Jamun Racing star Josh Hill picked up his fourth win of the season with victory in Round 21 of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain at Donington Park. The youngster took the lead early on and coped well with the tricky conditions to take a narrow victory.
The rain began shortly before the start of the race, making it tricky for the teams to set their cars up for the changing conditions. The main driver to lose out with the conditions was pole sitter and championship contender Scott Pye, who was joined on the front row by Hill, with main title rival Scott Malvern three rows back in seventh.
He was unable to capitalise on his advantage over Malvern though, with his car not in ideal shape for the slippery conditions. Despite leading the opening lap, he was soon overtaken by Hill through the Craner Curves on lap two, before being passed by JTR Mygale driver Dan Cammish on lap three. He soon had Malvern on his tail, who had got past Tio Ellinas into fourth on the third lap. Malvern soon gained the upper hand on Pye, getting past for third on lap five.
At the front, Hill had built up a lead of nearly three seconds, but Cammish was soon catching. Reigning Scholarship class champion Cammish set the fastest lap of the race during his pursuit and by the halfway mark, he was less than a second behind the leader.
Cammish looked to find a way past, but with conditions worsening, Hill was able to fend off the challenges from behind. Behind, the man on the move was Ellinas. After dispatching Pye for fourth on lap seven, the Cypriot was able to adapt to the conditions well and get on the back of Malvern. After biding his time, Ellinas made his move on the penultimate lap, driving around the outside at Redgate to take third.
Ahead, Hill held on to take the win, his second win in consecutive meetings. Cammish followed just 0.25 seconds behind for his seventh podium of the season. Ellinas followed for fifth podium of the year. Malvern followed in fourth, finishing ahead of rival Pye for just the six time this season, in the process narrowing the gap at the top of the standings to just two points.
Garry Findlay finished as the leading Guest class finisher in sixth, ahead of Emil Bernstorff and 2010 Finnish Formula Ford Champion Antti Buri. Zaamin Jaffer recorded his best result of the season in ninth, with Frenchman Philippe Layac rounded out the top ten. In the Scholarship class, retirement for Luke Williams after contact with class rival Tristan Mingay forced him into retirement, with Mingay able to continue to take the win and in the process the class championship lead.
Photo credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
