Scotland’s trio of young single-seater racers all qualified for tomorrow’s semi-finals of the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch in Kent. While Edinburgh’s Graham Carroll won his qualifying heat in confident style, Glasgow’s David Brown finished second in his race with Dunfermline’s Rory Butcher fifth.
“That was probably the toughest race of the weekend apart, hopefully, from the final,” 21-year-old Butcher, who won three of his last four FFord races in the Scottish Championship, explained today after his action-packed race.
“I got a good start and was up to third after just three laps, but towards the end of the race a guy in front spun, I braked and the guy behind me ran right over the back of my car.
“I was really lucky because he almost pitched me into the tyre wall. Instead the damage only affected my car’s exhaust which meant I was down on power for the rest of the race, but we held on to finish fifth.”
And while Scottish FFord champ Carroll was pleased to win his heat, meaning he starts his semi-final tomorrow from pole position, Brown was frustrated to miss out on a win in his heat.
“I got a blinding start and led from the beginning,” the 20-year-old explained, “but the tyres started going off towards the end of the race and i slipped back to second. Still, I’m in a terrific position to qualify for Sunday’s final.”
JM