Home Formula FordNational FF1600 Ross Martin breezes to fourth National FF1600 victory at Croft

Ross Martin breezes to fourth National FF1600 victory at Croft

by Joe Hudson

Team Dolan’s Ross Martin took an untroubled fourth BRSCC National Formula Ford 1600 win at Croft.

Making a sharp getaway from pole, Martin completed the first lap with a 1.467 seconds advantage over title rival Spike Kohlbecker, who made a rapid start from fourth to pass both Kohlbecker’s Cliff Dempsey Racing team-mate James Clarke and Rory Smith.

Martin?s advantage grew as the battle for second developed into a six-car fight, with Kohlbecker staunchly defending? from B-M Racing’s Smith, Clarke, Kevin Mills Racing pair Neil Maclennan and Brendon Leigh, and the third CDR car of Jonathan Browne.

Kohlbecker?s defence was broken on lap four as Clarke placed his Ray up the inside on the run into Tower, squeezing the American off the circuit and down into fifth place.

That intra-team CDR duel allowed Smith and Maclennan to take advantage of Kohlbecker losing momentum.

The fight then split into two sections in the second half of the race, with Clarke and Smith squabbling for second. On the last lap, it appeared their fight was going to end in tears as the pair banged wheels through the high-speed Jim Clark Esses.

Both Clarke and Smith had to take to the run-off to avoid spinning, with Smith coming back on-track marginally in front to take the chequered flag in second, 0.687s ahead of Clarke.

Maclennan took fourth after a long-battle with Kohlbecker, who ran off-track at Sunny In, losing positions to Maclennan and Browne.

While Kohlbecker had fallen to sixth after his trip off-road, Leigh fell the furthest of those in the midfield scrap; a mechanical problem dropped him to 15th and last on the road.

Seventh went to Jamie Sharp, the Dolan driver comfortably ahead of Oldfield Motorsport?s Carter Williams, the British Formula 4 racer returning to the championship after a season with Don Hardman Racing last year.

Border Reivers’ Jamie Thorburn finished ninth, with John Svensson taking Clubman class honours in 10th overall.

French FF1600 points leaders Adrien Laissac and Old School Racing Team were 13th on their championship debut.

 

Race results (11 laps)
Pos Name Team Time
1 Ross Martin Team Dolan 16m06.931s
2 Rory Smith B-M Racing +3.212s
3 James Clarke Cliff Dempsey Racing +3.899s
4 Neil Maclennan Kevin Mills Racing +4.482s
5 Jonathan Browne Cliff Dempsey Racing +8.061s
6 Spike Kohlbecker Cliff Dempsey Racing +8.304s
7 Jamie Sharp Team Dolan +8.660s
8 Carter Williams Oldfield Motorsport +11.813s
9 Jamie Thorburn Border Reivers +15.350s
10 John Svensson John’s Racing Team +15.935s
11 Aaron Jeansonne Oldfield Motorsport +19.867s
12 Morgan Quinn Team Dolan +20.900s
13 Adrien Laissac Old School Racing Team +26.302s
14 Adam Quartermaine Team Dolan +46.280s
15 Nicole Woods B-M Racing +1m00.350s
16 Brendon Leigh Kevin Mills Racing +1m32.634s
Ret Michael Macpherson Kevin Mills Racing
Pole: Martin, 1m26.370s? ? ? Fastest lap: Martin, 1m26.892s

Championship Standings
Pro? ?1?Martin 245? ?2?Kohlbecker 224? ?3 Maclennan 208? ?4?Clarke 178? ?5 Smith 129? ?6 Browne 124? ?7 Sharp 109? ?8 Macpherson 101? ?9 Leigh 82? ?10 Quinn 80

Clubman? ?1 Svensson 217? ?2 Quartermaine 184? ?3 Max Marzorati 162? ?4 Pascal Monbaron 143? ?5?Nigel Dolan 61? ?6?Sam Street 40? ?7?Klaus-Dieter Haeckel 40? ?8?Henry Chart 6