Kieran Vernon's blog

I headed into the Formula Ford festival with a lot of hope after arranging a drive with the works Van Diemen outfit Fluid Motorsport.

This is the best opportunity I have had all year to show what i can do. It has been tough to have the status of a Rising Star and not being able to deliver the results. However we have shown this year in a car not so competitive we can still move forward and up the grid. Working with Fluid will be the best opportunity to end the season on a high and to learn a huge amount leading into 2010.

With promising speed in testing and a growing improvement heading into qualifying, I was optimistic of a good qualifying session. However a very competitive heat sae me qualify 0.3 of a second off pole position, however in 11th spot. Last year I made my debut in Formula Ford at the festival, I qualified 0.9 of a second off and I was 9th! That is how competitive it is this year.

Heat one saw me move up into 9th position. A difficult start in a new car saw me drop to 12th, however I quickly took 11th spot back. Further moving up the grid I made a move up the inside of Benson for 9th, however we made contact causing Josh to spin off into the gravel and a bent wishbone on my car, hindering any more progress up the field.

After the contact is was very difficult to hold onto the position, however it looked tough to make any further progress anyhow, as the top 8 cars where all sitting in a train. I made the move up the inside, as Josh took his line I ran out of room, just one of those incidents that are unfrotunate.

The Semi final was a very good race, with a good start making two positions, cars up the front making mistakes, with some good overtaking manouvers to end up in 5th position. This would land me 9th on the grid for the final.

We had done well to make progress in that race, I lost the lead pack when I was behind Jake Green, however once I was past I was on my own and actually catcing the leaders as they battled between them. We have put ourselves in a good position to make progress in the final.

The final a 25 lap race would be a long one. I again made good progress from the start and sat most of the race in 7th position behind Sepp Koster. I worked together with Sepp to catch the lead pack. Having caught up the lead train, I was able to make progress from the battles in front, and as Koster tried to make a move on Gary Findlay, I managed to take advantage by taking Koster through druids. The rest of the race was hindered by heavy defending from Findlay, and with Koster right behind as well, it was difficult to really focus on getting past. A slight moment on the exit of paddock saw Koster drive over the back wheel of my car, however no damage was done.

The final lap saw Finlay and I drag race to the line, with Findlay just pipping me to the line by 0.05 of a second.

I am really happy with the result in the end, a 6th place finish at the festival with such a huge and competitive entry is fantastic, and is exactly what i needed to round off te season. I have to thank Fluid Motorsport for all their hard work this weekend and the amount i have learnt from them. They have been fantastic as a team and i really enjoyed working with them. It was a shame not to beat Findlay at the end however it was tough with the pressure from behind, and i think i did the best i could have done in that situation. I am really looking forward to next year now as i have proved to myself now that i can content in this division.

The aim of the weekend now we draw to the end of the season is to ensure we finish and score points to hold second in the championship. With a non finish in the last round, it meant Fabio Gamberini has closed on us in the points, however we just need to finish behind him to stay safe. I have never really liked racing for points, however we had some incredibly close racing in both races.

Race one I had a clutch problem at the start, where the car started moving on its own as the clutch disengaged itself, the only thing i could do was stop the car, which caused the engine to stall. I moved off the grid eventually in last place, however there was a first lap shunt at Druids which brought out the safety car. I got a good restart however i got held up by the Ray infront, and was lagging a bit behind, however i managed to catch the back of the pack and started to pick them off. I managed to work my way through the Scholarship runners up to Third place, however on the way i had managed to find myself in P12 overall which is a fair result from the back. In the closing stages we caught Fabio Gamberini however there was not enough time to try and make a pass, so settling for the points behind him was good enough as that was all we needed to do.

Race two was very exciting, the whole race was a battle between the Scholarship class. Without the start issue this time, i was able to battle Gamberini and Benson for the lead of the class, however Benson and Gamberini were going hard at it and at one stage it looked as though it was going to end in tears, so i took a step back and watched it upfold, whilst holding off De Zille behind. Eventually Benson got through, and this let me challenge Gamberini, however this was very difficult whislt being attacked from De Zille also. Gamberini was defending very aggresiveley knowing he had to beat me to stand any chance of taking our postion in the championship, so i decided to sit there and let him make the mistake, which he did however he rectified it by putting me on the grass! so i decided third was good enough rather than a non finish, and a good weekend of points is all we need to ensure we stay second in the standings.

Next race is at Castle Combe on the 3rd – 4th of October.

After a promising test at Brands a few weeks before the event, we were quite confident we would be able to challenge for strong results. We were hoping to show well for the biggest crowd of the year at the DTM event, which is one I have been looking forward to all year, Brands Hatch is where I achieved my first car win in Junior Ginetta’s in 2007!

Qualifying was our usual performance, just under a second away from the pace, and P16.

Race one was a disappointment, a good start saw us leading our class at the end of lap one, however there seemed to be an electrical problem, with the car holding back momentarily out of the corners. I was slow down the straight, but was able to maintain my position for a few laps, however the problem got worse as the race went on, and I quickly started losing positions as I got driven by as if I was in my Junior Ginetta again!

To add insult to injury, Mark Harper missed his braking point going into Druids, and hit the rear of our car, damaging the rear wishbone and right Driveshaft, making the car very difficult to drive even at our slow speed! We ended up last of the runners, in 20th position.

Race two was the highlight of the year, a hard race with good pace but not quite enough to challenge for the lead of the class, made it very frustrating to watch, however I bided my time and watched Jake Green and Josh Benson battle it out. I was safe in 3rd as I was slowly dropping Dan Cammish behind.

On the Penultimate lap, I managed to get behind them, and as Josh made a move on Green into Druids, I pounced, and as Benson took Jake wide with him, I took the inside line and passed both of them, and nailed the lap of my life to pull away whilst they sorted themselves out, the last lap was the slowest ever, as we took the flag for the first time this year in the Scholarship class! It was great to stand on the podium again, especially in front of the DTM crowd!

Race three unfortunately we were cut short of making a repeat of race two. After a safety car period, I took advantage of the closed field to overtake Dan Cammish into Surtees, and then immediately after overtake Dan De Zille into Clearways, we had moved up the field well and were looking for another great result. However starting the next lap, Dan De Zille missed his braking and hit our car directly from the back, lifting the back wheels off the floor and putting me into a spin down Paddock, into the gravel and out of the race, thus bringing out another safety car. It was a disappointing way to end a weekend that had such a high point with such a low.

However we are very proud to become the first winners with a Spirit in the British Championship, and it is testimate to all of Wrensports hard work on the car, and much work to get the car out on track ever race, with our limited budget. It was great to be back on the Podium, and I hope we can make it back there next round, at Brands Hatch this time on the GP circuit.

Please check back soon on our progress!

KV

After an engine blow in the workshop and a missed test, the only track time available was Friday, running in the engine in session one, then getting to grips with the track and car is session two. Then it was straight into qualifying on Saturday.

For Qualifying, 17th on the grid was the best we could do. Race one however went well, work on the cars setup improved the car dramatically with traction out of the slow corners, and gained a lot of time respectively to the leaders, picking off the field and avoiding a first lap pile up into the abbey hairpin, 11th place was the result.

Race two was an average race, getting held up at the start, and problems with severe tyre drop off meant only 14th position, however our pace was good to run with the top 10 battle mid way through, and we had set a good time to move us up the grid for race three.

Race three started with a small incident, as Josh Benson got flicked up into the air, Jordi Cunill slowed which saw me hit him and destroy the nose cone, however the car was still ok, and we kept going. As we moved up the field taking advantages of others battles I found myself in 10th position, challenging for 9th.

However, the stewards had deemed the front of my car dangerous, as they thought the rest of the nose may fall off, and the crash structure has been damaged, they pulled me in with three quarter distance covered. It was deemed the car was safe after a check and they let me back out, however the damage had been done, I kept pushing but with such a huge gap to make up, 19th was the result.

It was a difficult weekend, a huge dent in the budget with the engine blowing up in the workshop, due to a stone caught in the Cambelt, however we made good progress with the car during the weekend, and made a good impression in race one, and race three looked even more promising until the Flag came out.

A big thanks to Wrensport for all their hard work once again!

Next Race, Brands Hatch with the DTM! Check back soon!

KV

Donington was a mixed reaction as far as the weekend went, qualifying was our best of the season in p14, with the field being so close this year even being 0.8s off the pace at Knockhill, I still lined up 17th! so 14th was good, but we thought we should have had a bit more pace in the car.

However in race one it seemed our race pace was better, with many battles throughout the race I managed to claw my way up to the top 10 and the battle for 9th, a last 3 laps dash and I managed to pass liroy Stuart out of redgate, and then Rogier De Wit into the chicane, and I took the flag in 9th position, a great result for us to be in the top 10 again.

Race two was looking even more promising, running around p10 once again, working with Fabio Gamberini to work our way up to the next pack, which also had Dan Cammish battling, so it looked like for the first time this season that the Scholarship win was within reach!

With around 3 laps to go, Patrick McKenna spun at starkys, and it caused a lot of trouble for the cars behind, Cammish, De wit and myself had to take the grass, and caused us to spin because it was wet, this in turn damaged our rear suspension as the spin was so violent at around 120mph+!

It was a real shame as from what could have been P8 and a win turned into dead last, but I just focussed on the next race to try and get another strong result, we had put a good lap time in and had qualified just outside the top 10 for race three.

Race three however it rained, and we also had a problem with repairing the suspension, with the lack of our budget meaning we can’t carry many spares, and for an odd component to bent, we had to make do with re aligning it, it made the car tricky to drive in wet conditions im not very familiar in a Formula Ford, however it was good experience to get some wet running, and we still managed to finish in 4th in our class.

The next race at Silverstone should be good, we hope to do some testing before and Silverstone is one of my favourite Venues.

After a best result of 7th at Knockhill the previous round, things were looking to be moving forward with the car and at Snetterton we were hoping for more top 10 results.

Qualifying was a struggle as we lacked a towing partner, all the teams used each other to pull a lap time out, and made it very difficult for us one car teams to get high up the grid, a result of P16 was the best we could do at 1.2 off the fastest time.

In race 1 I made a good start and made some places down the straight, but at the end of lap one I got the smallest of taps from behind in turn one which put me onto the marbles then off the road, I rejoined at the back, but luckily for me the safety car came out.

At the restart I tried to make as many positions as I could on the first green lap, by the end of the race I managed to claw my way back up to 15th, which was a good recovery however I was catching a pack of five cars in front all battling, so it seemed p10 is what could have been..

Race two I started well and had very good pace throughout the race, lapping only 0.5s of the leaders pace, which put me 11th on the grid for race three. I finished 14th however pace was looking good for race three.

Race three was a good result, we couldn’t run the big teams up front however a race long battle with Josh Hill, Gavin Halls and Fabio Gamberini made it very exciting. All of us where nose to tail for the duration of the race. I sat in p13 for most of the race, but on the last lap I managed to take advantage of Hills move on Halls, and I managed to take both of them, coming out of the esses and into the Bombhole, which gave me P11 for the finish.

The next round at Donnington Park is sure to be another strong weekends showing!

A long drive up to the Knockhill circuit in Scotland for rounds 7, 8 and 9 of the championship. A very exciting short lap which is very challenging to get right every lap, due to the cars behaviour over the drops and rises. I enjoyed success here last year in the Ginetta G20 series, so i was hoping to put up another strong showing in the spirit.

Qualifying was fantastic, and yet disappointing, with a session filled with red flags, sitting in the pit lane seemingly with nothing left to give from the car, I sat 1.2 seconds off pole position, sitting in 18th spot! A very close field here was proving very difficult to get high up on the grid even with a respectable lap time. The last two laps I did were much faster after a small but very helpful change to the car, and saw us put a lap time in which was only 0.8 seconds shy of pole position, however we still sat 17th on the grid! The top 7 covered by a tenth, proved how competitive the field is this year.

Race one was average by our standards, a hard fought race with Fabio Gamberini for 2nd place in the scholarship class was a good achievement considering where he qualified (9th) however we could not do enough to pass, so 3rd in class and 14th overall was the result.

Race two was fantastic, starting from 18th on the grid I made a good start however I got boxed in through turn one, and saw me cross the line P19 after lap one. I fought hard and overtook cars lap by lap, helped by other cars falling off the road, an incident in the lat corner brough out a safety car. To my amazement we were sitting in P7, sitting right behind the scholarship class leader Dan Cammish.
I was determined to try and take the win, however I could not keep with Dan and his Kevin Mills Spectrum through Clarks corner and that spoiled any chance for an overtake, however finishing 7th overall was a great achievement for myself and my team wrensport, our best result yet this season!

The joys of race two however were short lived in race three. after a very strong race two, I managed to qualify 11th on my fastest lap time from race two, and after lap one I was sitting in 8th place. Championship leader James Cole passed and also Alex Jones came through, leaving me fending off Patrick Mckenna in the Jamun Mygale to hold onto 10th spot. However, on lap 12 Mckenna tried to make a move coming out of the hairpin, made contact with my rear wheel throwing my car in the air, then as I landed the mygale drove up and over my car, causing both of us to retire due to bent wishbones and damaged bodywork.

It was a dissapointing end to what could have been a great weekend witrh our best result in race two, however we must now get the car back in shape and be ready for snetterton, where we head next. Im feeling very positive for the remainder of the races, John and Felix Scott of Wrensport are doing a fantastic job on the car each race and we are proving to be getting faster and faster. We will see what we can achieve next time out. Please check back soon!

KV

Images courtesy of JDH Motorsport Photography.

After a strong start to the season at Oulton I was keen to prove that we are one to contend with all season, currently lying 2nd in the Scolarship class and 10th in the main championship.

Qualifying went very well, having had a hard time in qualifying at Oulton, we managed to qualify 1.2 seconds off the pace. This seemed a great achievement, however we were still only 16th on the grid, the Formula Ford grid seemingly very close this weekend!

Race one I bogged down at the start, however managed to pick a few cars off to move up the field. a safety car due to a stationary car on track, closed the field up. We had changed the setup of the car to give some more front end grip, however we seemed to go too far as we had alot of oversteer, and it was very difficult to get the power down out the the last corner onto the oval. I found it difficult to keep up with the three cars infront, as I lied in 15th position.

With the laps dying down the battle infront got more intense, and I managed to close in, and made a move down the inside into the hairpin comeing off the banking with 2 laps remaining. immediateley after, the two cars infront went wide, and I maneged to take 12th spot, however I was strggling for pace and had to hold the cars behind off for one lap!

Anti Burri was the car challenging, and he made a move on the last lap going into chapman. I managed to hold him arounf the outside, landing on the inside for the series of sweeping lefts, side by side we went until tarzan hairpin, where I managed to gain te advantage and keep 12th, this also gave me 2nd in class. this is where I stayed to my great relief to get another 2nd place and a convincing overall position of 12th.

Race two was much of the same however i managed to drive away from the pack i battled with this time, just holding station in 12th position ahead of Peter Barrable in the Fluid Van Diemen, and holding onto the back of Josh Hill’s Jamun Mygale. Another safety car was deployed, which closed us all up again. On the restart Hill didnt get a good jump and i drew alongside, aware that I could not pass before the start finish line. I had to make a decision as i was on the outside for the banking of the oval, which we take flat at around 135mph+. I could either tuck in behind, and lose ground of brave it round the outisde, not knowing how much grip there was on the ’high’ line!

I decided braving it out was the option, and to give the spectators some action, went side by side with Josh through the banking and into the hairpin! I could not gain the place as Hill’s Mygale had too much traction to contend with, but I hung on to the back of him to retain an identical result to race one, with 2nd in class and 12th respectively in the main championship.

Race three was tough, I got a good start but a collision in turn 2 saw me on two wheels and a bent rear wishbone! I carried on racing, and had a thrilling battle for 14th position. I managed to get ahead of the pack, however coming into the final chicicane, the tracking of the rear of the car proving to make the car very unstable under breaking, saw me locked up and over the grass! losing a position to Phillipe Layac.

This was a crtitical moment of the race as Layac proved very difficult to pass, and cost me and others alot of time. It was the difference between finishing 15th, and 12th in the end as Alex Jones had a drive through penalty, and Pat Mekenna having an off in the latter stage of the race. The end result was 15th and 3rd in class, which was a little dissapointing as we could have done better!

However overall team Wrensport and I had a strong weekend, increasing the gap to 3rd in the scholarship class, and holding into 10th in the main championship. With out limited budget this is more than we could have hoped for after round 2 and 6 races of the championship!

Thanks again to Team Wrensport for working very hard on the car as always, David Brodie for visiting, and also Steve Wills for his help through the day on sunday.

Thanks to our new parters Millers Oils for their help and support.

We now look forward to a hopeful sunny Scottland at Knockhill!! I enjoyed a win here last year in the Ginettas and enjoy the track very much, lets be hopeful of another good result for everybody involved!

Kieran

Images courtesy of JDH Motorsport Photography

The first race of the season, new series, new car and a whole new experience! This season will see me race in the Scholarship Class in the MSA Formula Ford Championship Of Great Britain.

For 2009 I will be driving a Spirit WL06 prepared by Wrensport. The car itself has not got a good reputation, however Wrensport worked really hard over the winter to get the car up and running, and with such a small budget it was our only chance to make it on the grid for 2009.

Qualifying was tough as we had a suspension failure from use of the kerbs, somewhere we were really struggling as the car could not handle them, causing the suspension to break. The time posted was only good enough for 18th on the grid, which was not the way we wanted the start the season, however I kept my head up knowing that I had pace over the two cars in front.

However in race one, a great start saw me jump from 18th to 9th by the first corner! A stalled car and an incident helped in my favour, and a safety car was deployed. I did not expect to be able to maintain this position, I had very limited testing prior to the event, and had little knowldge of the track and car combination, however when the race restarted I was able to get a good restart where I was able to keep the Jamun prepared Mygale of Patrick Makenna behind me. Half way through Daniel Ericsson in the Kevin Mills Spectrum joined the battle, which saw me holding off two top team cars, which proved very difficult. I had to put the car in the right place at all times to ensure they could not get by. Our trio had managed to break away from the cars behind, so a minimum of 11th looked certain, however I was not going to give up a top 10 finish! With the race winding down to the flag I managed to hold my position, finsihing 9th overall, and 2nd in the Scholarship class, an amazing result considering our qualifying, budget and time we had before the first race!

Race two saw another good start however I was boxed in and could not really make any ground, and finished lap one in my starting position. However I managed to work my way up then field, working my way up to 3rd in class and 11th overall. To get 10th, and 2nd in class. I had to pass Jaffer in the Ray, which was proving difficult, however by sending him the wrong way into Old Hall, I managed to switch back onto the inside on the exit, taking the 10th spot on the last lap, which is where I finished. Again another amazing result!!

The last race goes on the fastest time in race 2, which saw us start 11th! This was a great suprise, and a great starting position on merit. This is where I stayed throuout the race, being involved for the battle for 7th with Josh Hill in the Jamun Mygale and also Chrissy Palmer in the Juno, however with good efforts from Ben Barker in the Fluid Van Diemen behind to get past, it made it difficult to make up ground, I managed to hold the the Fluid car, and finish 11th which was once again a very pleasing result for us, and the best weekend for a spirit in a long time!!

Many thanks to Wrensport for their hard work in preparing the car, I now look forward to Rockingham which is at the end of May, where hopefully we can be even stronger!