duck: "Finally!" he said. "It's been a long two years and I am very happy. It wasn't an easy race, but I did not make too many mistakes and I managed to pull a gap. The new car is really nice to drive and I am looking forward now to two more races on Monday…" Lichtenstein was pleased enough with second given that he seemed to be suffering a fuel pick-up problem: "I made the podium, so it is a good thing, but there was a fuel problem, otherwise I could have been closer to Antti," said Eric. Cook was disappointed with his third place: "The rear tyres went away very quickly," said the Yorkshireman, "and after that I was struggling to keep up." Jake finished 7s down on Lichtenstein and 6s clear of Williams after the latter's pit penalty. Ecuadorian 16-year-old Moreno enjoyed a good debut run to fifth (and top Rookie), liberating the position from his JTR running mate Corcoran (Matlock) into Old Hall on the seventh lap. Surrey racer Fred Martin-Dye was the seventh place finisher in the EcoBoost class, with another first-time Formula Ford racer, Ryan Cullen, eighth. That Ryan even made the race was tribute to the hard work of the Cullen /Race Car Consultants team, which had overcome a series of new-car teething problems, including a Friday-night engine swap, to put the Somerset youngster on the grid. Only three finished the Duratec class battle - the other five contenders all fell by the wayside. First out was Don Hardman Automotive driver Abdul Ahmed, whose Ray went off on the opening lap, and he was joined in retirement on lap five by Fluid's Alex Drabble, whose hit the gravel at Druids. Welter had made a good start to overhaul the cars of Matt Rao (Fluid Van Diemen) and Scottish FF1600 champion Kenneth Thirlwall (Myerscough Van Diemen) on the opening lap and steadily eased a small gap from his pursuers. Enigma's George Blundell started to close down the Mexican's advantage but the Essex man was involved in a collision with Rao at Shell Oils on the ninth lap and both went out. American Charles Anti also went off three laps from the end. That left Welter out in front by nearly 15s from Thirlwall, with Australian rookie Olly Rae third for the Enigma team on his racing debut. Fabian was pleased with his result: "I was worried because I could see they were catching me, then they crashed and I could slow down a bit. It was a very good race for me."

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ROUNDS 2 & 3: COOK & WILLIAMS JOIN THE ECOBOOST VICTORY CLUB

• Jake Cook on top in Round 2, his Jamun team-mate the Round 3 victor • Fabian Welter and Kenneth Thirlwall share the Duratec class honours

9 APRIL 2012 - Three races, three different first-time victors and a tie for the top of the championship. The Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain got away to a stormingly competitive start at Oulton Park over Easter with the successful introduction of the new EcoBoost chassis and some close and exciting racing to boot. Today Jamun drivers Jake Cook and Luke Williams joined Saturday's round one victor Antti Buri in the EcoBoost winners' circle, and there was a Duratec class win apiece for Fabian Welter and Kenneth Thirlwall. Sam Roach of championship promoter RacingLine said he was delighted by a successful first weekend of racing for the EcoBoost Formula Fords: "We have seen no significant technical problems, which is always a good thing when a new chassis is introduced, we have had some great racing, with three different winners, and the prospects for the rest of the season are bright. We hope to see further new EcoBoost cars on the grid at later this month, and I am sure that will only add to the competitiveness." Round 2 Conditions could not have been much wetter for the first of the day's races and, not surprisingly perhaps, nearly half the field - including some fancied EcoBoost runners - fell foul of the weather. Eric Lichtenstein was the first to realise the lap of grip, the lanky Argentinian running off the track on the exit of turn one, Old Hall Corner, moments after the fast-starting Jamun Racing pilot had seized the lead from the surprised pole man Buri. "I made a good start, then I locked up and went off…" said a phlegmatic Eric. Buri's hopes of a repeat of his dominant dry-weather display of Saturday were dashed by the weather. "It was due to a lack of testing in the wet," said the Finn, "and I just did not have the pace." Buri led the opening lap as far as Lodge before running wide and allowing Jamun's Jake Cook in front. Rotherham-based Cook quickly built a useful lead once he hit the front, but saw his hard work undone by the arrival on track of the safety car, which had been called in after the Duratec cars of Olly Rae and Abdul Ahmed ran off the road. Jake need not have worried, however: when the safety car was recalled he nailed the restart and was soon extending his advantage over Buri once again.

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Cook crossed the line almost 10s clear to record his maiden Formula Ford win, and the first of the season for the Jamun team: "I enjoyed the race," he said, "although I got a terrible start. We were lucky that it was wet here in our test in the week, and I went quite well then. It also helped that some others went wide…" Buri clung to second in the JTR Mygale EcoBoost, but had few worries once the Jamun cars of Lichtenstein and Luke Williams went off. Lichtenstein, who had dropped to eighth on the opening lap, spun again on lap two and then decisively at Druids on the sixth lap. Williams had dropped even further back on lap one but was up to third after the restart before he also finally left the track, fortunately causing only minor damage, on lap six. Not putting a wheel wrong in the conditions was key, as Surrey racer Fred Martin-Dye discovered in his Enigma Motorsport Mygale. He made an excellent start to what was only his second car race and slotted into a safe third after the restart, which he held to the end to record his first podium finish. Ryan Cullen (Cullen/RCC) and Julio Moreno (JTR) completed the EcoBoost finishers, with Cavan Corcoran covering a single lap before an electronics issue halted him. The Duratec class battle was as engaging as ever, with George Blundell (Enigma) holding the lead until he ran wide three laps from home and gifted the position to round one Duratec class victor Fabian Welter. The Mexican was pleased and surprised to score his second class win for Rendez-Vous Racing: "It was a very good race for me and I am very happy. I couldn't really see anything, so I just kept pushing and I was lucky that so many people went off." Welter placed fourth overall, ahead of two of the EcoBoost runners. Kenneth Thirlwall was the second Duratec finisher, the Myerscough College driver heading home the recovered Blundell, who in turn was well clear of Fluid Van Diemen man Alex Drabble, who scored his first points. The Duratecs of Matt Rao and Charles Anti joined Ahmed and Rae in retirement.

Round 3 A sticking throttle which led to a clutch problem was what prevented another Buri victory in round three. The Finn again started from pole position and made a good fist of building an early advantage over the pursuing Jamun trio of Cook, Williams and Lichtenstein. By the sixth lap Antti was more than three seconds clear, but then disaster struck: "The throttle was sticking from quite early on but I was managing it until the clutch started to give out as well." Buri ran wide at Hislop's chicane and lost ground, handing the lead not to Cook, but to Williams, Jake having himself slithered up the Hislop's escape road and back to third on the previous lap.

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Thus Luke found himself out in front by a six-second margin and with four laps to go to the chequered flag. The Sowerby star did not disappoint, building his advantage over Cook to 7.8s by the end. "It all came together for me in race three," he said. "All three of us were pretty much on the same pace, but the others had moments and I was there to take advantage…" Buri's car gave up the ghost yards after the finish line and the Finn was relieved with third: "I am very lucky," said Antti, "because the car waited until after the finish to break." With Cook taking second, Jake and Antti leave Oulton Park with a win, a second and a third apiece and the joint lead of the championship. "I made too cautious a start to that race," said Jake, "but all in all it's not been a bad weekend." Lichtenstein ran fourth for the duration of the race, with Martin-Dye fifth for much of it until Corcoran nipped past him two laps from home. Moreno placed seventh and Cullen was the final EcoBoost finisher. Welter looked hopeful of a third straight Duratec win until a fourth-lap spin saw the Mexican drop to fourth in class behind Rao, Thirlwall and Blundell. Rao and Thirlwall staged a superb battle for class honours for the second half of the race, the Myerscough College racer eventually overcoming his rival on the last lap. "I had been sizing him up for several laps," said Kenneth, "and managed to pull it off just in time." Blundell held off Welter and Rae for the final step of the Duratec podium.

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ROUND 4: LICHTENSTEIN IS FORMULA FORD'S FOURTH VICTOR

• Argentinian scores home win for Jamun Racing • Fabian Welter takes Duratec class victory at Brands Hatch

18 MAY 2012 - Eric Lichtenstein this evening became the fourth different winner in as many races in the 2012 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, the Argentinian Jamun Racing pilot battling through from third on the grid to seize control of a rain and curfew-hit race at Brands Hatch, the opening encounter of the DTM weekend. Though only a 10-lapper, round four of the championship was a true Formula Ford thriller and an appetite-whetter for what is shaping up to be a close and competitive season for the all-new EcoBoost-powered Formula Ford chassis. Lichtenstein headed home round one victor and championship leader Antti Buri, with Mexico's Fabian Welter triumphing in the Duratec division to collect his third class win of the season. The dry conditions of this morning's qualifying session suited JTR driver Buri perfectly; the Finn and Jamun's Luke Williams were the only men under the 47-second mark around the 1.2-mile Indy circuit to secure the front row of the grid, ahead of Lichtenstein, Cavan Corcoran (JTR) and Jake Cook (Jamun), with Dutch guest racer Melroy Heemskerk sixth for the GEVA team. A sharp shower before the start of the race required a switch to grooved Dunlops, and settings guesswork on behalf of the teams, not least for Buri, who had not tested in the wet at Brands. Antti nonetheless made an impeccable start from the pole to pull a useful early lead over his pursuers, with Lichtenstein overhauling his team-mate Williams away from the line to give chase. As the track dried, so Buri began to struggle to maintain his advantage; going into lap six his 1.1s lead was reduced to just two-tenths by the Argentinian. Two laps later through Paddock Hill Bend Eric pounced, diving up Buri's inside and holding station all the way up Hailwoods Hill and around the Druids hairpin, where Antti was forced to cede his lead, and also second place to Williams. Alas Luke undid all his good work next lap around, hooking a wheel on to the kerb through Paddock and spinning off to hand second place back to Buri. "The problem was wet tyres on a drying track," said Buri. "I started out all right but I couldn't get any better pace - that was my pace, from lap one to the chequered flag. But still, second place is good for the championship."

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Lichtenstein crossed the line for his maiden Formula Ford win with a 1.9s advantage. "At first I was a little bit cautious," said Eric. "I didn't know what the track conditions were like, then towards the end of the race the car was behaving very well so I started to push and managed to get a few tenths clear." Cook more than made up for a disappointing qualifying with a charging drive, lifting fourth place from Corcoran on lap three and then relieving his team-mate Williams of third. Luke fought back past Jake two laps later but the latter's spin handed the final EcoBoost podium slot back to a grateful Cook, with Corcoran fourth for his best-yet finish, and Fred Martin-Dye fifth - and top Rookie - in the Enigma Motorsport Mygale. Welter revelled in the conditions to haul his RVR Mygale up from 11th on the grid to seventh on the opening lap, which position he held until promoted to sixth by Williams's exit. Fabian was 2.3s ahead of his closest Duratec rival, Fluid Van Diemen man Matt Rao, at the line. "At the beginning when it was wet the car was perfect," said Welter. "But after the second lap the track started to dry and the tyres were struggling; it was quite tough. But it's good to win again…" Heemskerk, who ran wide through the Paddock gravel trap on the opening lap, fought back to eighth by the end, ahead of JTR's Ecuadorian driver Julio Moreno and Ryan Cullen, with American Charles Anti beating Australian Olly Rae to 11th, and third place in the Duratec class, to secure a stylish first Formula Ford race finish. With Abdul Ahmed and Alex Drabble tangling at Druids on the final lap and joining Williams in retirement, the final finishers were guest driver Jason Down and Enigma's George Blundell.

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ROUND 5: FLYING FINN ANTTI BAGS HIS SECOND VICTORY

• JTR’s Buri leads all the way in round five at Brands Hatch • Duratec class win goes the way of Olly Rae and Enigma

19 MAY 2012 – From pole position to chequered flag, Antti Buri made the fifth round of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain his own at Brands Hatch this evening. The Finn led from start to finish in his JTR EcoBoost Mygale, crossing the line more than two seconds clear of Jamun Racing’s Luke Williams to become the first driver this season to claim a second win. A hugely entertaining battle in the Duratec division saw a popular maiden class win for Enigma Motorsport’s young Australian, Olly Rae. It was the first properly dry race of the short Formula Ford season, and Buri was more than pleased to take to the track with no guesswork as to settings and the level of grip he would encounter. Antti made a superb start to outdrag Williams away from the line and did not put a wheel wrong throughout the 23 laps, even though Williams was an ever-present threat in his mirrors. “I made a good start and managed to stay ahead from the lights to the chequered flag,” said a delighted Buri. “I had good pace and the car was perfect; it was all about controlling the gap. No problems at all and a good, dry race… finally.” Williams, who spun out of second place in yesterday’s Brands Hatch race, was pleased to get to the finish without mishap. “I got a good start and was able to hold on to Antti’s pace at the start, but then later when we hit traffic I got stuck a little. Then the tyres started to go away, and that’s something I need to work on,” said the Sowerby driver. Yesterday’s winner, Eric Lichtenstein, was well in touch with the leaders in third spot until lap 16, when mechanical problems intervened; the Argentinian slowed and slipped down the order before a disappointing last-lap call to the pits and retirement. That handed the final podium slot to Jake Cook, who started P5 and who struggled to find a way past JTR’s Cavan Corcoran until the 10th lap. “My qualifying was the problem,” said the Rotherham-based Jamun Racing man. “I was reeling in Antti and Luke towards the end but the gap was too big to bridge.” With Corcoran another pit visitor with technical problems, fourth place – and top Rookie slot – went the way of JTR’s Ecuadorian 16-year-old Julio Moreno, with Fred Martin-Dye fifth for Enigma. Fred and Ryan Cullen were both delayed by a first-lap collision which is the subject of an inquiry by race stewards; Cullen brought his Cullen Motorsport EcoBoost Mygale home 11th overall and sixth in class.

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The Duratec class battle saw a four-way dice for supremacy between veteran Jason Down (Getem), who led initially, Friday’s class winner Fabian Welter (Rendez-Vous Racing), Abdul Ahmed (Don Hardman Automotive) and Rae. Welter edged in front on the second lap but Rae was the man on the move, slicing past both Down and Ahmed on lap six to latch on to his Mexican rival’s tail. Three laps later the Australian found a way past, and he held on in front for the duration to claim the first win of his brief but promising track career. “I had a few problems,” said Olly. “I kept locking up the rear through Druids and I was struggling with the gears a bit, but I had good pace and I was lucky with the backmarkers.” Welter came home second to maintain his overall Duratec points lead. “I was fast in the beginning,” said Fabian, “but as the race wore on I started to lose some traction. It was a very tough race – congratulations to Olly, he drove a good race.” Non-scoring guest driver Down was third for the class podium, with Ahmed encouragingly close behind to record his first finish of the season. Matt Rao, George Blundell and Alex Drabble completed the Duratec class finishing order.

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ROUND 6: ERIC ON THE DOUBLE AT BRANDS HATCH

• Jamun Racing’s Lichtenstein takes his second win of the weekend • Fabian Welter claims his fourth Duratec class victory of the season

21 MAY 2012 – A drama-filled sixth round of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain brought the curtain down on a great weekend of racing at Brands Hatch for the new-generation EcoBoost-powered Formula Fords. Jamun Racing’s Argentinian driver Eric Lichtenstein took the overall win yesterday to make it two from three races at Brands, with Mexico’s Fabian Welter claiming another Duratec class win to increase his points lead. Lichtenstein assumed command of the race at the Druids hairpin on the opening lap after a clash of wheels with his team-mate and pole-position man Luke Williams as they disputed the lead. Eric had the inside line for the corner and held on to take the lead while Luke skittered off and through the gravel trap, rejoining well down the order. Jake Cook held second on the opening lap, just ahead of championship leader Antti Buri. Next time around, it was their turn to make contact, this time through Graham Hill Bend as they hit what appeared to be a patch of oil. “It was covered in oil,” said JTR man Antti. “At first I thought Jake had a puncture – he went sideways – and the next thing I’m on the oil and I went in to him.” Buri’s car mounted the back of Cook’s and both were delayed, Jake falling to third behind Melroy Heemskerk’s GEVA Racing car and Buri slipping back to seventh, with slightly deranged steering. This kerfuffle gave Lichtenstein a useful breathing space and he was quick to make the most of it, pulling a lead of three seconds over Heemskerk within half a dozen laps. Cook was in the wars again before long, slowing dramatically with mechanical problems which eventually forced him to the pits for investigation. Buri meanwhile steadily climbed his way back through the EcoBoost pack, displacing both Cavan Corcoran and Heemskerk on lap nine, taking advantage of both of them around the outside of Druids, to move back into second spot. Antti then tried his best to narrow the gap to Lichtenstein but had to settle for second. Eric was delighted with his second win of the weekend: “The car was superb, really very good. We had a problem yesterday but we fixed that, and I am really pleased for my sponsor, Velocidad, who have given me this opportunity.” Heemskerk and Corcoran staged a mighty duel for third place for much of the race, with Cavan nabbing the final podium slot for JTR two laps from home; it was his first top-three finish of the season. “I hit the oil as well,” said Corcoran, “and hit the back of someone, which bent the steering arm a bit and the handling was off, so I’m really happy to have got a podium.”

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Williams staged a dogged comeback from his lap-one dramas to come home fifth for Jamun racing, ahead of Enigma man Fred Martin-Dye and JTR’s Julio Moreno. Cook finished eighth in class, albeit several laps in arrears after his pit stop. Ryan Cullen was the only EcoBoost non-finisher, the Somerset man spinning out after 15 laps. Welter’s win in the Duratec class was a lucky one, even though he led from start to finish. “In the middle of the race the exhaust broke,” said Fabian. “I don’t know what happened, but we lost a bit of power and that meant I had to be on the limit at every turn, and that hurt the tyres. It feels very good to be on top of the podium again.” Abdul Ahmed, who commutes from his job as an aerospace engineer in the USA to go racing in England, saw his commitment pay off at Brands today, the Don Hardman Automotive Ray driver getting the better of a long battle with Fluid Van Diemen man Matt Rao to claim class second. “It’s been a rough start to the season for me,” said Abdul. “I didn’t finish the first four races, so to finally get on the podium… it helps.” George Blundell brought his Enigma Mygale home fourth in class behind Rao, with Alex Drabble fifth for Fluid ahead of Saturday class victor Olly Rae, who was delayed by a first-lap collision with Jason Down, possibly also as a result of the dropped oil, and Charles Anti. With a win and two seconds from the three Brands Hatch rounds, Antti Buri enjoyed a good weekend in terms of his championship hopes and carries a 36-point lead to Rockingham in three weeks time.

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ROUND 7: WIN NUMBER 3 FOR BURI AT THE ROCK

• Antti leads from pole to chequered flag for JTR • Matt Rao claims Duratec class victory for Fluid

9 JUNE 2012 – ’s Antti Buri kept his wheels clean to take his third victory of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain season today at Rockingham, while several of his rivals fell foul of rigidly enforced rules aimed at stamping out sloppy driving. Buri’s win ahead of his JTR team-mate Cavan Corcoran gives the Mygale EcoBoost driver an extended overall points lead. Buri led from pole position to chequered flag but was pressured hard for much of the race by Jamun drivers Luke Williams and Eric Lichtenstein. Sowerby driver Williams made a brilliant start from fourth on the grid to slot ahead of his team-mates Jake Cook and Lichtenstein for second as the pack stormed around the banking and into the Deene hairpin, and Luke survived a big lock up through Tarzan to hold station. Indeed Williams held on to second spot, less than a second from Buri’s tail, until lap 10, when a charging Lichtenstein profited from an error by Williams. Unbeknown to Luke, Lichtenstein had already been handed a five-second penalty for exceeding the track limits. Regrettably, Argentinian Eric then erred again and was ordered into the pits for a drive- through penalty; he didn’t take it and was excluded from the results; he would have finished second. “I’m so disappointed with the result,” said Eric. “I didn’t even know I was disqualified until I stopped in parc ferme and my mechanic told me. I saw the flags and the drive-through sign but I didn’t realise they were for me so it was an honest mistake. I was pushing so hard because we’re a step behind JTR in speed this weekend so I couldn’t help running wide once or twice.” Williams was also given a five-second penalty for a similar offence but it did not affect his position – Luke had already ceded what would become second to Corcoran, the Matlock man achieving his best-yet result in the championship. Buri’s win was uncontroversial, however. “The car was great but the race was pretty tough,” he said. “I got a decent start but Luke was all over me. I clipped a tyre stack at the Pif Paff chicane on the left-hand side but luckily it didn’t do any damage. I didn’t get that much heat into my tyres on the warm-up lap so I didn’t have the pace I’d like in the early stages but once the tyres warmed the car felt great. I’m really confident for this weekend.”

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Added Williams: “To be on the podium is amazing considering the amount of problems I had. When Antti clipped the tyres I was right behind him and they hit my front-left and knocked a wheel weight out so I had a really bad balance with the handling. I then ran wide at Turn One and clipped the wall, which dented my rear-right wishbone. I had no idea I had a penalty too. It shows that persistence can pay off.” Julio Moreno placed fourth, despite a 5s penalty, to make it three JTR cars in the top four, with Ryan Cullen fifth in his Cullen Motorsport Mygale, ahead of the Enigma machine of Fred Martin-Dye. Cook’s car stopped with an apparent electrical problem after four laps. In the Duratec class, points leader Fabian Welter led for seven of the 13 laps but started to fade thereafter, along with his tyres, which allowed Fluid Van Diemen driver Matt Rao, who had been shadowing the Mexican throughout, to find a way past to claim his first class victory of the season. Welter was passed also by championship debutant James Hammond, driving a Race Car Consultants-prepared Mygale, the Shepshed man making an impression with his first taste of Duratec power. Welter slipped back to third but was able to keep out of the clutches – despite being another to attract a 5s penalty – of Fluid’s Alex Drabble. George Blundell and Olly Rae completed the Duratec finishers, the latter losing time with a spin on the seventh lap.

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ROUNDS 8 & 9: ANTTI UPS THE ANTE AT ROCKINGHAM

• Buri completes a hat-trick of EcoBoost wins for JTR • Fabian Welter & Olly Rae secure Duratec honours

10 JUNE 2012 – The Rockingham circuit is the JTR team’s local track and the squad used home advantage to full effect today to help Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain points leader Antti Buri to another two wins to complete a hat-trick of EcoBoost victories for the Finn. In the ever-competitive Duratec class, there were wins today for ’s Olly Rae and the Enigma team and for RVR’s Mexican driver Fabian Welter. Round 8 Buri’s second win of the weekend was as flawless as his first, the Finnish JTR man leading from pole to chequered flag and resisting race-long pressure from a determined Jake Cook, the Rotherham racer determined to make up for his Saturday DNF. Luke Williams made another rocketship start in his Jamun Mygale to slot into second past team-mate Cook at the lights, but Jake managed to regain the upper hand on lap two. Thereafter Williams faltered, falling into the clutches of Jamun’s third man, Eric Lichtenstein, on lap five. Cook posted fastest lap of the race on his fourth tour in pursuit of Buri, and the gap never increased much beyond 1.5s, but catching and passing was not on for Jake. “After yesterday second place is a good result. We changed the car’s ECU overnight and it seems to have corrected the problem but something still isn’t right with the car. We’re giving away a lot of speed on the straights so I was having to brake so late to try to catch Anti back up. I knackered my tyres in the middle sector trying to catch him so I was never likely to get past.” Buri’s fourth win of the season was summed up by the Finn: “My start was great and the tyres came in quickly this time. I knew Jake was closing on me as the race wore on but I knew I had the pace on the straights when I needed it. He was catching me in the twisty bits but I would get away on the straights. That made it quite comfortable.” Lichtenstein’s third place was the Argentinian driver’s fourth podium finish of the season. “I found it tough at the start to get past Luke and by the time I made it by the leading two were long gone,” he said. “It feels like Antti and JTR are playing with us this weekend because we’re way off their pace and we need to do some work to find out why and catch up.” Williams put up a spirited defence against attack from Cavan Corcoran to secure fourth, with Fred Martin-Dye following Corcoran home for sixth, ahead of Ryan Cullen’s Cullen Motorsport car and Julio Moreno for JTR.

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There was a superb battle for Duratec class honours for the duration. Class points leader Fabian Welter led the way in his Rendez-Vous Racing Mygale for three laps before Saturday Duratec winner Matt Rao found a way ahead. But Rao’s lead was shortlived: the -domiciled Brit spun to the back next lap, allowing Olly Rae to take over in front, the Australian Enigma driver having meanwhile overtaken Welter. Fabian fell into the clutches of George Blundell three laps from home and had to settle for third as Enigma man George claimed his best-yet result. “The race was incredibly close because it’s so competitive in the Duratec class,” said Rae. “The track temperature was quite high too, which meant there was a lot of grip so the car was very physical to drive. It was a question of endurance.” Round 9 Buri continued his hot streak by completing his hat trick at Rockingham, but the Finn never had things his own way. The final outing of the weekend was perhaps Buri’s most testing, but mechanical issues gradually eliminated his challengers and left the JTR driver to make history as the first driver in the EcoBoost era to record three consecutive wins. Buri again lined up on pole and got a flying start when the lights went out. Behind him the pack bunched tightly as they ran through turn one, with Corcoran getting the jump on Williams, Lichtenstein and Cook. The order was shuffled into Deene Hairpin for the first time, however, as a brave lunge around the outside from Lichtenstein meant he emerged as Buri’s main rival, ahead of Cook and Williams. The race was disrupted on lap two when Julio Moreno clouted the tyre wall at Deene while fighting over fifth with Fred Martin-Dye. The impact lodged the JTR Mygale into the tyres and a brief safety car period was required while it was extracted. The caution period eroded Buri’s lead and left him with a problem. “I didn’t push hard enough behind the safety car so my tyres had gone cold on the restart and I was sliding about all over the place,” said Antti. As he slipped out of the final chicane to lead over the line Lichtenstein closed in to pressure the leader. It paid off, too, as Buri ran wide into the Brook Chicane and Lichtenstein grasped the lead. The move signalled the oddly rare event that a Jamun car headed the field at Rockingham. But it wasn’t to last: Lichtenstein lost momentum out of the Brook Chicane on lap eight and Buri again used the straight-line advantage of the JTR set-up to breeze past and resume the lead into turn one. Buri’s task of staying ahead was beginning to look tough but problems soon hit his rivals. Williams was the first to drop out, with suspected gearbox problems, from fourth. Then Lichtenstein snapped his throttle pedal out of Brook Chicane on lap nine and crawled to a halt along the pit lane.

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The main beneficiary was Cook, but he had to be sharp to avoid the slowing Lichtenstein. “He just suddenly lost power in front of me on to the banking and I was flat on the throttle,” said Cook. “I had to swerve pretty hard to avoid running into the back of him.” The evasive action also aided Buri, who crossed the line with a 2.6s advantage. “It’s been a perfect weekend in terms of the championship and way beyond our expectations,” said Buri, who now holds a comfortable points cushion. “Things were tough with Eric because he pushed me hard so I was quite glad to see him drop away from my mirrors. It certainly took the pressure off and from then on I could relax and enjoy the drive. The team gave me a superb car and we’re starting to show our potential.” Cook took second and the high attrition rate handed Corcoran the final podium place ahead of Martin-Dye and Cullen. “Two second places are great for the championship but I’m concerned at the gap JTR had on us this weekend,” said Cook. “I pushed as hard as I could but Antti was just too far gone.” The Duratec class provided one of the highlights of the season, with Welter fighting back from the rear of the pack to steal a last-gasp victory. Welter got a terrible start to his race when he spun out of the four-car fight for the lead at Chapman Curve. “I thought that was it when I lost the back end,” he said. “I was almost a lap down when I got going.” Welter’s fight-back was aided by the safety car. He managed to recover to latch on to the rear of the train and made quick progress following the restart. Rao and Rae contested the lead of the class for much of the race but Rae misjudged his restart and passed Rao before the start-finish line when racing resumed. That earned him a drive-through penalty and ruined his chances of repeating his earlier class success. Rao was then a casualty of mechanical gremlins and pulled into the pits shortly after. That handed Welter the chance he needed and he swept into the lead again ahead of Alex Drabble with a lap to spare. “It’s amazing to think that a handful of laps ago I was stone last so to win is very special,” he said. “I kept seeing warning flags for the guys ahead of me so I thought I maybe had a chance for the podium but I just kept going and the race came to me.”

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ROUND 10: LAST-LAP DRAMA FOR BRANDS WINNER BURI

• Antti nearly loses EcoBoost victory number six • Bart van Os claims the EuroCup Duratec victory honours

23 JUNE 2012 – Antti Buri’s sixth win of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford season might look straightforward on the results sheet – the Finn led at the end of every lap – but the statistics do not reveal the drama which nearly cost him victory. For JTR EcoBoost Mygale driver Buri lost the lead to his pursuer Luke Williams a third of the way around the final lap, and regained control of the race only when Williams struck problems of his own. Up to the 12th and last lap, Buri appeared in complete control, making a perfect start from pole position and managing a gap between himself and Williams of around 2.5s. But then it all went wrong at Graham Hill Bend: “The throttle stuck,” said Antti, “and I went over the grass… Luke passed me, and I took the inside line at the next corner, got the better exit and managed to get in front of him again. Crazy!” Williams was powerless to respond, due to a sudden decrease in his car’s straight-line speed. “I got past him when he went off but there was nothing I could do to stop him coming past me again,” said Luke. “Really, I am just pleased to finish…” Williams had endured a torrid time in testing yesterday, blowing a clutch and an engine. There were more problems in qualifying with his fresh engine’s turbocharger, and the Sowerby driver did well to claim second on the grid after only half a dozen laps. A brief early battle with his Jamun team-mate Jake Cook was brought to an end with Cook’s demise through throttle problems, after which Luke posted a succession of fastest laps in his pursuit of Buri. Cavan Corcoran was third for JTR. “I got a good start and was behind Luke and Jake, but something was leaking from Jake’s car so I was sliding all over the place and lost a lot of ground.” The Matlock driver finished well ahead of the only other EcoBoost finisher, his team-mate Julio Moreno. Jamun’s Eric Lichtenstein lost his clutch at the start and joined Cook in retirement, while Ryan Cullen and Fred Martin-Dye went out together in a first-lap collision. The race was also the first of the season’s Formula Ford EuroCup rounds, with a number of Duratec drivers from the Benelux championship joining the regulars. GEVA’S Bart van Os and 16-year-old Jos Kiekens duelled all the way to the 10th lap for class honours until Kiekens’ Provily Racing Mygale suffered a misfire and he slipped to third behind GEVA’s 16- year-old driver Max van Splunteren.

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British Duratec class points leader Fabian Welter endured a disastrous opening lap, slipping to dead last in his Rendez-Vous Racing Mygale. It took the Mexican six laps to climb back through the order and into position behind Olly Rae’s Enigma Mygale, and then all the way to the final lap to find a way past the Australian for his sixth category win of the season, and eighth overall behind Kiekens. Rae was two-tenths behind at the line for class second, ahead of guest driver James Hammond’s race Car Consultants Mygale, Matt Rao in the Fluid Van Diemen, the Enigma Mygale of George Blundell and Don Hardman Automotive Ray pilot Abdul Ahmed. Alex Drabble’s Fluid Van Diemen exited the race on the final lap.

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ROUNDS 11 & 12: BURI COMPLETES A BRANDS HATCH HAT-TRICK

• Wins number seven and eight for Antti and JTR • Buri and Jos Kiekens lift the Brands Hatch EuroCup trophies

24 JUNE 2012 – The Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain reached the half-way mark at Brands Hatch today, with Finland’s Antti Buri collecting another pair of wins to give him and the JTR team a clean sweep of the EcoBoost class at Brands and to bring his seasonal tally to eight wins from 12 races. Buri also took home the EcoBoost EuroCup trophy from what was the first Formula Ford EuroCup meeting of the season, with 16-year-old Dutch driver Jos Kiekens securing the Duratec EuroCup trophy. Round 11 Buri’s seventh win of the season was a faultless display from the 23-year-old, who led from pole position to chequered flag and was never threatened by his pursuers – chiefly because they were busy disputing second place among themselves and handed Antti a clear run to the flag. The three protagonists for the podium’s second step were Jamun Racing trio Luke Williams, Eric Lichtenstein and Jake Cook, who lined up on the grid in that order behind JTR’s pole man. Lichtenstein, who yesterday was unable to start after frying his clutch, endured pre- start problems again but managed to get away cleanly behind Williams, passing Luke on the second lap on one of the Grand Prix straights. Williams shadowed the Argentinian for eight laps, breaking his own lap record along the way, before misjudging a passing manoeuvre at Clearways and spinning off into the gravel. The prior lap, Lichtenstein had narrowed Buri’s lead to 1.8s but after the incident with Williams lost more than half a second and, with only three laps remaining, had little hope of re-catching the Finn. “No dramas today,” said Buri, “other than a bit of oil around the track, which made things tricky. I had a plan today that I wouldn’t look in my mirrors, and that’s what I did!” Added Lichtenstein: “I had no clutch at all. Yesterday I could not start but today I managed to do it. The incident with Luke, he went inside me… It was too much, and he went off. Luckily he did not hit me.” Cook kept a watching brief on the Lichtenstein/Williams battle but slipped back towards the end after, he thought, deranging his suspension on a kerb. Buri was 1.4s ahead of Lichtenstein at the line and Cook a further 5s adrift.

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There was a four-way battle for much of the race between the other EcoBoost men, with Enigma’s Fred Martin-Dye holding off a determined-looking Cavan Corcoran to take fourth, with Ecuadorian 16-year-old Julio Moreno sixth, still nursing a sore wrist after his Rockingham shunt of a fortnight ago. Ryan Cullen was on for at least seventh but was forced to the pits with mechanical dramas two laps from the end. The race provided a typically close battle among the Duratec-engined cars from the Benelux championship. Veteran Michel Florie and his Provily Racing team-mate Jos Kiekens, 16, battled brilliantly in the late stages, the youngster getting the advantage on the seventh lap to take the class win. Saturday class winner Bart van Os had led initially before stopping on the seventh lap. Another Dutch 16-year-old, GEVA’s Max van Splunteren, claimed third in class. In the British Duratec division, points leader Fabian Welter led all the way for Rendez-Vous Racing, with Fluid’s Matt Rao moving into second spot after the third-lap demise of Enigma man Olly Rae. Transatlantic commuter Abdul Ahmed was third for Don Hardman Racing after a brief period ahead of Rao. Completing the field were George Blundell (Enigma) and James Hammond (Race Car Consultants), the latter surviving a lurid last-corner moment.

Round 12 Buri extended his winning streak to six in a row in dominant fashion after controlling the final outing at Brands Hatch, snatching EuroCup glory in the process. He got a great start when the lights went out to spring into the lead into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time, and looked in control from then on. Lichtenstein was his closest rival and managed to match the Finn’s pace during the early stages until Buri got the hammer down. “We’ve been struggling with tyre wear during the later stages of the races so I was just maintaining a pace,” said Buri. “I was looking after the fronts particularly as they were wearing badly but I had much better grip during the middle stages.” It showed, too. Buri managed to gap Lichtenstein by a tenth a lap to extend his advantage to over two seconds before his JTR Mygale began to suffer the dreaded understeer. “I think I pushed too hard and I couldn’t get the front turned in,” he said. “I looked in my mirrors and suddenly Eric was right there.” Lichtenstein chewed into Buri’s lead by seven tenths on the final lap alone, but it was too late and he trailed the winner by 0.7s at the flag. “My car is great when we can finish the race,” he said. “We’ve had so many reliability problems recently with silly little things that it’s nice to show our true pace for once. We’re still not there with JTR but we will be once we solve the problems.”

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Behind the leading two the battle of the race unfolded for third. Jake Cook occupied the place early on ahead of Fred Martin-Dye, Julio Moreno and Luke Williams. Williams got a great getaway, having started a disappointing 13th after completing only six laps during qualifying due to mechanical issues. He vaulted past the Duratec runners off the line and was soon chasing Moreno. Luke got things wrong into Paddock on lap three, running wide through the gravel but rejoining still on the tail of his rival. He dispatched Moreno a lap later and latched on to Martin-Dye. The fight allowed Cavan Corcoran to close in and the three ran together into Paddock on lap eight when the main flashpoint occurred. Williams got a good run on Martin- Dye but misjudged his drafting distance and dislodged his nosecone on the Enigma car’s gearbox. To avoid more damage Williams jinked left, but Corcoran was already there, eyeing a move around the outside of the corner. Corcoran caught Williams’s left-rear Dunlop and his car was catapulted into the air, skipping across the gravel before clouting the tyres hard. Fortunately Corcoran emerged unscathed. Things were not yet over. Williams lined up a move on Martin-Dye into Westfield but Martin- Dye tried to turn in, the two clashed and both hit the gravel. Williams kept his foot in and emerged in fifth, but it was game over for Martin-Dye. Moreno, now a safe fourth, was on the cusp of scoring his fist podium, and his dream came true when Cook ran off the road into Sheene Curve and dropped behind. Jake recovered to pressure Moreno, but spun on the exit of Druids to end his challenge. “It was such a tough race,” said Moreno. “There were cars and battles everywhere. It’s my first podium and boy was I made to work for it. Hopefully we can move forward from here.” The battle for the Duratec honours was even more closely fought. The Dutch contingent of Michel Florie, Jos Kiekens, Bart van Os and Max van Splunteren were inseparable all race. Florie led for the opening lap before Kiekens established himself at the head of the group. Kiekens used the clean air to pull an early gap on his rivals but van Os wasn’t to be denied and used a strong draft up Hawthorn Hill to jink into the lead at the apex of the next corner, but Kiekens and van Splunteren were constant shadows. Van Splunteren’s race unfolded slightly when his second gear gave up into Druids with four laps remaining and he slipped back after running through the gravel at Paddock Hill. “The race was crazy,” said van Os after claiming the win. “Every time I looked in my mirrors there was someone either side of me. Once I got ahead I just tried to get my lines right as it’s tough to overtake around here if you put your car in the right places.” Fabian Welter upheld British championship honours ahead of Matt Rao, Abdul Ahmed, Gavin Halls and Alex Drabble. It was Welter’s eighth class win of the season, and his fourth on the trot, and it gives the young Mexican a healthy points lead as the championship takes its summer pause.

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EUROCUP SPA: TANDY DECLARED THE WINNER

• First-lap crash mars opening EuroCup race • Lasse Sorensen claims Duratec class honours

6 JULY 2012 – Nick Tandy won an accident-hit and truncated opening race in the Formula Ford EuroCup’s Belgian weekend at Spa-Francorchamps this afternoon, but there was little joy in the returning hero’s victory A first-lap accident approaching the Fagnes S-bend accounted for five cars. Two drivers were hurt in the incident, 16-year-old Dutchman Jos Kiekens, who suffered a leg fracture, and George Blundell, who broke a toe. Kiekens was airlifted to hospital in Liege where he underwent an operation, which was pronounced a success. Blundell was treated locally for his injury. Also eliminated from the race with car damage were ’s Nicolai Sylvest and British drivers Matt Rao and Ryan Cullen. The safety car was called on track immediately and picked up leader Tandy before the end of the first lap. Three laps were completed under race-neutral conditions before the decision was taken to bring the event to a premature close.

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EUROCUP SPA: TANDY SETS A SEARING PACE

• Formula Ford returnee leads second race from pole to chequered flag • Bart van Os the Duratec victor after red flag halts play

7 JULY 2012 – Nick Tandy scored his second win of the Spa Formula Ford EuroCup weekend this morning, the JTR Mygale EcoBoost driver claiming a 1.6s victory over Jamun Racing’s Eric Lichtenstein. But once again the race ended prematurely after an accident; had it run to full distance the result might have been a different one. Tandy set off like a scalded cat from pole position, completing the opening lap 3.2s in front of the pack. It was not just that Tandy had the hammer down, but also that the pursuing Jamun cars of Lichtenstein, Cook and Williams were delayed into La Source. “Jake couldn’t get first gear at the start,” explained Williams, “so going into the first corner he held us all up and Nick was gone.” On the second lap Cook slipped to a distant fourth after an error at the Bus Stop. “Eric towed past me on the straight but when I tried to do the same again my car wouldn’t do it. We will have to investigate the data to find out why,” said Jake. “Then I tried to outbrake him at the chicane and went straight on, and that dropped me back, and once you have lost the tow here there is not much you can do.” Lichtenstein and Williams worked well together to try to reel in Tandy. By lap four Nick’s advantage was down to 1.6s and a form book upset looked a possibility. “I pushed too hard at the start and the tyres dropped off a bit,” admitted the pro Porsche racer. Tandy was saved from embarrassment by the red flag, which flew when Ryan Cullen – at the wheel of a borrowed EcoBoost car following his Friday race crash – touched wheels with Dutch Duratec runner Michel Florie and Ryan hit the old pit straight wall, his car coming to rest in the middle of the track. Neither driver was hurt in the incident. Thus the results were declared after six laps, with Tandy in front from Lichtenstein and Williams, Cook fourth and JTR’s Julio Moreno fifth. “The car was good; perhaps I’ll go a bit easier at the start in the next one,” said the winner, adding: “I have really enjoyed racing the EcoBoost at Spa. It’s still a driver’s car and yet it has all the latest technology and a really strong engine, and it’s still great racing – that’s the thing. And it’s a whole lot of fun around here.” Lichtenstein was disappointed that the race ended when it did: “We were working together to catch Nick, and the red flag really upset our plan. We were gaining on him a lot.” Added Williams: “We spoke before the race about towing each other but our problem was that after the first lap he was so far away. We closed him down quite quickly towards the end but we just didn’t have enough time.”

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The battle for Duratec honours was intense and exciting throughout, with Florie, Bart van Os and Max van Splunteren all taking turns up front. GEVA Racing’s van Os had just nosed ahead by the end of the sixth lap and thus took the class. “It was a very good race but very difficult,” said Bart. “We were overtaking the whole time; first I would lead then Michel, then Max… What ended the battle was the crash on the hill down from La Source; I don’t know what happened because it was all just behind me.” Van Splunteren added: “It happened just in front of me: two cars touched and the turbo car went into the guardrail. I had to brake hard to miss it and avoid going into the wall also.” Under Dutch championship rules the results awarded Florie class second from van Splunteren, with Falco Wauer fourth for Enigma Motorsport.

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EUROCUP SPA: TANDY HAT-TRICK NICKS EUROCUP TITLE

• Race win number three for Nick Tandy and JTR • Michel Florie races rebuilt car to Duratec race three honours

7 JULY 2012 – Nick Tandy was crowned Formula Ford EuroCup Champion of Spa- Francorchamps this afternoon after being made to work hard for his third race win of the weekend. Pole-sitter Tandy’s JTR EcoBoost Mygale was deprived of the lead on the opening lap by the Jamun Racing machine of Jake Cook and, though the old pro regained top spot on lap two, Cook’s team-mate Eric Lichtenstein chased him for all he was worth until technical problems blunted the Argentinian’s pace with three laps to go. Tandy had vowed not to set too strong a pace at the start, but Nick may have underestimated the challenge he would face from his Jamun pursuers. “Here there are always big slipstreaming battles and unless you can make a break it’s always going to be difficult,” he said. “I didn’t have a particularly good run out of Eau Rouge on the first lap and Jake slipstreamed past and then all the others were on me.” Tandy slipstreamed past Cook to regain top spot down the Kemmel straight on lap two, now with Lichtenstein gunning for him. Jake slipped back: “I got a really good start and then passed Eric at Eau Rouge on the first lap because he made a mistake. Then I made one next time around which dropped me back to fourth.” The Tandy v Lichtenstein battle raged until lap five, when Eric started to slow with engine gremlins. Said Nick: “I had a really good race with Eric – he was driving really well, forceful but very fair. He was really pushing hard and I had to work for it. After he disappeared it was plain sailing and another win for JTR.” Luke Williams had been running third behind Lichtenstein but suffered his own engine problems on lap five and was forced to retire. “I nearly went off on Luke’s oil when he had his problem and my temperature gauge started to rise so I had to back off a bit,” said Cook, who crossed the line 8.6s behind Tandy. Lichtenstein continued to circulate slowly, his and Williams’ problems promoting JTR’s teenager Julio Moreno to third. The Ecuadorian was delighted with his first Formula Ford podium: “It was tricky. This is my first time here, so I needed to learn the track. Then I had a bad start – I missed a gear – but after that it was a case of trying to catch those in front.”

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Ryan Cullen finished fourth on the road in his borrowed EcoBoost Mygale, but a 10s penalty imposed by race stewards for his part in an accident in race two demoted him to eighth overall. Thus veteran Dutch Duratec racer Michel Florie claimed fourth overall and a convincing Duratec class victory for Provily Racing ahead of GEVA men Bart van Os and Max van Splunteren. Florie’s car had had to undergo major works after his race two crash with Cullen. “After the crash this morning the team had to completely rebuild the car,” said Michel, “and I had a three-month-old tyre on the left side because my original tyres were shot and I had to use the spares. The result was amazing: I wish my car was always this good! The team did an incredible job for me. I would like to dedicate this win to my team-mate Jos Kiekens, who is in hospital with a broken leg after his crash.” Lichtenstein was classified seventh ahead of Cullen, with Danish Fluid Van Diemen Duratec men Lasse Sorensen and Nicolai Sylvest completing the top 10.

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EUROCUP ZANDVOORT: FAST ERIC EARNS A HARD VICTORY

• Rain-delayed race shortened after crash involving Luke Williams • Eric Lichtenstein and Jake Cook claim a 1-2 for Jamun Racing

14 JULY 2012 – After a frustrating day of race stoppages and rain delays at Zandvoort, EcoBoost Mygale driver Eric Lichtenstein was rewarded for his patience this evening with victory for Jamun Racing in the Formula Ford EuroCup. But it was not the sort of win that the Argentinian would have liked, coming as it did after a crash which befell his team-mate, Luke Williams. Williams was rounding the Arie Luyendijk curve at the end of the second lap when he ran wide, hit a bump or an obstruction in the infield and rolled his car. Luke extricated himself from the wreckage and was taken to hospital in nearby Haarlem for precautionary checks, where he was given a clean bill of health and released. Williams’s accident inevitably brought out the safety car, which led the field in procession for a further three laps, at which point the race was halted. It was a disappointing end to a difficult day for all the Formula Ford teams who had made the trek to the . This morning’s opening race had had to be abandoned due to torrential rain after just half a lap of action. The grid was led around the Dutch seaside circuit by the safety car for two laps before being released to race moments before the rain worsened; the red flag was the only option for officials, who abandoned all track activity for a further two hours, severely impacting the timetable. Race two was dry, and Lichtenstein made an excellent start from the pole – “I think it was the best start of my life,” said the 17-year-old afterwards – to lead his other Jamun team- mate, Jake Cook, into the Tarzan corner to take control. Eric was struggling to find grip, however, despite two green flag laps: “The tyres were so cold and the track was so clean after all the rain, so I had to take it easy for a lap. Then when the tyres caught, I pushed a little more and kept it up until the safety car…” Lichtenstein was under big pressure from Cook. “Me and Eric were quite similar on pace on the first lap,” said Jake. “I had a go at him around the back, but he stayed with me and was on the inside for the next corner, so I couldn’t really go anywhere.” Williams was a fighting third when he went off, hauling his way up from fifth on the grid. JTR’s Julio Moreno was in hot pursuit; the Ecuadorian had started ninth after suffering with unfamiliarity with the track in Friday’s torrentially wet qualifying session. Moreno was lucky not to be involved in the accident. “It happened right in front of me,” said the 17-year-old, who inherited third, “and I didn’t know which way Luke was going to go. I was lucky not to hit him.”

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Dutchman Michel Florie’s demise with gearbox problems on the first safety car lap handed Duratec class victory to his countryman Bart van Os, but the GEVA Racing driver was later penalised three places for passing under yellow flags. Thus the Duratec win went the way of Provily’s Bas Schouten, who finished ahead of GEVA man Max van Splunteren and Enigma Motorsport’s Norwegian, Falco Wauer. Van Os was classified seventh. All the cars carried “Get well soon Jos” stickers as a fond wish to Jos Kiekens, the young Dutchman who broke his leg in the Spa EuroCup races and who is recuperating in hospital. Sam Roach, of Formula Ford promoter RacingLine, paid tribute to all the competitors for their sportsmanship and forbearance today: “It’s been a very difficult weekend for everyone, and this morning’s rain was unbelievably bad. To lose one race to the weather and have the second shortened due to poor Luke’s accident is a bitter blow. It’s more than pleasing that all the drivers concerns after the event were with Luke and not their own disappointments.”

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EUROCUP ZANDVOORT: RACE WIN FOR COOK, CROWN FOR LICHTENSTEIN

• Jake Cook beats his team-mate in Zandvoort thriller finale • EuroCup titles for Eric Lichtenstein and Bas Schouten

15 JULY 2012 – The Formula Ford EuroCup boys saved the best until last at Zandvoort this morning, providing a thrilling and upbeat finale to a tricky weekend beside the Dutch seaside. Jake Cook snatched a final lap victory from his Jamun Racing team-mate Eric Lichtenstein after a superb race-long battle between the two Mygale EcoBoost pilots, with Lichtenstein claiming the overall EcoBoost EuroCup crown thanks to his Saturday win and two fastest laps. In the Duratec class, Dutch veteran Michel Florie took a narrow win today over Bas Schouten, with Schouten taking the Duratec EuroCup honours for the weekend. Pole position man Cook lost his start advantage to Lichtenstein away from the line on the run down to the Tarzan right-hander, the Argentinian lighting it up from P2 to slot ahead and then establish a small advantage on the opening lap. But Cook came back at him quickly to reduce his team-mate’s lead to 0.3s by the end of lap two. Jake challenged Eric at almost every corner, but the leader was not for being passed. “Eric was braking pretty late into every corner, and the problem here is that if you try to go around the outside you can be pushed wide quite easily,” said Cook. “It’s quite easy to defend here if you position yourself right. I tried to get him pretty much every place…” It was not until the penultimate lap that Cook achieved his goal, nosing in front briefly at turn eight before Lichtenstein outbraked him to repass at the S-bend. By this stage it was beginning to rain, and both drivers started to struggle on their slick Dunlops. Going into the final lap Cook was perfectly positioned for the long right-hander at Tarzan, where Lichtenstein ran wide and opened the door for Cook to nip through on the inside. “He went wide into Tarzan – I think he outbraked himself a little bit – and I just stuck my nose in there and kept it this time,” said Jake. “It was quite tricky that last lap; the rain was heavy around the back. I really enjoyed it, it was a good race. We were really close together the whole time; it’s one of the best races we’ve had all season. Eric drove really well.” Lichtenstein, who was a tenth behind his rival at the line, was far from disappointed: “It was amazing, fighting the whole race with my team-mate. I was pushing very hard to try to take a bit of an advantage but we had a headwind so it was impossible to get away and he was right behind me all the time.

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“I had to defend the whole race and then unluckily it started to rain at the end and it was difficult to keep the car on the track. I went a little wide into turn one and he was ready to overtake me. Congratulations to Jake; we had a very good race, and I won the EuroCup and that is what counts for me. The team worked very hard for me.” Though Cook and Lichtenstein collected a win and a second apiece at Zandvoort, Eric set fastest lap in both races to outpoint Jake for the EuroCup ‘Champion of Zandvoort’ title. Some way off in third was JTR’s Julio Moreno, the Mygale EcoBoost pilot’s hopes of challenging for victory hampered by his ninth place grid slot. By the time the Ecuadorian 17- year-old had untangled himself from the Duratec class runners and made it to third, the leaders were long gone. Said Julio: “It was a good race but I started really behind the others so it was hard; before I could chase the Jamun cars I had to pass a lot of Duratecs…” Bart van Os led the Duratec Dutchmen for four laps but lost his class lead, and fourth overall, to Florie on lap five. After slipping to third in class behind Schouten on the next lap, van Os compounded his misery by spinning off at Tarzan on lap seven. Florie, who retired with gearbox problems yesterday while leading his section, crossed the line two seconds clear of Saturday class victor Schouten. “It doesn’t really make up for yesterday when a small part broke in my gearbox; as you get older it is harder to take such disappointments. But today was good and now I am looking forward to the Festival,” said Michel. Danish Fluid Van Diemen driver Nicolai Sylvest snatched sixth on the final lap, leading home Enigma’s Norwegian pilot Falco Wauer. Zetec pilot Sander Mortensen joined van Os in retirement when he hit a tyre wall on lap seven.

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ROUND 13: LICHTENSTEIN THE VICTOR IN

• Argentinian leads home Jake Cook for Jamun 1-2 • Bas Schouten claims Duratec class honours

28 JULY 2012 – Argentina’s Eric Lichtenstein scored his third win of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship GB season today, claiming victory in the first round of the series ever held in Germany. Lichtenstein seized the advantage on the opening lap of the Nürburgring race and held on in front of his Jamun Racing Mygale EcoBoost team-mate Jake Cook despite his losing turbo boost on the final lap. Eric had started from the pole but made a poor start, swamped by both Cook and championship leader Antti Buri (JTR). But Buri ran off track at turn one and Cook, hampered by a mystery lack of straightline speed, was unable to defend against Lichtenstein’s opening- lap attack. “I had a bad start,” said Lichtenstein, “and Buri went past me on the outside and Cook passed me on the inside. Antti then went straight on the first corner and I was able to overtake Jake. I think I had about 12 seconds advantage with two laps to go, and then a turbo pipe disconnected and I was running with no power. I tried to go at the best pace I could without the turbo but I was very slow; thankfully I had built a big gap.” Cook closed to within six seconds by the chequered flag. JTR’s Julio Moreno held third for five of the eight laps before running wide into turn one and ceding the final podium slot to his team-mate Cavan Corcoran. Then, on the final lap, Julio lost fourth to another JTR man, the recovering Buri, who had battled back from dead last after his spin. Ryan Cullen was the remaining EcoBoost finisher, the Somerset youngster having had to start from the back of the grid after turbo problems in qualifying and going on to suffer an early-race spin on dropped oil. The Cullen Motorsport driver placed seventh overall, just behind the first of the Duratec runners, Provily Racing’s Bas Schouten. Schouten’s team-mate Michel Florie led home a trio of Fluid Van Diemens for second in class. Matt Rao, Alex Drabble and Nicolai Sylvest completed the order.

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ROUND 14: MAIDEN WIN FOR MORENO AT THE NÜRBURGRING

• Julio takes lead two laps from home to put Ecuador on the Formula Ford map • Disasters for Eric Lichtenstein and points leader Antti Buri

29 JULY 2012 - There were highs and lows for many of the EcoBoost brigade in the second race of Formula Ford’s Nürburgring weekend, with Saturday winner Eric Lichtenstein suffering the dejection of losing an almost certain repeat victory through car problems and rookie racer Julio Moreno experiencing the delight of claiming his first racing win. Championship leader Antti Buri meanwhile endured his first non-finish of the season. Pole man Lichtenstein beat off a spirited challenge from his team-mate Jake Cook on the opening lap to take control of the race, but as Cook passed the pits for the first time he already knew victory was beyond him, with a recurrence of his earlier problem of a comparative lack of straightline speed. Buri, who had started near the back of the grid after some of his qualifying times were disallowed for not respecting track limits, had made a great start and was carving his way through the Duratec runners when there was a clash of wheels and the JTR man had to pull off with broken rear suspension before even reaching the first turn. By the sixth lap Lichtenstein was 6.1s up the road and looked set for another win as Cook, his Mygale sounding less healthy by the lap, slipped back into the clutches of the men pursuing – Moreno and Cavan Corcoran. Julio had snatched third from Cavan on the fourth lap as the latter struggled to find grip on a used set of Dunlops. The seventh tour was the decisive one: Moreno took second away from Cook just as Lichtenstein slowed with a repeat of his Saturday turbo pipe failure. “Yesterday I could manage because it was wet, but in the dry today there was no way,” said the disconsolate Argentinian. Moreno swept past him for the lead on the penultimate tour and held off a determined challenge from Cook in the early part of the lap. On the run to the flag Jake lost his second place to Cavan, and Moreno, Corcoran and Cook crossed the line in that order, separated by three seconds. “To win my first Formula Ford race is a really good feeling,” said Formula Ford’s first Ecuadorian victor. “This is the first time this year that everyone has been to a track that it new to us all. Yesterday was tricky because of the weather; today it was dry and my car was really good. All thanks to JTR for that; they did an amazing job.” A limping Lichtenstein fell behind Ryan Cullen on the last lap, to fifth, with Eric just holding off Duratec class winner Bas Schouten at the line.

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Schouten led the Duratec boys for the duration, with young Dane Nicolai Sylvest getting the better of a race-long fight with Michel Florie for class second. Fluid Van Diemen men Matt Rao and Alex Drabble finished fourth and fifth in class.

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ROUND 15: LICHTENSTEIN ON TOP AGAIN TO CLINCH EUROCUP CROWN

• Eric flies to Nürburgring win number two ahead of Antti Buri • Bas Schouten completes a Duratec hat-trick

29 JULY 2012 - Mechanically, everything went smoothly for Eric Lichtenstein in the finale, but from lap two the Jamun driver had the looming presence of championship leader Antti Buri to contend with… Buri had made a clean start this time from P10, and moved up to third on the opening lap behind pole man Lichtenstein and Cavan Corcoran. Next time around the Finn swept past his team-mate to start chasing the leader, whittling Eric’s advantage down from 1.6s on lap two to less than half a second by the penultimate tour. Buri posted three consecutive fastest laps during his pursuit. Everything looked set for a last-lap shoot-out between the two, but Buri erred out of Turn 10, running wide and giving Lichtenstein just the breathing space he needed to secure his second win of the weekend and the Nürburgring EuroCup trophy. “That makes up for this morning,” said Eric. “Antti is so often out in front it’s nice to see him in my mirrors one time. I had good pace today and it was just a case of not making any mistakes and keeping it going to the end.” “Nearly…” said Buri. “I made a mistake on the last lap, but I am not sure that I could have taken him anyway. It’s a big disadvantage starting from 10th.” Corcoran slipped to fourth behind Moreno on lap two and played a waiting game, preserving his very worn tyres for a last-lap challenge. Cavan left it as late as he dared, lunging through for third at the chicane to wrest the final podium place from his JTR running mate Julio. Ryan Cullen completed a solid weekend of results with fifth. Jake Cook paid the penalty for an optimistic start with a drive-through, recovering from last after making his pit call to eighth overall by the chequered flag. Bas Schouten was once again the class of the Duratec field to secure his third class win of the weekend and with it the Duratec EuroCup for the Nürburgring. But the Dutchman had company the whole race in the shape of Nicolai Sylvest, who harried him to the end and was just two-tenths adrift at the line. “My first two races were quite lonely,” said Schouten, “but I enjoyed this one a lot more. It was a good fight.” Michel Florie led home Matt Rao and Alex Drabble to complete the Duratec finishing order.

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ROUND 16: WIN NUMBER 5 FOR LICHTENSTEIN AT SNETTERTON

• Eric outfoxes Antti Buri to claim victory at the final corner • George Blundell takes a maiden Duratec win

4 AUGUST 2012 – Eric Lichtenstein snatched his fifth win of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford GB season at Snetterton this afternoon, the Argentinian 17-year-old beating not only treacherous track conditions but also championship leader Antti Buri at the final corner. The race, which got underway late after a thunderstorm, was blighted by a four-lap safety car period which left only two racing laps for Buri and Lichtenstein to settle the outcome. Buri had started from pole position in the JTR EcoBoost Mygale and made a good start with Lichtenstein’s Jamun Racing Mygale in pursuit, but the Finn saw his advantage wiped before the opening lap’s end by the arrival on track of the safety car. It was called into play after Duratec runners Alex Drabble (Fluid Van Diemen) and Abdul Ahmed (Hardman Ray) tangled at the Montreal hairpin. Their cars came to rest in awkward places and, with the circuit infield waterlogged, removing them to safety was a time- consuming matter. Buri gunned it at the restart to lead into the penultimate lap but Lichtenstein staged an opportunistic move through Nelson to nose in front. Eric then erred at Murrays and ran wide to hand top spot back to his rival for the final lap. The final corner of the race was Buri’s undoing, the JTR man making a similar mistake to Lichtenstein’s of a lap earlier. Eric pounced to retake the lead and stayed ahead by four- tenths at the line to take the win. “I just locked my brakes and went wide on to the kerbs,” said Buri. “But second is OK – all good points for the championship.” Antti leads the title race by 103 points with eight races remaining. “The track conditions were really tricky,” said a triumphant Lichtenstein. “It wasn’t really wet and not really dry. After I passed him the first time I made a mistake; the track was very difficult, it was like a river running across it and it was difficult to know when to brake. I had better pace than him and then I managed to take him on the inside. My car was great and all thanks to Jamun for a good job.” The battle for third was just as intense, Jake Cook snatching the place away from Julio Moreno on the final lap only for the Ecuadorian to repay the compliment out of Murrays to collect his third podium finish of the season for JTR. Cook placed fourth ahead of Cavan Corcoran, who lost ground on the opening lap, with Ryan Cullen close behind for sixth.

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Luke Williams, driving a borrowed chassis after his Zandvoort crash, spun from contention on the lap following the restart; he came home 11th overall and seventh in the EcoBoost class. George Blundell claimed a popular maiden win in the Duratec class, the Essex 19-year-old taking control after a superb start in his Enigma Motorsport Mygale. “I made a good start,” said George. “I was quite shocked actually because I overtook a few of the EcoBoost cars. The problem then was that I wanted them to hurry up and get away from me so I could see where I was going. After the safety car it got a bit close towards the end, but nevertheless it’s my first win and I’m very happy.” Duratec points leader Fabian Welter was 0.5s behind to take class second, ahead of Race Car Consultants driver James Hammond and Fluid Motorsport’s sole finisher, Matt Rao.

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ROUNDS 17 & 18: LICHTENSTEIN MAKES IT THREE OUT OF THREE

• Eric races to the top again at Snetterton • Duratec class wins for Welter and Drabble

5 AUGUST 2012 – Eric Lichtenstein underlined his recent run of form with another two Dunlop MSA Formula Ford GB Championship victories today at Snetterton, giving the Argentinian a hat-trick of wins at the Norfolk venue and promoting him to championship third. Heavy weather in the second of the day’s races spoiled proceedings and led to a multi-car accident from which all the drivers emerged unscathed. Round 17 Lichtenstein, having pipped Antti Buri in Saturday’s safety car-affected damp opening race, had to fight all the way to secure victory this time around. The Jamun Racing EcoBoost Mygale driver was beaten away from pole by championship leader Buri (JTR Mygale) and the duo then fought for the lead once again, shadowed early on by the impressive Cavan Corcoran, who started third. At the start of lap two Lichtenstein drew alongside Buri on the pit straight. The JTR man defended the inside line into Riches and held on, but his lead only lasted as far as Agostini, where Lichtenstein dived by to snatch the advantage. Buri stayed close for a while but a string of fast laps from Lichtenstein – and increasing tyre wear for Buri – eventually opened up a margin for the Argentinian. He duly brought the car home to win by 2.5 seconds. “Since the Nürburgring we’ve been good,” said Lichtenstein. “I’ve been working hard and now I can push for the whole race.” With closest title rival Jake Cook taking only fifth place, Buri was nevertheless happy with the runner-up spot. “I started to save the tyres because they’re easy to damage here,” he said. “The oversteer was getting worse and worse, so I backed off because we need the points.” Behind the leading duo, Corcoran started to fade in the closing stages. That allowed JTR team-mate Julio Moreno to close and Moreno had enjoyed a great dice with Cook – another Jamun versus JTR encounter – during the first few laps. Once ahead, Moreno pulled clear and started closing on the final podium place. He was almost on the tail of the black EcoBoost machine of Corcoran going on to the final lap, but couldn’t quite get close enough to make a pass. Corcoran said: “The tyres were starting to go off so I just focused ahead and on not making any mistakes.” With Jamun’s Luke Williams electing not to start the event in the EcoBoost Mygale borrowed from Geva Racing, Ryan Cullen was left to complete the top six, some way clear of the leading Duratec-engined frontrunners.

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The Fluid Motorsport Van Diemen of Matt Rao headed a four-car battle for the Duratec class lead early on. He couldn’t hold off the Rendez-Vous Racing Mygale of Fabian Welter, however, who forged ahead on lap three. In his attempts to fight back, Rao had a moment on lap seven that dropped him behind the Enigma Motorsport Mygale of George Blundell. The Briton had already overtaken the Don Hardman Ray of Abdul Ahmed and looked set for second in class. But Rao gathered himself together and closed on the Mygale. The Van Diemen overtook Blundell on the final lap, but there was no catching Welter, who took the class victory by nearly four seconds. Ahmed was not far behind Blundell in fourth, with James Hammond (Race Car Consultants Mygale) and Alex Drabble (Fluid Van Diemen) completing the Duratec top six. Round 18 The heavy rain which has blighted the championship all summer returned to plague the competitors in race three, and the conditions led directly to a severe accident with damaged several cars and brought the race to a red-flagged end. Once again it was a Buri v Lichtenstein fight at the front, with Antti leading into the first corner past pole man Eric. Lichtenstein followed Buri’s spray for three laps before making his move to take the lead crucial moments before the arrival on track of the safety car, which was called out while Cullen’s stricken car was retrieved. Ryan had spun at Montreal and been collected by Welter, the latter limping back to the pits. When the safety car peeled in after a lap controlling the race all hell broke loose on the Senna straight, with unsighted cars piling into one another and that of Cavan Corcoran rolling. No drivers were hurt in the incident, which accounted for the cars of Moreno, Corcoran, Hammond and Blundell. The result of the red-flagged race was wound back to the lap before the safety car was deployed, with Lichtenstein declared the victor from Buri and Cook. Said Lichtenstein: “It’s a disappointing way to win a race but I am satisfied with my performance for the weekend as a whole. We had the better pace throughout the weekend and we deserved three wins.” Buri now takes a 113-point championship lead into next month’s final six races, with Lichtenstein just six points behind Cook in the battle for second in the standings. The round 18 Duratec class honours went for the first time to Alex Drabble. It was a popular maiden class win for the Hampshire 20-year-old and his Fluid Motorsport Van Diemen. Drabble crossed the line after lap four in third place in class, behind the cars of Hammond and Blundell, but they both hit the debris on the finishing line and were eliminated from the race. Thus Drabble was promoted to the top step of the podium, ahead of Abdul Ahmed and Matt Rao, with class points leader Welter fourth.

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“Before the safety car I was running third and looking good to take second,” said Alex, “and although I would prefer to take first over full race distance I am happy finally to get my first visit to the top step. After a disappointing start to the weekend this was a great way to finish it and stay third in the Duratec championship as we go into the penultimate round at Silverstone GP circuit, my favourite track.”

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ROUND 19: FIFTH WIN IN A ROW FOR LICHTENSTEIN

• Eric pips championship leader Antti Buri to the line at Silverstone • Fabian Welter claims 10th Duratec class win of season

8 SEPTEMBER 2012 – Eric Lichtenstein kept alive his slim Dunlop MSA Formula Ford GB championship hopes today after holding off points leader Antti Buri in a breathless finish to the opening race of the Silverstone weekend. The grid lined up in glorious sunshine for the first race of the EcoBoost era on the Arena Grand Prix Circuit, and the title protagonists made sure that it was a thriller. Lichtenstein came to Silverstone on a hot streak, having won at the Nürburgring and all three races last time out, at Snetterton, and he was aiming to extend that run to five in a row in Northamptonshire, a task he managed by virtue of shrewd race tactics. Things looked ominous for his rivals when Lichtenstein shaded Buri for pole and the red Jamun Racing Mygale leapt away well from the front of the field. Buri made a good start also and looked to the inside into Copse, but Lichtenstein saw it coming and covered the line into Becketts. Silverstone’s long straights helped make the race close, with drivers able to benefit greatly from a tow behind an opponent. Buri knew he had a chance if he could get close enough to the Argentinian, and he slipstreamed past to lead into Stowe. Buri pressed hard to try to pull a gap but Lichtenstein stuck in his wheeltracks and closed him down when Buri was too eager on the throttle through Brooklands on lap two. That helped Lichtenstein this time to pick up the slipstream and retake the lead. The lead pair’s repeated drafting helped them edge clear of the chasing pack, and soon the pair were circulating five seconds ahead of their challengers, but barely ever a car length away from each other. Lichtenstein grabbed the decisive edge on lap five, and managed to break the tow when Buri made a mistake by running too deep into Brooklands. “I just braked too late,” said the Finn, who dropped to almost a second adrift. “I was driving within myself as I know the title is getting very close and I didn’t want to risk an accident. The car has the pace, easy, but Eric wanted this one more.” Lichtenstein took the flag half a second clear. “It was the toughest race of the season,” he said. “It’s all about the tow around here. Whenever I got in front I could see Antti catching me again on the straights, and they go on so long here. I just kept my concentration and focused on putting the car in the right places.” Behind the leaders the action was just as fraught. Luke Williams held third for the early stages until Jamun team-mate Jake Cook closed in. The pair ran side by side into Brooklands and Cook grabbed the advantage at the start of lap two after using a strong draft

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down the pit straight. But Williams wasn’t finished and nosed ahead again into Brooklands after pressuring Cook to defend into The Loop. Their fight allowed both Julio Moreno and Ryan Cullen to close in and soon the fight for third was four cars long. Williams dropped out of contention when he went straight on at Brooklands while fighting Cook. Luke managed to fight back to grab fourth ahead of Moreno, but couldn’t recatch Cook. “It was a crazy race, I had to push so hard to hold the gap at the end,” said Jake. Fabian Welter continued to impress in the Duratec class. The young Mexican took a measured victory, dominating from lights to flag. Welter qualified his Rendez-Vous Racing Mygale on class pole and sped away from his closest challengers at a rate of more than a second a lap. “I knew I had to push early to make sure nobody could get a tow on me,” he said. “The car is feeling great and I like this track. It’s fast and flowing and we’ve got the working well over a race distance.” Things were tighter behind him. Fluid Van Diemen driver Alex Drabble led the chase before he made a mistake at the start of lap two and fell back into the pack. Enigma Motorsport’s George Blundell bogged down at the start and fell to the back but soon got the hammer down and worked his way up to second. “I pushed really hard, but it’s annoying because I had the pace on Fabian,” he said. “I didn’t make the most of qualifying and then messed the start up. A better opening lap tomorrow and we could have a race on.” Drabble drove well to take third in class ahead of his Van Diemen team-mate Matt Rao, who recovered from a stall on the grid to overhaul Abdul Ahmed (Hardman Ray) on the final lap.

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ROUNDS 20 & 21: LICHTENSTEIN EXTENDS HIS WINNING STREAK

• Eric takes his ninth and 10th wins of the season as Buri falters • Fabian Welter makes it a hat-trick of Silverstone Duratec class wins

9 SEPTEMBER 2012 – The champagne will remain on ice for Antti Buri for a further three weeks following another hat-trick of race victories in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain for Eric Lichtenstein. The Argentinian EcoBoost ace followed up his Saturday Silverstone win with a further two today to keep the title fight alive a little longer. Buri followed Lichtenstein home for second place in the first of the day’s races but was sidelined in the finale by suspension problems after running off track. Ten points separate Antti from the crown – just one race finish at at the end of the month will clinch it for the JTR driver. Round 20 Lichtenstein enjoyed a pole-to-chequered flag romp in the first of today’s Silverstone races, Eric leading home Antti Buri by six-tenths at the line. Buri kept Lichtenstein close, and indeed challenged for the lead in the opening laps, but the Finn’s pace was hobbled by a sticking throttle mid-race which saw him drop four seconds behind as Eric romped away. Canny Lichtenstein throttled back towards the end to preserve his tyres for the final race of the day, allowing Antti to close back up in the closing laps, but the result was never in doubt. “It was unbelievable,” said Antti. “Maybe a stone or something got in the throttle… Then after a couple of laps the throttle came back again.” Added Lichtenstein: “It was a good race and I am very pleased. I saved the car at the end because we have another race to go today… I promise I will end that race with no tyres left!” Lichtenstein’s Jamun team-mate Jake Cook joined the leaders’ battle on laps one and two but slipped behind on lap three after a lock-up at Becketts. Then JTR’s Julio Moreno closed on to the Brit’s tail, passed him and was repassed before Julio made the move stick through Copse on the penultimate lap. Taking his fourth podium of the season, Ecuador’s Moreno said: “It was pretty tough for two laps trying to pass Jake. On this track because of the long straights it’s very hard to pull a gap, but once I got past him I pushed really hard to get away.” With Luke Williams sidelined early by gearbox woes, Cook collected fourth overall and Ryan Cullen fifth to complete the EcoBoost class finishing order.

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Rendez-Vous Racing’s Fabian Welter was once again the master of the Duratec class, leading the division from start to finish to take the flag 7.6s ahead of his closest rival, George Blundell. Blundell had lost his clutch on the startline and was lucky to get away at all; the Enigma Motorsport driver picked his way through to second in class by the fourth lap, but by then Welter was long gone. “This is a great circuit; I love it,” said Fabian after his win. “The car was really good and these are important points for me for the championship.” Third in class went the way of Don Hardman Automotive driver Abdul Ahmed after Fluid’s Alex Drabble was penalised five seconds for exceeding track limits. Drabble stayed ahead of his team-mate Matt Rao to collect fourth in class. Round 21 His gearbox problems fixed, Luke Williams took the fight to his team-mate Lichtenstein early in the final race of the Silverstone weekend, drafting past the pole man for the lead on the opening lap. Eric repaid the favour on the following lap however to regain top spot, with Buri following him through to bump Williams back to third. Lichtenstein had pulled clear by 1s by the third lap but it wasn’t enough of a gap to prevent Buri from slipstreaming back on to his tail. Antti set the fastest lap of the race in his pursuit, and narrowed the leader’s advantage to 0.3s going into the final lap. The race had claimed its first JTR casualty at Becketts on the opening lap, with Julio Moreno spinning off into a gravel trap, and then its second on the last tour, when Buri ran wide and off the track, over a bump and damaged his Mygale’s suspension. Buri’s misfortune was a rare bit of good luck for Williams, for it promoted the Sowerby racer to second place and his best finish since June. Ryan Cullen profited too, the Somerset man taking third – his first Formula Ford podium. Jamun’s other driver, Jake Cook, finished well back after suffering an intermittent electrical problem. Lichtenstein was more than pleased with his 10th win of the year and his seventh in succession: “It was a really good race for me. This track is really tricky – I was much faster than the others but every time they caught my tow they got close. It was just a case of keeping it steady and making no mistakes. What happened to Buri is what you get when you make mistakes; I think he tried to overtake me and braked too late…” Cullen said he felt relieved to get his first podium: “It’s been a while coming. I’ve had some bad luck in past weekends but I feel I really deserved this one.” Like Lichtenstein, Fabian Welter collected a hat-trick also, and again the Mexican RVR driver led the Duratec class from start to finish. As in the earlier race he was pursued by a determined George Blundell, who closed to within 1.6s by the chequered flag.

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“In the end my tyres were completely dead,” said Fabian. “On the last lap I was so slow… George was really catching me up, and I could see him coming. It feels really good to win here again; this is such a special weekend.” Matt Rao completed the podium for the Fluid Motorsport Van Diemen team: “It’s been such a tough weekend,” he said, “it’s really good to end it with a podium.” Abdul Ahmed and Alex Drabble placed fourth and fifth in class.

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ROUND 22: BURI CROWNED FORMULA FORD CHAMP AT DONINGTON

• Fifth place is enough to clinch the EcoBoost crown for Finnish driver and JTR • Eric Lichtenstein wins for the 11th time for Jamun • Fabian Welter pips George Blundell for Duratec class honours

29 SEPTEMBER 2012 – Antti Buri is the 2012 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Champion of Great Britain. With his measured drive to fifth place in today’s opening race of the three Donington Park series deciders, the 23-year-old Finn put the inaugural Formula Ford EcoBoost crown beyond the reach of any of his rivals. His season-long rival for the title, 17-year-old Eric Lichtenstein, did everything asked of him today – pole position, race win (his 11th) and fastest lap – but the Argentinian was powerless to prevent Buri’s progress to the title. Antti’s victory is the first Formula Ford championship victory for the JTR team, founded by the late and now run by his younger brother Nick, and brings to a close a seven- season winning streak for the Jamun Racing team. It’s been a long apprenticeship in Formula Ford for Buri: he started racing in the Scandinavian series in 2007 and won the Finnish Formula Ford title in 2010 and ’11. He first competed in Britain in 2009 and finished in the UK championship top six last year and the season before. His first Formula Ford win in Britain did not come along until the start of this year, when he won the opening round at Oulton Park, the first race of the EcoBoost Formula Ford era. “That was an amazing weekend,” said Antti “I think we got the car on the Wednesday before Oulton Park, had just two test days to get used to it, and then we won the first race.” A further win followed at Brands Hatch in May, and then Buri and JTR really got into their stride, winning six times in succession at Rockingham and Brands Hatch in June. “I have really enjoyed my season,” added Buri. “It has been great to work with JTR and we have had good pace all year. The start of the year, when it really mattered for the championship, was really good. “In the second half of the year I had a big lead in the championship and was thinking about scoring points and not wins. At Snetterton I lost two race wins, one from my own mistake and one because of the safety car. When I look back at my Formula Ford career, I remember we started with my father’s team, renting a car and with no experience of single- seaters. It has been a long road but a good one.”

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Antti is looking forward to a new chapter opening for him as he prepares to take up his prize for winning the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford title: an expenses-paid trip to the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a free full-day test in a USF2000 single-seater, followed by a further full-day test in a Star Mazda car, as part of Formula Ford’s valuable association with the renowned programme. The tests take place 10/11 October. “It’s going to be good, to drive a car with a lot of power and wings at Indianapolis. I would love to stay in single-seaters but it’s very expensive and difficult to be a professional driver at that level.” Buri completes his mechanical engineering studies at home in Turku this year and, with a year’s national service in the Finnish military under his belt, is looking forward to furthering his career in motorsport, behind the wheel and in the pits. Round 22 report Lichtenstein led away from pole with Buri maintaining second on the run into Redgate. Behind, Luke Williams made an excellent start from fourth on the grid to rocket past Julio Moreno before diving up the inside of Buri’s JTR machine into the Old Hairpin. Inspired from the off, Williams then attempted to challenge Lichtenstein for the lead into the chicane but tucked back in behind his Jamun team-mate before having another stab late on the brakes into Melbourne Hairpin. Williams momentarily moved ahead but almost instantly ran wide, enabling the Argentinian to reclaim the lead off the apex. On lap two Williams’ challenge faltered when car gremlins forced him to slow out of the Old Hairpin. Buri shot past into second with Moreno third, Jake Cook fourth and Cavan Corcoran fifth. Although Luke’s car spluttered back into life briefly it then ground to a halt on the run into the chicane. Although initial challenger Williams was gone, Lichtenstein couldn’t escape at the front with Buri, Cook and Moreno queuing up behind while the remaining EcoBoost cars of Corcoran and Ryan Cullen were further adrift. Into lap five, little more than a second covered the lead quartet but Lichtenstein was able to break away soon after when Cook began to apply more pressure to Buri for second, which he took with a late move on the brakes into the hairpin. Cook then had to try and keep the champion-elect at bay and, coupled with a series of fastest laps from Lichtenstein, the leader was able to press home his advantage and pull away to a seven-second winning margin. “We had a good start but there was a lot of pressure at the beginning of the race, I was trying to slow [Antti] Buri down so the others behind could catch us and then challenge him to help me try to break away,” said Lichtenstein.

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“I knew we had good pace, the car worked really well, and it’s just a shame we couldn’t win the championship, but winning another race is good. There’s the [Formula Ford] Festival next anyway so we’ll try to win that before I move on to GP3 next year.” At Coppice on lap seven Cook ran wide but was able to keep his EcoBoost ahead of Buri’s machine. However Antti fell victim to JTR team-mate Moreno into the hairpin, electing not to fight the pass up the inside knowing only too well a simple points finish was good enough to clinch the championship crown with two rounds to spare. During the closing stages Buri sensibly didn’t risk a thing and, when Corcoran closed in on lap eight, the CC Motorsport-entered racer was able to go through unchallenged; fifth place was more than enough for Buri, who slowed across the line at the end of lap 12 in celebration of achieving his season-long goal. In the Duratec Class, Rendez-Vous Racing’s Fabian Welter claimed the victory by 0.3 seconds after a tremendous battle with Enigma’s George Blundell. With little to choose between the two, the action was close and it came to something of a head on laps eight and nine. Welter, who reported significant brake issues post-race, began to struggle more and more with the stopping power of his Mygale SJ08 and after slipping behind Blundell into the ninth tour an attempt to repass on the brakes into the hairpin at the end of the lap led to contact. The Mexican continued, albeit with some damage, while Blundell was able to recover from the enforced spin and reeled off a series of sensational laps to close down a three-second deficit to almost nothing at the chequered flag on lap 12. “I’m not all that happy,” commented Welter. “George [Blundell] had very good pace and I was locking up everywhere and finding it really hard to stop the car; the steering was really heavy. That led to the contact at the hairpin, for which I’m sorry to George. We’ll try to do our best as always tomorrow and go for the wins again if we can.” The final step on the Duratec podium was claimed by Getem Racing’s Jason Down with Fluid’s Matt Rao some 25 seconds adrift in fourth in his Van Diemen – a lap two lock-up at the hairpin and subsequent excursion cost him dear. Alex Drabble did not make the race start due to mechanical problems.

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ROUND 23: COOK WINS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALE

• Jake on top after spills for Lichtenstein, Williams and champion Buri • Matt Rao pips Fabian Welter for Duratec class crown

1 OCTOBER 2012 – The Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain came to a dramatic close at Donington Park yesterday, with new champion Antti Buri denied a final chance for victory, Jake Cook returning to the top of the podium and Matt Rao securing Duratec class championship victory. Sunday had been due to see two Formula Ford races, but an over-running timetable caused by accidents in the GT1 sports car event forced the cancellation of the final races of the day; thus round 23 brought the Formula Ford season to a close. It was a thriller of a race for spectators, if not for some of the fancied runners. Late-season championship charger Eric Lichtenstein led away from the pole in his Jamun EcoBoost Mygale only for his team-mate Luke Williams to nose ahead down the back straight. Lichtenstein fought back into the Melbourne hairpin to end the first lap ahead, but locked up at the same corner next time around to give Williams the chance to repass. Alas neither man made it beyond the next corner – they came together at Goddards as their battle for the lead raged and both suffered damage which would lead to their retirement. That dropped the race into Cook’s lap, but Buri, with the championship crown already secured, had every intention of ending his season with a win. The Finn challenged Cook around the outside into Redgate on lap four to nose ahead before making a mistake and slipping back. It took JTR driver Buri a couple of laps to get back on terms with Cook, and Antti challenged again on lap seven at McLeans. Alas there was contact and Buri limped back to the pits with a damaged car. Cook was able to continue, however, and romped home to a six-second victory, his second of the British championship season. “It was eventful,” said Jake, “and probably my best race of the year. It always gets a bit fraught towards the end of the year when there is less for people to lose. I maybe didn’t have the pace of the others but I just tried to race as well as I could. Antti tried a couple of ambitious moves and we touched, but it was fair racing.” For his victory, Jake was also awarded the Muriel Tomlinson Trophy by the Donington Park Racing Association Club. With JTR’s Julio Moreno delayed on the opening lap, the battle for what became second was disputed by Ryan Cullen and Cavan Corcoran, with the latter making the decisive move into the Goddards hairpin on the 10th lap to secure the position.

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“He made a great move on me,” said Ryan, for whom it was a second podium finish of the season. “It was a good battle for the whole race; we were moving through the field, avoiding the accidents and trying not to create one of our own because it was very close. Fair play to Cavan, he drove well.” The Duratec class battle was a tense affair also, between Rendez-Vous Racing’s Fabian Welter and Enigma Motorsport driver George Blundell. Welter held the initiative for four laps before Blundell found a way through at Redgate, the Essex driver repelling an eighth-lap challenge from the Mexican at McLeans to secure his second class victory of the season. “I’m feeling much more comfortable with the car now,” said Blundell, “it’s taken a while but we’ve got there.” George ends the year as Top Rookie and wins a free entry into the 2013 championship.

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