Photo: Ida Wood
Welsh racer Tom Nippers used local knowledge to take two poles and a win in round two of the United Formula Ford season at Anglesey.
Nippers was on top from the off, setting a 1m12.316s in practice to lead Team Dolan’s reigning champion Morgan Quinn by 0.179 seconds. Oldfield Motorsport’s Spencer Shinner was third, 0.325s behind, and on official paperwork appeared to be entered as a guest driver despite competing for points this season.
There was also a sour note for Nippers, who received a verbal warning from the clerk of the course for using a helmet-mounted camera.
Championship leader Jason Smyth was fourth fastest, and Nippers was his closest rival in the points present due to team-mate Chris Middlehurst being absent as he recovers from recent surgery.
Nippers lowered the pace in qualifying to 1m11.922s, but only earned pole for race one by a tiny 0.019s as Smyth made a big gain on his practice laptimes. Quinn was 0.369s off pole in third, Shinner was 0.498s back in fourth and Connor Willis (who changed cars on the eve of the event) was fifth.
Drivers’ second-best laptimes set race two’s grid, and Nippers had a larger margin here as the only driver to go sub-1m12s twice. His 1m11.929s, set on his second flying lap, earned him pole over Smyth by 0.277s. Quinn trailed by 0.426s in third, Shinner was a further 0.131s slower than him in fourth and Mann Motorsport’s Charlie Mann completed the top five.
Nippers led every lap of race one, putting 0.45s between himself and Smyth in the first two laps before the points leader quickly closed back in. The gap grew outwards to 0.837s, but on lap nine Nippers lost time and he was back to being only 0.275s ahead.
Smyth then had a similar drop in pace on lap 10, meaning Nippers had 0.882s between himself and his chaser again. But Smyth had the pace to draw back in once more, getting within 0.233s of the leader on lap 14 of 17. Nippers responded to the pressure, and finished 0.453s ahead.
Shinner passed Quinn on lap one, but their battle for third meant they were already four seconds behind the top two after lap one. It was an even bigger gap on lap two, but once Quinn reclaimed third on lap three he was able to match the top two’s pace in clean air and finished 7.7s behind for his first podium of 2025.
Mann started seventh, gained two spots on the opening lap, and hounded Shinner before passing him on lap 11.
Willis missed a sunny race two, which began with Smyth passing Nippers for the lead. He never looked back, with the gap getting down to 0.883s mid-race before he stretched his legs up front to win by 1.779s.
Quinn was a lonely third, and this time Mann cleared Shinner by lap five. Ammonite Motorsport’s Anthony Amato overtook Shinner a lap later, before he dropped to 10th. Shinner recovered one spot.
Results round-up
Race 1 (17 laps)
1 Tom Nippers [Van Diemen RF01] 20m53.235s
2 Jason Smyth Team Dolan [Van Diemen JL12] +0.453s
3 Morgan Quinn Team Dolan [Van Diemen RF99] +7.706s
4 Charlie Mann Mann Motorsport [Ray GR20] +11.783s
5 Spencer Shinner Oldfield Motorsport [Van Diemen JL13] +17.543s
6 Anthony Amato Ammonite Motorsport [Ray GR22] +20.244s
7 Adrien Laissac Team Dolan [Van Diemen BD19] +20.546s
8 Dave Parks Vertical Racing [Reynard 89FF] +24.475s
9 Stephen O’Connor Team Dolan [Van Diemen DP07] +33.220s
10 Maris Schulte Oldfield Motorsport [Van Diemen JL13] +47.536s
Pole: Nippers, 1m11.922s
Fastest lap: Nippers, 1m12.931s
Race 2 (17 laps)
1 Smyth 20m48.522s
2 Nippers +1.779s
3 Quinn +7.995s
4 Mann +12.488s
5 Amato +20.519s
6 Parks +21.799s
7 Schulte +26.457s
8 Shinner +27.354s
9 O’Connor +38.321s
Ret Laissac
P: Nippers, 1m11.929s
FL: Smyth, 1m12.753s
Championship standings
1 Smyth 134 2 Nippers 112 3 Mann 84 4 Amato 64 5 Shinner 62 6 Quinn 60 7 Chris Middlehurst 58 8 Laissac 45 9 Schulte 45 10 Joey Foster 32