Dan Cammish kicked off the 2013 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain in perfect style with a dominant triple win in the opening rounds at Brands Hatch.
On the inaugural weekend of racing for the new ‘slicks and wings’ Formula Ford EcoBoost 200’s, Cammish was truly unbeatable, taking a clean sweep on the pole positions and race wins on the championship’s return to the BTCC support package.
Cammish’s main threat came from record-breaking 2011 champion Scott Malvern, the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award finalist making a last-minute, one-weekend return to the championship with Jamun Racing.
After battling severe cramp and a sleet shower to secure a lights to flag success in the opening race, Cammish found himself in a real battle in race two with Malvern. After preserving his tyres at the start, Malvern set loose, closing down Cammish’s near four second lead.
Despite immense pressure from the former champion over the final few laps, Cammish held on to take his second win by less than half a second, which he followed up with a third lights-to flag success in the weekend’s final race, the Leeds-based racer winning by nearly three seconds.
“This is about as good as it gets,” said Cammish. “It’s something I may never experience again in my career; I’ve topped every practice, led every lap… It’s unbelievable really. I thought I had it in me, I was confident, but I didn’t really dare hope it would all go that well. The car was fantastic, and all thanks to JTR for that.”
The opening race ended in a JTR one-two, with American Camren Kaminsky battling his way through to secure second after early front-runners, Jamun duo Luke Williams and Malvern both hit trouble, with severe tyre wear dropping Williams to fifth at the finish, while Malvern was forced to retire with mechanical problems.
Essex-racer George Blundell took the final podium place in third, while a great drive from Lassi Halminen saw the Falcon Motorsport driver fight back from an early spin to take fourth. Williams finished ahead of his Jamun team-mate Nico Maranzana, who took the Scholarship class honours.
Maranzana had more joy in race two, the Argentinian benefiting from an alternator failure forcing Williams into retirement to take third place and a podium finish in only his second ever car race. A late clash between Halminen and Kaminsky, which ended with them both in the Paddock Hill gravel trap, gifted Blundell fourth ahead of guest driver, Autosport journalist Ben Anderson, with Falcon’s Harrison Scott completing the top six.
Williams put his disappointment in the first two races behind him to take a well-deserved podium in race three, the Sowerby-based driver taking second early on and holding it for the remainder of the race, with Kaminsky returning to the podium in third.
Maranzana secured a Scholarship class hat-trick in fourth overall, but it didn’t come without drama, first lap contact with his team-mate Malvern dropping the latter to the back. Although he was able to fight back to eighth, it was a disappointing end to a frustrating weekend, the only positive being a second place and new lap record in race two.
Halminen took fifth meanwhile, as Anderson completed the top six after getting the better of a long duel with Blundell.
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Provisional Formula Ford GB Championship Standings (After Rd.3):
- Dan Cammish – 91pts
- Nico Maranzana – 64pts
- George Blundell – 64pts
- Camren Kaminsky – 51pts
- Harrison Scott – 48pts
- Luke Williams – 47pts
- Scott Malvern – 45pts
- James Abbott – 44pts
- Lassi Halminen – 42pts
- Andrew Richardson – 36pts
