Alex Walker wins red-flagged race first race of Scottish FFord’s return

Photo: Jim Moir

Alex Walker claimed his third BRSCC National Formula Ford 1600 victory in four races, beating Chris Middlehurst on countback in a sensational red flagged first race at Knockhill.

Walker started from pole but was outdragged off the line by Middlehurst as the field navigated through Duffus Dip for the first time.

From then on, it was a slipstreaming affair for the remainder of the 18-lap race, with Middlehurst initially maintaining a slender but solid lead of just over three tenths of a second.

Walker never left the rear of Middlehurst and the duo went side-by-side over the line several times as the lead switched hands.

Middlehurst had some respite however, following a safety car intervention after Lucas Romanek went off early in the race.

Middlehurst maintained his small gap upon the restart, but still had Walker breathing down his neck and he finally found a way past on lap 13.

Still there was nothing separating the two leaders as they crossed the line on lap 15 split by just eight-hundredths of a second as Middlehurst desperately tried to find a way back into the lead.

He eventually reclaimed first place but the scrap was ended prematurely though as the red flag was thrown after Walker’s KMR team-mate Megan Gilkes stopped on lap 19, the result therefore being called a lap earlier when Walker headed Middlehurst by just 0.088s.

Max Esterton finished third after a superb race from sixth on the grid. He initially made ground by getting past Thomas Mills for fourth and then grabbing the final place on the podium with an assertive move on Jamie Sharp on lap 10.

Mills had dropped to sixth but such was the closeness of the race, he made it back into fourth by the end. Sharp was just behind at the finish in fifth though, and series returnee Jordan Dempsey was sixth.

Jordan Gronkowski was the best of the drivers eligible for Scottish FFord points in seventh place, having made strong progress from 11th on the grid. The series didn’t run in 2020.

Defending champion Gronkowski jumped three positions on lap one to run eighth and benefitted from the safety car intervention to move past Carter Williams and Dempsey to sixth but lost out to the latter towards the end.

Second in Scottish was the returning Michael Gray, while privateer Neil Broome faded in the latter stages, meaning Andrew Elliott completed the podium in 13th place.

Lucy Grant finished her first FF1600 race in 14th, while her Graham Brunton Racing team-mate Logan Hannah was absent.

Race results (18 laps)