Double trouble as contenders collide!Controversial Eastwell/Smith incident hands others opportunities

24 March | Oulton Park

Northern

Wolfenden whitewashJack Wolfenden unstoppable in Pre90 category races

Three drivers caught the headlines at Oulton Park for the British Racing and Sports Car Club’s Avon Tyres Northern Formula Ford 1600 Championship season-opener. Michael Eastwell and Joshua Smith set the pace in the joint qualifying session for Post89 and Pre90 cars, with the pair split by just one tenth at the top. In the first Post89 race of the weekend they were even closer. Oldfield Motorsport driver Smith slotted his Van Diemen ahead at the start, eager to repeat the win he took at the circuit last year that set him up for the Northern title. He pulled out almost half-a-second by the end of the first lap, but Eastwell kept his Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum close, and had the gap under one-and-a-half tenths for the next two. With the race only running

to 11 laps, and almost a third of it already gone, Eastwell knew he could not waste time stuck behind the reigning champion. On the run through Clay Hill he moved to the right of Smith, with the intention of taking the inside line, and lead into Druids. Smith started to drift to the right as Eastwell drew up alongside, and when they reached Water Tower Eastwell was almost on the grass. So far forward was Eastwell, the contact came when the sidewalls of their front tyres touched. Eastwell was on the grass for a fleeting moment, but it was enough to get loose and make contact with Smith again. This time Eastwell’s front-left tyre ran over Smith’s front-right, and as a result he was pitched onto the top of the leader’s car. He landed on Smith’s helmet before dislodging

and being pitched violently into the barriers. Both drivers were shaken and quite sore but thankfully there were no serious injuries, with most of the damage inflicted on Eastwell’s Spectrum 011C. “It was a bit of a mess,” explained Eastwell. “We came together at 100mph. There’s not a lot of room at Oulton, so the barrier wasn’t too far away when I came off the circuit. I was a bit achy, but I feel fine now.” Eastwell got one podium in the National championship last year, in his first full season of racing. Had he not crashed with Smith, he may have equalled the result or even taken his first win. “I’m not saying it would’ve been difficult to get away, but I felt we had [the pace to win]. “He jumped me at the start, he made a really good

Michael Eastwell chases Joshua Smith early in the opening Post89 race, as Rory Smith and David McArthur lurk behind

David McArthur won the opening Post89 race, capitalising on Eastwell and Smith’s collision

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estart, and I caught up to the back of him very quickly. I felt, at this point, I definitely had the quicker car and the win was definitely on. The move I pulled was definitely legitimate. I would’ve had the inside line for the next corner and I would’ve hoped, given the pace that we caught up to him, that we would’ve edged away from him a little bit. I think a win was definitely on the cards there.” A similar move had been attempted on the previous lap, which also almost included a grassy moment, and the crash ended up ripping several corners off the car and the driveshaft. Smith, unsurprisingly, saw the incident a little differently but admitted his part in proceedings. “I was only [at Oulton] to test really, and to prep it for National, and I ended up in 1000 bits,” he said.

“I’m pretty livid to be honest. It was stupid, that weekend, really. It was one of those things that shouldn’t have happened really, but it did.” Scarily, a lot of the damage on Smith’s side of the incident involved his helmet, which thankfully did its job and prevented any injuries to the driver. “The damage: full side panel, damper cover and a front corner. Did a fair bit of damage to my helmet too.” “It chipped it, it took the rear wing off the helmet, smashed the visor, covered it in rubber off his tyres. It took a bit of pain, but at the end of the day it’s better than it being my skull.” “In hindsight, I should have just used my head a bit more maturely and moved over and let him do what he wanted to do. But, at the end of the day, when you’re in the situation it’s a different

kettle of fish isn’t it? And I didn’t move over at any time last year and I didn’t end up with somebody on my head.” The stewards sided with Eastwell, with Smith being disqualified and handed several penalty points on his license. Though his car was fixable, team boss James Oldfield then decided to pull Smith’s entry for race two, seeking to avoid a second potential crash. Eastwell was also absent from the second encounter, although this was down to not having a car in a fit condition to race. B-M Racing’s David McArthur was the main beneficiary of the pair crashing out. He took his first win since 2014 and marked a successful return to FF1600 action in his Van Diemen LA10 after ending ‘17 in a scary intra-sibling crash at the Walter

Rory Smith took the second Post89 race win, holding off team-mate McArthur mid-race

1 / David McArthur / Van Diemen LA102 / Nigel Dolan / Van Diemen JL012K3 / John Ferguson / Spectrum 0124 / Rory Smith / Medina JL185 / Tom Canning / Van Diemen JL015K6 / Matthew Chisholm / Van Diemen RF007 / Andrew Thomas / Mygale GV15K8 / Seamus Wild / Swift SC92FDNF / Michael Eastwell / Spectrum 011CDNF / Alaric Gordon / Swift SC97EX / Joshua Smith / Van Diemen JL13

POLE / Michael Eastwell / 1:55.174FL / David McArthur / 1:49.747

POST 89 R A C E O N E

Hayes Trophy, which has prevented brother Tom from competing until June at the earliest. Nigel Dolan finished 12 seconds behind in second, another to end a long success drought. Reigning National Clubman Post89 champion John Ferguson finished third, a result he believed exceeded his pace. McArthur’s team-mate Rory Smith ended up fourth, holding off Tom Canning and Matthew Chisholm who were both within 0.2s of Smith as they crossed the finish line. Andrew Thomas and Seamus Wild were the other two finishers, with Wild winning Class B in his Swift SC93F. Alaric Gordon, the other Class B competitor,

failed to finish. McArthur wasn’t so lucky in the second race, retiring after seven of the 10 laps due to a gearbox problem, but B-M Racing still took victory thanks to a spirited drive by Smith. An engine issue in his Medina JL18 had held Smith back in the first race, but once that was sorted he was rapid, and so went from fourth on the grid to take his first victory by almost 4s. Dolan finished second again in his Van Diemen JL012K, with Ferguson also taking another podium in his Kevin Mills Racing-run Spectrum 012. Ferguson didn’t have as easy a time for this podium, with Canning, Chisholm and Thomas all on his tail at the

end. Wild once again took Class B honours, and as the only entrant after Gordon withdrew.

Pre90 Fifth fastest overall in qualifying and almost four seconds faster than the next best Pre90 driver, Myerscough College’s Jack Wolfenden laid down some serious credentials for the Champion of Oulton title with a dominant double win. The first of the two races was a rarity in FF1600, with an entirely non-existent lead battle. Often drivers do break away at the front, but the power of the slipstream means those behind are normally dragged back into the picture. When the lead driver is

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1 / Rory Smith / Medina JL182 / Nigel Dolan / Van Diemen JL012K3 / John Ferguson / Spectrum 0124 / Tom Canning / Van Diemen JL015K 5 / Matthew Chisholm / Van Diemen RF006 / Andrew Thomas / Mygale GV15K7 / Seamus Wild / Swift SC93FDNF / David McArthur / Van Diemen LA10DNS / Michael Eastwell / Spectrum 011CDNS / Alaric Gordon / Swift SC97DNS / Joshua Smith / Van Diemen JL13

FL / David McArthur / 1:49.821

POST 89 R A C E T W O

1/ Jack Wolfenden / Reynard FF882 / Wayne Poole / Van Diemen RF883 / Mario Sarchet / Reynard FF864 / Christopher Stones / Van Diemen RF885 / Juiceie Bruceie / Reynard FF846 / Trevor Morgan / Reynard FF887 / Stephen Bracegirdle / Van Diemen RF898 / Joshua Mason / Crossle 32F9 / Ian Ellis / Reynard FF8910 / Richard Ketterman / Reynard FF86DNF / Will Alterman / Reynard FF89DNF / Ray Smith / Van Diemen RF88DNF / Edwin Hannah / Reynard FF84DNS / Scott Rawlinson / Van Diemen RF85

FL / Jack Wolfenden / 1:51.228

PRE 90 R A C E O N E

Jack Wolfenden dominated both Pre90 races

3.5 seconds per lap faster on average though, even the strongest of slipstreams won’t have an effect. Over 11 laps, Wolfenden put 38.572s between himself and UCLAN Reynard driver Mario Sarchet. The gap extended to over 46s when Sarchet was penalised for colliding with Wayne Poole, who was promoted to second in one of his own Van Diemens. It did look like Ray Smith, in a car prepared by Poole, would take second. But an attempted move on Sarchet on the the last lap put him in the gravel and meant he failed to finish. With penalties applied Class D winner Sarchet just held on to third over Ian Ellis, with the pair leading a group of Reynard drivers. Two other drivers finished the race, with three drivers joining Smith in failing to reach the chequered flag. Wolfenden didn’t have it easy in the second race, with a safety car cutting back the

12s gap he had built over Poole in the first five laps. The lead came all the way down to 0.3s before the cars were allowed to race again, with Wolfenden left with one lap to establish his lead once again. He pulled out a second per mile to lead Poole by 2.5s, and earnt the Driver of the Day trophy in the process. Sarchet finished third once again, a few tenths short of second place. “It was good fun,” said Wolfenden, whose two wins were actually his first in FF1600. “To be fair, I was a lot more experienced than some of the other drivers in that field. I just tried to keep my head together and pull as big a gap as possible.” Wolfenden will switch to Post89 machinery and Team Dolan for the National championship, where he will be team-mate to 2016 champion Niall Murray and Northern race-winner Matt Round-Garrido.

Christopher Stones finished fourth, after retiring from the first race, with Welshman Juiceie Bruceie completing the top five. Karting graduate Joshua Mason finished ninth and eighth in the two races which, along with the Classic races at Silverstone the week before, acted as preparation for his BRDC British Formula 3 campaign this year.

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1 / Jack Wolfenden / Reynard FF882 / Wayne Poole / Van Diemen RF883 / Mario Sarchet / Reynard FF864 / Ian Ellis / Reynard FF895 / Edwin Hannah / Reynard FF846 / Will Alterman / Reynard FF897 / Juiceie Bruceie / Reynard FF848 / Trevor Morgan / Reynard FF889 / Joshua Mason / Crossle 32F10/ Stephen Bracegirdle / Van Diemen RF89DNF/ Ray Smith / Van Diemen RF88DNF / Scott Rawlinson / Van Diemen RF85DNF / Richard Ketterman / Reynard FF86

DNF / Christopher Stones / Van Diemen RF88

Pole / Jack Wolfenden / 1:56.072FL / Josh Smith / 1:14.141

PRE 90 R A C E T W O

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Nigel Dolan

Rory Smith

Matt Round-Garrido

Tom Canning

David McArthur

Matthew Chisholm

Andrew Thomas

Seamus Wild

Michael Eastwell

Alaric Gordon

Joshua Smith

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Northern Post89

54

54

48

42

38

38

33

27

4

2

0

Northern Pre90

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

Jack Wolfenden

Wayne Poole

Mario Sarchet

Juicie Bruceie

Ian Ellis

Trevor Morgan

Christopher Stones

Stephen Bracgirdle

Edwin Hannah

Joshua Mason

Will Alterman

Richard Ketterman

Ray Smith

Scott Rawlinson

70

54

48

35

32

30

24

23

22

22

20

10

4

2

Josh Smith’s Oldfield Motorsport Van Diemen sits in pit-lane, with Smith’s car being withdrawn from the second race

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