Smyth emulates father by winning FFord Festival in all-Irish podium

Photo: Ida Wood

Jason Smyth emulated his father Neville by winning the final of the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch.

The Team Dolan driver’s semi-final two victory put him on pole, with other semi-final winner Tom Nippers alongside him on the front row.

Nippers had a bad launch and immediately cut across to the inside. There was just enough room for B-M Racing’s Jordan Dempsey on the inside and he took second place, with team-mate Rory Smith behind.

Niall Murray and Smith had gone either side of Swift Cooper’s Luke Cooper into Paddock Hill Bend, and at the exit the pair went side-by-side but Dolan driver Murray headed into the gravel. He maintained control of his car, rejoining by Druids in seventh place.

Wayne Poole Racing’s Alex Walker had a go at passing Cooper into McLaren, then again into Druids on lap two. Murray pounced by going around Walker’s outside there and Cooper’s inside at Graham Hill Bend.

Up front, Smyth had a small gap which was eliminated by the safety car being called on lap three due to Dolan’s Stephen O’Connor being parked up in the gravel at Druids.

Racing resumed on lap six, and Smyth distanced himself. He was 0.7 seconds clear on lap eight when the safety car returned to Souley Motorsport’s Oliver Roberts being parked up on the pit straight with damage.

Murray had taken fourth into Druids on lap seven, while Cooper came under pressure from Dolan’s Morgan Quinn and Walker.

While the safety car period was a reprieve for the tyres, the race was extended from 20 to 25 laps due to the interruption. There was another retirement before the lap 13 restart, as TM Racing’s Ricky Simpson pulled off.

When racing did resume, Smyth immediately set the fastest lap and pulled 0.944s clear. Quinn went off at Graham Hill Bend but avoided losing any positions, and Walker and Oldfield Motorsport’s Ben Cochran actually clashed behind him.

Another fastest lap followed for Smyth to build his lead to 1.2s, and it continued growing over the remainder of the race. However the race’s extension meant he faced a new challenge on lap 21, as rain began to fall.

It proved non-disruptive for Smyth, and he finished 2.028s clear of Dempsey to win 15 years after his father did the same in the final for Kent [FF1600] cars.

There was plenty of action behind them. Cochran and Walker traded places for a while, and on lap 18 Murray forced his way past Nippers on the inside for third. A lap later, Nippers ran wide through the final corner and lost out to Smith.

Murray now had clean air, but was getting sideways as he tried to reduce a 0.9s gap to Dempsey. He made a big gain in the last two laps as Dempsey’s tyres overheated, and they finished 0.149s apart.

Nippers came home fifth, and sixth was decided in a photo finish as Quinn beat Cooper by 0.015s.

Connor Willis overtook team-mate Cochran late on, and one of the most exciting battles was for 10th. Charlie Mann almost went into the back of David McCullough exiting Graham Hill Bend several times, but could not get past despite better traction out of corners.

Callum Grant was the top driver in an older car, taking his Van Diemen RF91 to 15th.

Final results (25 laps)