Photo: Ida Wood
United Formula Ford attracted 31 cars for its second visit to Brands Hatch, which resulted in two dramatic races.
Qualifying was a closely fought contest, with the top 17 covered by 0.884 seconds. Jason Smyth led a Team Dolan one-two, pipping Morgan Quinn to pole by 0.105s. B-M Racing’s Jonny McMullan was 0.151s behind in third, with Dolan’s reserve entrant Chris Middlehurst (due to the entry list exceeding the grid size of 30) 0.202s off pole in fourth.
There was drama on the first attempt to start race one, with two cars being eliminated on lap two and red flags waving. KMR Sport’s Andrew Rackstraw went from fifth to first, ahead of Smyth, Quinn, McMullan and Oldfield Motorsport’s Josh Smith.
When the race eventually restarted, Smyth went around the outside of Rackstraw for the lead up the hill, but could not quite get past and then briefly dropped to third. Darwin Smith went into the gravel at Clearways, and KMR’s Jayde Kruger was one of two spinners at Druids, leading to the safety car coming out on the second lap.
Smyth was demoted to fourth by Smith and Quinn before racing was neutralised, and they returned to racing speeds on lap six. PWR1 Racing’s Jason Pribyl went off at Paddock Hill Bend and lost sixth, as Smith heaped pressure on Rackstraw. The next lap he found space on the inside of the leader and got alongside all the way to Graham Hill Bend where a wobble cost him.
It was a similar story for Smyth a lap later, as the lead looked to be his until he went wide at the same corner. That left Rackstraw leading Smith once more, and with enough of a gap to not require defensive driving thereon.
“It’s always fun to be back. especially now that it’s [sunny],” said Rackstraw. “Super chuffed with the win.”
McMullan exited podium contention when his car stopped, freeing Smyth to attack Quinn. He got the move for third done on the inside of Clearways on lap 10, but then ran wide entering GHB again on lap 11 and fell back behind. Two laps later he reclaimed the place, while Mann Motorsport’s Charlie Mann won his fight with Dolan’s Isaac Canto da Silva for fifth.
Middlehurt joined the action in race two, from 30th on the grid, and charged to fourth while Rackstraw took a lights-to-flag win.
Josh Smith and Smyth collided on lap three while fighting for second, promoting points leader Quinn and Canto da Silva into podium positions which they would hold to the finish.
Middlehurst was already in the top 10 by lap four, and a double move on lap seven put him seventh. He had a gap to make up on Oldfield’s Ben Cox, who had just been passed by Pribyl, which took 10 laps to overcome. He dived past Pribyl two laps later, then when Mann got compromised by traffic on lap 21, Middlehurst had fourth in his sights.
Mann defended through lap 22, then going into Paddock Hill Bend next time by Middlehurst’s front-left wheel went over the rear-right of Mann’s car. They emerged damage-free, and with Middlehurst ahead.
Smyth recovered to eighth from 22nd while Smith retired on lap seven.
Results round-up
Race 1 (15 laps)
1 Andrew Rackstraw KMR Sport 14m59.292s
2 Josh Smith Oldfield Motorsport +0.819s
3 Jason Smyth Team Dolan +1.316s
4 Morgan Quinn Team Dolan +2.165s
5 Charlie Mann Mann Motorsport +5.876s
6 Isaac Canto da Silva Team Dolan +6.020s
7 Ben Cox Oldfield Motorsport +8.715s
8 Jason Pribyl PWR1 Racing +10.323s
9 Tom Hawkins Springbridge Motorsport +12.548s
10 Stephen O’Connor Team Dolan +13.031s
Pole: Smyth, 49.828s
Fastest lap: Smyth, 50.176s
Race 2 (24 laps)
1 Rackstraw 20m29.514s
2 Quinn +1.994s
3 Canto da Silva +2.177s
4 Chris Middlehurst Team Dolan +9.245s
5 Mann +9.515s
6 Pribyl +11.155s
7 Cox +13.998s
8 Smyth +16.762s
9 Darwin Smith +17.465s
10 Jonny McMullan B-M Racing +21.622s
FL: Middlehurst, 50.531s
Championship standings
1 Quinn 172 2 Pribyl 145 3 Mann 123 4 Cox 116 5 Rackstraw 98 6 Smyth 96 7 Tom Nippers 87 8 Canto da Silva 82 9 Adam Fathers 61 10 Klaus Dieter Haeckel 60