Memories from Formula Ford Festival greats

Marcos Ambrose - 1998

The Supercars champion and NASCAR race winner has a unique link to Formula Ford. The Van Diemen brand was co-founded by his father Ross, the name a nod to the family’s home state of Tasmania in Australia. A fairytale Festival win in a factory Van Diemen beckoned for Ambrose in 1998, only for Jenson Button and the slightest of tactical miscalculations to intervene.

“I knew Jenson would have car speed on me. I had the lead and I was covering my lines really tightly. On that short Brands Hatch layout, you can basically hold the inside line the whole way around. It was a tense race and he was trying everything to get past, but I could check every move. I was being pig-headed, I was defending about as hard as you can defend.

“Then he did something amazing. He pulled back about three car lengths. I thought I had him. There was a lap or two to go, and I thought, ‘I can get on the racing line, open the corners up and pull away from him’. But he was still sitting in my draft. I thought I’d broken it but I hadn’t. And when I went that half a car-width wider to get a better run onto the front straight, he filled that hole and hit my pod.

“Once we hit, I went through the gravel trap and into the tyre wall. He went on to win the race with a bent, but not broken, front end. He had pulled back on purpose so that I would make the mistake of taking a wider line. He baited me on that one, lured me into a false sense of security.

“When I look back, it was on me. I could have won that race. Jenson outsmarted me on the day and good for him. But I was upset at the time. There was a lot riding on it. The guy who won the Festival nearly always went on to bigger and better things. A year and a bit later Jenson was in an F1 car at the Australian Grand Prix. That’s how fast it can happen if you get your breaks. Ultimately it didn’t make or break my career, but at the time it was a hard pill to swallow, it felt like a gamechanger.

“I was on the losing side, but it gave me a lot of confidence that I was one of the best in the category at the time. That Festival taught me a lot about who I was and where I wanted to go as a driver.”

Julian Bailey, Western Model Cars, Lola T640 Minister

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Julian Bailey - 1982

Julian Bailey and Mauricio Gugelmin had ‘previous’ heading into the Festival. Bailey had won the Townsend Thoresen FF1600 title at the wheel of his Lola run by the late Dave Morgan, while works Van Diemen driver Gugelmin had won the RAC crown at the Snetterton finale in controversial circumstances when he took Bailey off. The Brit describes what happened at the Festival as “retribution”.

“Mauricio has since told me that at Snetterton he had a special nosecone fitted, which was indestructible. I lifted slightly at Riches, he hit me and I was off – that put paid to my chances.

“I was confident going into the Festival, and I led every lap through my heat, quarter-final, semi-final and the final. I was a bit upset when he caught me, though [with three laps remaining, after Bailey had pulled out a gap while Gugelmin worked his way past Rick Morris for second]. I could see him in my mirrors, and he kept coming and coming. As it turned out, we later found there was a crack in the gearbox, and that led me to fall back towards him, but I had it all under control.

“Then I saw him coming sideways, out of control [into Clearways]. He led briefly, just about… But he clipped my left-front wheel and went into the barriers upside-down. It was the Festival, he went for it and it didn’t pay off. The Lola was notoriously breakable, shall we say, and how my wheel didn’t come off in the last two laps I don’t know. I was worried it was going to break – the impact had almost taken it off.

“That win was instrumental in me going forward. I got a prize Formula 3 drive at Thruxton [in a Murray Taylor Racing Ralt], but I didn’t get on with Ralts in general and me and Murray didn’t see eye
to eye, but because of that win I got BP backing for Formula Ford 2000.

“The funny thing is our rivalry continued all the way to F3000. I won at Brands [in 1987] with Mauricio second, and I got a bit more backing from Cavendish Finance. John Webb [Brands boss] was there with
Ken Tyrrell and I’m sure that helped me get the F1 drive for 1988.”

Wayne Boyd, Duratec Formula Ford

Photo by: Jeff Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Wayne Boyd - 2008 & 2015

Wayne Boyd sprung to prominence with a starring performance as a 16-year-old in the 2007 Kent Festival and won the main event for Duratec cars a year later in a Jamun-run Mygale SJ08. Seven years after that, the Northern Irishman claimed another victory aboard a Kent-powered Medina Sport Van Diemen MS13K.

"Winning the Festival at 16 would have been a fairytale. The diplomatic way of describing how I felt when I was taken out of the lead by Peter Dempsey would be to say I was disappointed. I'm not sure he was very happy about being beaten by a 16-year-old! But to go over there at the end of my first year of racing and do what I did definitely opened doors.

"A year later I messed up qualifying after forgetting to put my earplugs in. I'd left them in the track, and just didn't get it together. I ended up fifth, which made it more interesting. I don't remember much about the heat, but I know I was third.

"My starts hadn't been strong that year, but I'd put in a bit of practice in Festival week and in my semi I got past [Rogier] de Wit away from the line and switched back to take [Chris] Maliepaard on the way up to Druids. That was it really.

"I probably made my best start of the season in the final. At the end of the first lap, I was more than a second up. Nick Percat behind me had a puncture and held everyone up. It was a joy to see the pack getting smaller in my mirrors.

"During the time I didn't race full-time, I always tried to gather up a bit of sponsorships to do the Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone. That was partly because I love those races and would do them again if I had the chance, but also in the hope that it could lead to something.

"The 2015 final was similar to '08. Stephen Daly damaged his bodywork against the back of my car on the way up to Druids on the first lap and held everyone else up.

"My game plan at the Festival was always to get into the lead and do a really good first lap to avoid getting involved in what's going on behind. It worked perfectly again.

"That race was massively important in resurrecting my career. I'd known Richard Dean for years and he asked me if I'd be interested in having a talk about United Autosport's LMP3 plans. He hasn't been able to get rid of me since."

Dave Coyne, Swift FB90 leads Fionn Murray, Fulmar with Formula Services, Reynard FF90

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Dave Coyne - 1990

A veteran of Formula Ford, Dave Coyne had claimed two FF1600 championship titles with Van Diemen in 1984. With his career stalled due to lack of finance, he led the Swift attack in the late 1980s. In 1990, he had raced a Swift in Formula Renault UK before stepping back for the Festival.

“Frank [Bradley, Swift boss] got me back in for the Festival and got an entry, although I think [Brands impresario] John Webb tried to stop it. Swift had been having a bad time money-wise, and I think that meeting actually saved them, because Frank sold Swift shortly afterwards to Brian Holmes [of Auto Windscreens].

“John Webb basically hated me – all he ever wanted to do was put me down. I’d put two wheels over the kerb at Paddock in qualifying [allegedly under yellow flags] and I was not just at the back of the grid, but with a 10-second penalty. He was trying to rule me out of it.

“The Swift in the wet was fantastic – we had it properly set up for that weekend – but it wasn’t quick enough to win in the dry. It was a bit overweight compared to the Van Diemen, and we struggled
a bit in the heat and quarter-final. But the semi-final [which Coyne started from 18th on the grid] was damp. It was just one of those races that happen sometimes, and everything clicked. That was probably one of the best drives of my life looking back at it now – that’s in my top three or four special wins.

“I led the final for four laps, but Van Diemen had got Niko Palhares back to try and do exactly what I was there for with Swift. He came past, and I thought I’d follow him and slipstream him and try and get away from the others. He led for three or four laps and then his car stopped [with an electrical problem].

“Then I was hanging on until the death. I had Jean-Christophe Boullion behind; I was always about 13 stone two when I was in Formula Ford, and he must have been nine and a half. When your engines are only 103/4bhp that’s massive. I just had to put the car in the right places on the track, and I managed to hold him off and win in the dry.”

Derek Daly, Hawke DL15 Minister

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Derek Daly - 1976

An enforced switch from the Hawke DL15 to the prototype DL17 paid dividends for Derek Daly at the end of a "hit and miss" season in which he stared out in a Van Diemen. He dominated the Festival, winning his heat, quarter-final and semi before easing to a four-second victory in the Final.

"A weird set of circumstances came together for me to win the Festival. About a month before I destroyed my DL15 at the Esses at Mallory Park when the throttle stuck open. Everything was pancaked and I collapsed after the marshals pulled me out of the car In my mind, I was packing up and going back to Ireland. I didn't have the money to repair the car.

"I was at the Hawke factory when I saw the prototype DL17 sitting in the corner doing nothing. The DL15 had terrible understeer, so David Lazenby [the designer] had come up with the idea to push the engine six inches forward. Mike Keegan, Rupert's dad, owned Hawke, so I decided to go to his house and ask if I could use it.

"Mike was so taken aback that I'd knocked on his door that he said yes. I put my Minister engine and gearbox in the thing and found some DL15 bodywork to give me something to finish the season in.

"It was pissing with rain for the Festival weekend, and the forward weight distribution of that car and some soft springs made it perfect for the conditions. And I was pretty good in the wet in those days.

"I made one mistake all weekend: coming out of Druids early in my heat, I did a 360 in front of everyone. After that, it was just execute, execute, execute all the way to the final. I remember it was getting dark, so they cut the laps down from 15 to 10, but I got a great start and dominated.

"The Festival was the launch pad of my career — the rocketship had taken off. I always remember the headline in Autosport: Squadron Leader Daly.

"A year before I was racing at Kirkistown and someone said I should ask this bloke drinking at the bar called Derek McMahon for sponsorship. He told me, "I need you like a hole in the head" and then just turned back to the bar to finish his pint.

"Three or four days after the Festival, 'Big D', as he was known, rang to ask me to meet him at the British Racing Drivers' Club dinner-dance at the Dorchester Hotel and told me he was going to buy me a Formula 3 Chevron. Not much more than a year later I was in F1."

Festival winner Johnny Herbert, celebrates victory

Photo by: Sutton Images

Johnny Herbert - 1985

The manner of Herbert's Festival victory helped propel him to Formula 1 in little more than three years. He crashed in qualifying, but second place in his semi-final put his Quest-Ivey 85FF on the outside of the front row for the final from where he dominated to take the win from Jonathan Bancroft's Van Diemen.

"The short-wheelbase Quest seemed to suit Brands, but more important was the lack of anything decent in the way of a straight. The car was a bit of an aerodynamic brick and used to give the Van Diemens a big slipstream, but when I was behind them I gained very little. I seemed to give away three or four cars' lengths when I was following a Van Diemen.

"The car had been very nervous at Paddock that year, but we really worked on the damping leading up to the race. That quietened the car down under braking and allowed me to carry a lot more speed through the corner and up to Druids. In testing that week I'd gone under the lap record, and suddenly everyone started talking about me as one of the favourites.

"As I started my first flying lap in qualifying, I remember looking up to Druids and telling myself to wait until a dry line appeared before going for it. I turned in at Paddock and around she went. I just lost concentration and ended up wrapping the car in catch fencing.

"It was a bit embarrassing and I felt really bad for the team because we'd been making the car better and better, and now it looked like it was all gone. I remember coming back to the pits and the Van Diemen guys were more or less rolling around in laughter. Their main threat was gone; the only question now was which Van Diemen was going to win.

"Thankfully Mike [Thompson, who ran Quest] managed to get me out in the Pre-'74 qualifying session to do the three laps I needed. That's why I started with the 10s penalty: I qualified out of session.

"I knew that to win the Festival, there were only five or six drivers I had to beat, people like Paolo Carcasci, Damon [Hill] and Mark [Blundell] and [Bertrand] Gachot. That made coming through the field pretty easy: I knew in my head that I was faster than everyone else.

"My confidence was growing at that stage of my career and it continued to grow during Festival week. Coming through to sixth in the heat, proved we could still do it.

"I got into the lead in the final from the outside of the front row. That was my favoured spot because the track is flatter: pole is in the dip. Jonathan had a couple of tries for the lead, but I knew they were going to be half tries. I didn't close the door, because I knew he wasn't going to launch it up the inside. I was only thinking about the empty road ahead of me.

"I didn't realise at the time just how important it was for my career. To win the Festival in the way I did from the back had a wow factor about it."

Festival winner Jan Magnussen, celebrates victory

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Jan Magnussen - 1992

The future sportscar star came from the back of his heat aboard a Foundation Racing Van Diemen-Auriga RF92 to claim Festival victory. But it was for a pair of around-the-outside moves on the Swifts of Oliver Gavin and Neil Cunningham at Paddock in the final that his victory is remembered.

"Losing the time in qualifying was a big blow. The reason we were underweight was that we'd got the Duckhams sponsorship at the last minute and were running a new set of bodywork that was lighter than what we'd been running because it had been repaired so many times.

"I didn't lose faith, especially after I came through to finish second in my heat even with a 10s penalty. I didn't feel sad for long.

"I'd like to say that I was keeping one eye on the final and didn't push too hard in the quarters and semis on Sunday, but that would make me sound cleverer than I was. It was wet with drying line and the Swift was definitely a better car in those conditions, but it also removed one of the advantages we had in the dry. We had a way of machining the tyres to give us a bigger contact patch.

"Looking back it needed to be dry for the final if I was going to win. Thankfully it was. I remember having a trial run with the move on the outside line at Paddock. I finished the final with a big mark on the nose, which I've still got at my kart track. I think it was Gavin the lap before I got him for the lead.

"The reason for going the long away around is that no expects that move. The idea is that you get so far alongside that they can't open up the corner. That's how I made it work both times.

"Olly came back at me on the outside of Druids and I went wide with him. We both got onto the damp part of the track and went off. Neil got past us and I had to do it all over again.

"Winning the Festival didn't really create opportunities for me the following year because I stayed with Foundation for the Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries, but it gave me a pedigree that was very important in my career."

Nick Tandy, Duratecs

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Nick Tandy - 2006-07

The future Le Mans winner was involved in the most dramatic final of the Duratec era in 2006. He won in the wet after a stunning drive through the field, then had victory taken away before getting his reward a year later.

“In 2006, the JTR Ray was working really well at Brands Indy and we were the quickest in the wet and the dry. The thing that defined the final was that the fastest semi drew pole and we’d had a safety car so I had to start on the outside of the front row. Nathan [Freke] got the pole and got in front. If we’d had pole we’d have cleared off.

“Nathan really didn’t want to let us get in front. I’ll never forget it – he had to do it and I don’t really blame him as it was the Festival final – but he blatantly drove me off the track at Druids. I hit the barriers and it damaged the rear toe link, so on the next couple of laps I spun because the rear was steering itself. Then I realised what was wrong and that I needed to take it a bit easier.

“I had no idea where I was or how much time was left. I made a move on Marc Murray, I think, we touched and I spun. As that happened, the safety car came out. Not knowing how much of the race was left and with cars all over the place, I thought I might be able to pass a couple of people and regain my position. As it turned out, I could have stayed where I was and still won the race. I was surprised how easy they were to pick off – we just seemed to have a pace advantage over everyone.

“It was mixed emotions. Crossing the line to win after everything that had happened was overwhelming, but then we started a discussion in the stewards’ room…

“It was different in 2007. We didn’t have the pace and Callum [Macleod] in the Mygale was much quicker. All he had to do was not make a mistake but behind the safety car he brake-tested me and I hit the back of his car. We both carried on, but the race director took a dim view and penalised him.

“We deserved to win in 2006 but it was taken away because of others – though I don’t disagree with the penalty – and winning in 2007 was vindication for the work and effort we put in.”

Contributors: Andrew van Leeuwen, Marcus Simmons, Kevin Turner and Gary Watkins