Smith wins FFord Festival heat three after super close pass on Smyth

Photo: Ida Wood

Oldfield Motorsport’s Josh Smith and Team Dolan’s Jason Smyth finished first and second in Formula Ford Festival heat three, although were far further apart than they could have been.

The pair shared the front row, and Smith spun his rear wheels off the line. That enabled Smyth to immediately get alongside and go around the outside of him for the lead at Paddock Hill Bend.

Quick to make a descent down the order was Don Hardman Racing’s Rick Morris, who had started fifth but after running off exiting Graham Hill Bend lost many places.

Smyth ended olap one 0.341 seconds ahead, and mostly maintained that gap until lap eight. He had just set a new fastest lap, but had his lead reduced at Graham Hill Bend and missed a gear at Clearways so lost a lot of speed. Smith got to his inside but stayed on the outside line through Clark Curve. They avoided banging wheels but eventually Smyth had nowhere else to go but the gravel and after his trip through it he was a distant third behind B-M Racing’s Jonny McMullan.

Smith ticked off the remaining laps to win, while Smyth managed to pass McMullan on lap 10 then cut Smith’s lead from 4.5s to 2.7s in the last two laps.

His team-mate Isaac Canto da Silva passed Oldfield’s Spencer Shinner on lap three and went around the outside of Simon Hadfield Motorsport’s Tom McArthur at Paddock Hill Bend on lap five to finish fourth, and fellow Dolan driver Jonathan Kotyk slid past Pascal Monbaron (John’s Racing Team), drove into the rear of Shinner without issue then passed him, and also cleared McArthur late on for fifth. Shinner finished 16th after spinning at Graham Hill Bend.

“He missed a gear and he fell off,” said Smith of passing Smyth. “I was happy to take that.”

He added: “Those [Dolan] cars are so quick in a straight, it’s untrue. I was in Jason’s tow and I could not – no gaining on him at all. I’d gain on him in the corners and then that power of that engine is just insane. I did feel like I had an uphill battle.”

Smyth shared his view with Formula Scout. “I just made a mistake going into Clearways and then he got up my inside there. He just fed me into the gravel. I saw him looking in the mirrors, I could actually see his eyes looking in the mirrors at me through his visor, and he just pushed me off.”

Race result (12 laps)