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.