Photo: Ida Wood
B-M Racing’s defending winner Rory Smith took pole for the opening Formula Ford Festival heat at Brands Hatch in a wet qualifying session.
Rain hammered the circuit through the morning, but a Mazda session before the first FFord qualifying moved away some of the standing water.
Smith went straight to the top with his first flying lap, setting a 1m02.446s to lead Swift Cooper’s Rob Hall by 0.487 seconds.
Mann Motorsport’s Charlie Mann slashed his gap to 0.227s, then Smith improved to 1m01.804s. Smiths Precision’s Darwin Smith, driving a Van Diemen RF90, then jumped up to second place and was just 0.366s off his namesake’s pace in a considerably older car.
Privateer runner Top Nippers got into fourth place halfway through the session, as the Smiths swapped places. Darwin set a 1m00.969s, and Rory was 0.115s slower than him.
With seven minutes to go Nippers was demoted to fifth by James Harridge, driving a Mygale SJ01 with an engine he built himself, and Rory Smith reclaimed top spot with a 1m00.713s lap.
Nippers posted a 1m01.389s to improve to third, and PWR1 Racing’s Jason Pribyl was just over a second back in fourth. That was short-lived position as Jordan Kelly beat him a few seconds later, and a second successive improvement from the Team Dolan driver then lifted him to third as the gap between the Smiths closed to 0.116s with five minutes to go.
Kelly went faster yet again a lap later, getting within 0.471s of provisional pole, only to fall a second back as the Smiths improved. Rory set a 1m00.153s, and Darwin was 0.405s slower.
Hall moved back up to fifth place with three minutes left on the clock, and with 52s to go Nippers and Kelly swapped places. Kelly was able to respond, bettering Nippers by 0.192s just before the chequered flag to return to third.
The session ended with Rory Smith on top by 0.455s, and a second covering the top four. Hall and Mann set personal bests at the end in fifth and sixth.
Heat 1 qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rory Smith | B-M Racing | 1m00.103s |
| 2 | Darwin Smith | Smiths Precision | +0.455s |
| 3 | Jordan Kelly | Team Dolan | +0.606s |
| 4 | Tom Nippers | +0.798s | |
| 5 | Rob Hall | Swift Cooper | +1.155s |
| 6 | Charlie Mann | Mann Motorsport | +1.415s |
| 7 | John Svensson | John’s Racing Team | +1.593s |
| 8 | Jason Pribyl | PWR1 Racing | +1.632s |
| 9 | Tom McArthur | Simon Hadfield Motorsport | +1.651s |
| 10 | James Harridge | +1.885s | |
| 11 | Stephen O’Connor | Team Dolan | +1.933s |
| 12 | William Liston | Souley Motorsport | +1.938s |
| 13 | Sam Harrison | Mk8 Motorsport | +2.353s |
| 14 | Bob Hawkins | TM Racing | +3.130s |
| 15 | Adam Fathers | AF Racing | +5.370s |
| 16 | Jonathan Barnes | Souley Motorsport | +6.025s |
| 17 | Ben Hadfield | Shaws Motorsport | +7.798s |
| 18 | Phil Attwood | Shaws Motorsport | +9.170s |
| 19 | Michael Fitzgerald | B-M Racing | +9.841s |
| 20 | Don Boyack | TM Racing | +10.393s |
| 21 | Melly Zhang | Speedsport | +16.975s |