Formula Ford

DW Racing to run Works Sprints

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DW Racing, run by Dan Woodrow, have been selected to run the new works Spirit chassis in the British Formula Ford Champion. The 2009 Ford Fiesta Champion, David Ellesley, will be the teams lead driver for the forthcoming season.

David commented about joining the team as lead driver, saying: “This will certainly be a first for me, and it’s all very exciting. I have a lot to learn about Formula Ford but I’ve joined a team with huge experience and that will benefit me greatly. Formula Ford is where I want to be, and this is a cost-effective option for me. Hopefully I can bring something to the team to help them with their plans for a new car.”

The chassis that Ellesley will use is the 2007 Sprint, and it will be run by DW Racing and Steve Wills, the marques founding father. Steve said this about the new chassis: “We are building a new chassis for next year, and we need to do some serious development work, which is how the deal with David came about. We need to get back out there, have a good time and give it a good go… The car has the potential but has never really had much of a chance to show it. I have just acquired the rights back to the design from MTEC in Finland so we can do a proper job and Dan is the man!”

Dan Woodrow is also understandably happy about the deal, and commented: “With Steve concentrating on the chassis development; that will free me up to look at engine development. We will start the season with Scholar engines but will have our own ‘Woodrow’ tuned engines around May time. We have had problems with outsourcing engines, so building our own engines should give David and our team an advantage over the competition.”

The first outing in the 2007 Sprint chassis went well and without trouble for Ellesley, even though the team had limited running due to the weather at Snetterton. Ellesley set times close to the wet times which the previous front runners had set. Both Dan and Steve were in attendance, to ensure the test went well.

Ellesley will be back out at Oulton Park on the 10th March, with some new development parts being put on the car, ready for the switch to the new Dunlop tyre, while the new tuned 'Woodrow' engine won;t be available until May.

David had this to say about the test: “Today was big day for me, although I had to wait a while to get the car out on track because of the weather, I really felt that I made the most of the time we had and came up with some good ideas for improvements in both my driving style and the car. I must admit it would have been much nicer in those conditions to have a roof over my head and some windscreen wipers, but it was a great experience and should set me in good form for any wet or intermediate conditions.”

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