FF Festival: Foster, Browne and Dempsey Lead Tight Qualifying

The Formula Ford Festival revs into action this weekend, with three returning champions joining the stellar 70 car field in the blistery October conditions at Brands Hatch. The bloated grid means the drivers were split into three heats, with Qualifying taking place this morning.

Double Festival champion Joey Foster led the way in the opening qualiftying, setting a personal best of 50.327 in the Firman 2018. Foster was the only one of the champions to take pole as both Josh Smith and Niall Murray struggled in their respective groups.

The surprise of qualifying came in the second session with Jonathan Browne beating fellow Festival regulars in Heat 2 with the fastest time of the morning; a 50.324. This just left the talent packed third heat, dominated by the Dempsey’s, as Jordan took pole ahead of Peter.

Heat 1

Pole: Joey Foster – N/A – Firman 2018

The return of 2014 Scottish Formula Ford champion Ciaren Haggerty immediately saw a return on his investment, topping the early part of qualifying. Though as the sun came out, as did Joey Foster’s form, quickly dethrowning the Scot. A red flag caused by Tom Hawkins brought a temporary stop to the session, as Max Marzorati surprised many with a late lap to go second behind Foster. This pushed Haggerty to third with the #21 of Josh Green impressing for Team USA Scholarship.

The surprise of the session was Josh Smith, the defending champion returned late after the red flag, as the team frantically worked on his engine. A dismal qualifying will see him line up in ninth. The top historic runner was Australian Peter Lucas in fifteenth, driving the Van Diemen RF88 in Super Classic B.

Heat 2

Pole: Johnathan Browne – Cliff Dempsey Racing – Ray GR19

I dice between Johnathan Browne and Luke Cooper would define much of the session, with Browne finding the edge not just on Cooper, but Foster’s Heat 1 time, by 0.18. Going into the session, Michael Eastwell was many peoples favourites for the pole, but would end up on the high side of the second row as Ross Martin put in a late lap to go third.

Johnathan Browne, racing for Cliff Dempsey Racing was the surprise of qualfying, as his fellow Cliff Dempsey runners featured further down the top ten. In the Canada vs USA Scholarship battle, Zachary Vanier of Canada qualified seventh, two places ahead of American Bryce Adam. They were split by the Mondaile M89S of Alan Davidson, the highest historic class driver.

Heat 3

Pole: Jordan Dempsey – Kevin Mills Racing – Spectrum 011D

Heat 3 proved to be the story of Jordan Dempsey, topping the times for much of the session. The Kevin Mills Racing driver was consistently lapping under the 50.9’s and the only driver to do so. Dempsey’s final time of  50.732 was 0.203 seconds faster than the opposition, a surprise in a session with both Rory Smith and Niall Murray. It proved to be Dempsey 1-2 as a late lap by Peter jumped the Cliff Dempsey Racing driver up to second in the dying stages.

This left Oliver White to line up as best of the rest in third as double champion Murray settled for fourth on his return to Team Dolan. Rounding out the top six was Scott Huffaker and Rory Smith, as Henry Campbell led the historic’s in tenth. Notably, it proved to be the slowest of all the sessions.

The Heats will be Live Streamed on motorsport.radio here.