Photo: Ida Wood
United Formula Ford champion Jason Smyth narrowly beat Jordan Dempsey to pole for the second FFord Festival heat.
B-M Racing’s returnee Dempsey initially set the pace, but it was clear it was going to be a close fight as his opening effort was just 0.063 seconds faster than Smyth’s as a second covered the top seven.
Smyth moved comfortably ahead with his second flying lap, setting a 50.842s to lead Dempsey by 0.483s. He had initially been further back in a queue of cars, but through the first half of the 10-minute session made his way to the front while Dempsey locked into his tow.
Team Dolan driver Smyth lowered the pace next time by, and his 50.271s lap put him 0.634s clear despite the top eight all improving. Now Oldfield Motorsport’s youngster Maris Schulte was the only other driver within a second of provisional pole.
Graham Brunton Racing’s Callum Baxter rose up to fifth place on his next lap, but was in Smyth’s way at one point and prevented him from improving. Dempsey did get quicker, and came just 0.044s shy of matching the benchmark pace. Schulte also improved to sit 0.803s behind in third, before Dolan’s Stephen O’Connor edged ahead by 0.002s.
With clear air, Smyth posted a 50.088s entering the session’s second half, growing his gap over Dempsey to 0.224s as he also set a personal best.
Neither improved on the lap after that, while O’Connor fond another 0.003s, then with just over two minutes to go PA Motorsport’s Ben Powney shot up to third in an old Jamun M92 car.
The order changed again a minute later. Smyth set a 49.884s that would not be beaten, although Dempsey came very close as he was just 0.009s slower and Baxter took third place with a 50.906s lap.
TM Racing’s Ricky Simpson demoted Powney to fifth with 80s left on the clock, but he regained a spot in the final minute by improving to 50.965s.
Few were able to find more pace towards the end of the session, but O’Connor managed to edge ahead of Simpson by 0.053s for fifth place and Callum Grant jumped up to eighth after the chequered flag.
Heat 2 qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Smyth | Team Dolan | 49.884s |
| 2 | Jordan Dempsey | B-M Racing | +0.009s |
| 3 | Callum Baxter | Graham Brunton Racing | +1.022s |
| 4 | Ben Powney | PA Motorsport | +1.081s |
| 5 | Stephen O’Connor | Team Dolan | +1.085s |
| 6 | Ricky Simpson | TM Racing | +1.138s |
| 7 | Maris Schulte | Oldfield Motorsport | +1.190s |
| 8 | Callum Grant | Nigel Grant Motorsport | +1.260s |
| 9 | Cameron Jackson | Neil Fowler Motorsport | +1.269s |
| 10 | Leanne McShane | Pirate M-Sports | +1.981s |
| 11 | Murray Shepherd | +2.125s | |
| 12 | Andrew Noble | Team Dolan | +2.260s |
| 13 | Klaus-Dieter Haeckel | Auto Haeckel Motorsport | +2.298s |
| 14 | Vincent Jay | TM Racing | +2.524s |
| 15 | Sam Street | Wayne Poole Racing | +2.780s |
| 16 | Colin Williams | Shaws Motorsport | +3.926s |
| 17 | John Blanchard | +4.120s | |
| 18 | Tim Fitzgerald | +4.786s | |
| 19 | John Hayes-Harlow | +4.873s | |
| 20 | Ben Barry | +4.941s | |
| 21 | Phil Attwood | +8.355s | |
| 22 | Simon Langman | +9.941s |