Formula Ford GB
Jayde Kruger and Harrison Scott
In junior single-seaters, the entertainment factor usually takes a back seat to talent-spotting. With that said, Formula Ford GB probably wanted to avoid a repeat of the 2013 season, when Dan Cammish took a ridiculous 24 wins in a row.
Well, if they were indeed pining for a closer contest this time around, then in ?Jayde Kruger v. Harison Scott? they got their wish and then some.
The duo both got their maiden wins out of the way after Cammish had left the series late in 2013 and entered the season as the obvious title favorites. Kruger, a career Formula Ford racer in his native South Africa, spearheaded the lineup of reigning champions JTR, while young man Scott retained the support of strong squad Falcon.
Over the course of the season, the lead changed hands 12 times between Kruger and Scott as they won 18 out of the 30 races of the series together. By the end of the year, first place was swinging back and forth with every given round.
Despite running so close together, the duo put on very different campaigns. The South African was unstoppable when he was on top form, but he sure had a lot of bad days in the office. He had his fair share of incidents and, sometimes, the pace was just weirdly not there during race days. A mid-season slump during Croft and Snetterton nearly ruled him out of the contest, but he rebounded with six wins in eight races.
Scott, meanwhile, was a polar opposite. He didn’t win half the races Kruger did, but relentlessly finished on the podium. Throughout the season, he was off the podium just six times, which included a tough retirement from the lead due to a mechanical failure at Donington.
With the title race running to the wire, the tensions started rising massively. At Silverstone, it all kicked off when Kruger and Scott collided during the opening lap ? the South African escaped with a bigger points haul and managed to get level with his rival coming into the season finale.
Scott took a decisive win to kick off the Brands decider, while Kruger took reverse-grid pole for race two. The Falcon man moved up to second at the start of that race and, as he tried to pass Kruger, there was contact.
With Scott retiring with a broken suspension, Kruger went on to claim a dominant win. He would be penalized for the incident post-race, only for JTR to appeal and have the decision reversed.
Despite a 22-point lead, the last race was still a nervous one to Kruger, as he slipped to eighth at the start and found himself in a few unwanted scraps for position. Still, even while Scott won, eighth was enough for Kruger to become champion.
Post-race celebrations were muted, though, as Falcon have filed an appeal against the decision to reverse Kruger’s penalty. Instead of being decided at the checkered flag, the title went to court, where Kruger would finally be declared champion.
Valentin Khorounzhiy