Formula Ford Challenge Series
NJ / Glen / Dominion --- Recap
Well that was some crunch – New Jersey, The Glen and Dominion in five weeks. For those who made all three, it was a serious challenge (especially if you have a real job to fit in) – and provides a taste of what it must be like to work in the Circus. We've got the same schedule for 2017, too!
Great grid for New Jersey, 23 cars, up from 16 in 2015 – must have been Christian’s Formula 40th Birthday Bash that brought everybody out (or more likely the feast!). Still think we can do better - Lightning is a great Ford track - fast, safe, requiring momentum and with plenty of passing opportunities. We have always been graced with good weather at this event, and 2016 was no different – dry and warm, if a little windy. It was also really good to welcome back Jane and Garry Tapp from Colorado in beautifully prepared Winkleman and Merlyn, and Claude Gagne from Ontario in a “working man’s” Lotus 61 – sort of a little less tidy than Christian’s 69!
The first sessions set the tone for the weekend with Joe and Leon going hard and Christian settling himself in. Dan Finocchiaro has found some great speed and was best of the rest, not too far behind. Tom LaCosta, debuting a newly restored early Titan, was hot out of the box behind Dan. We all celebrated Christian’s 40th on Friday night with the most beautiful beef barbeque cooked on Graham’s Rube Goldberg smoker system. What possessed him to build a smoker that feeds 100 we just don't know . . . but we are grateful.
By the time of the Challenge race Denny had replaced Leon in the Zink, Christian had found his sea legs and we had a number of two and three car scraps throughout the field. At the front, Joe set off with Christian on his tail, waiting patiently for the last lap pass opportunity, which was not to be. Joe's typically spectacular sideways style got a little more sideways than planned as he left the dance floor, tripped on the carpet and deranged his car, allowing Christian past for an easy victory. The real tussle was for second between Dan and Denny, with the position changing hands 5 times before Dan prevailed, leaving Denny to fend off Tom who was going like a rocket just 0.3 seconds behind. So class wins went to Dan (FF), Denny (CF) and Christian (HF and overall). Graham won the Stonebridge Cryogenics Hard Charger award, finishing in 8th place in spite of his 80 hp anchor motor.
Three weeks later we set off to do it all over again at Watkins Glen, on our new week-earlier date – historically the same weekend as the old F1 race. Stuck on 23 Royale entrants, we had two new racers - Tony Hess from PA in a beautiful Merlyn 17 and Kevin Young from Ontario in a Crossle 20F. The turnout was a bit disappointing considering the newly-paved surface, better date and great track. Its the place everybody loves but nobody goes – and we need to change that. The Right Coast Formula Ford Series was our guest this weekend as well. We thank Joe Marcinski and his gang for their support of this event. Friday’s party was a fun time with Chris persuading Van to cook up a storm of chicken on the first outing for the newly-acquired Royale charcoal grill, which handled beautifully after adjusting the front roll bar. It was good to see more VRG members joining us and particularly to welcome a contingent of the Right Coast guys with some spouses.
Saturday brought a change in weather, with a chilly rain, often around the time of our sessions. We made the best of it anyway; it was quite fun to see the RCFFS guys put on their rain tires and have a real go. Signs of the season end were all around on Saturday. Andrew's engine expired in the rain, Dan's clutch release bearing failed, and Chris's FV, driven by son Josh, lost a valve.
Trusting the weather forecasters,everybody showed up on the Sunday morning grid ready for a dry race. A mist, then real rain, glossed the cold track, catching out the many RCFFS racers who chose slicks. This entertained the spectators and gave the Royale drivers some quarter; Frank Newton and Kevin Young led the charge, finishing best in the wet.
By late morning the stone-cold track dried, and the somewhat thinned field came out for the Royale Feature Race, which had been rescheduled from Saturday. Bernard takes up the story - “We rolled around to the start pretty neatly lined up thanks to old hand Don Denomme on pole. At the green either Don hesitated or I got a flyer and by turn one I was able to slot into the lead. Checking the mirror, Don and Nigel seemed to be having a difference of opinion on right of way so I figured to get my head down, do a Montoya on cold tires and if we stayed on the black should be in good shape for the pack to do the chasing. I kept checking the mirrors waiting for them to arrive but could see no one in sight. Lap two, down into turn one a mirror check showed no one in sight behind. I figured that must be 10 seconds – unheard of – so I needed to concentrate, go steady and hit my marks and a win was on the cards. After a few laps I started to wonder how long the race was, then remembered some idiot – me - had persuaded Mike Lawton to extend the race to ten laps from eight as we had lost so much time over the weekend to rain and black flags. So a couple of laps remonstrating with myself for extending the race before getting back to the job in hand. Don’t fall off….don’t fall off.” Meantime, Frank Newton had shot from fifth to second and turned fastest lap of the race. Had Bernard convinced Mike to make it a 12 lap race, things could have been different. Frank won the The Stonebridge Cryogenics Hard Charger award for his great drive, but was relegated to 18th for allegedly missing the checker (which was a rare flagging error, we believe). This elevated Nigel to an excellent 2nd, with Don falling down to fifth before passing Kevin Young late in the race finally for 3rd. HF win to BB – a great 70th birthday present, Club Class to Nigel and no FF winner, as Dan was long gone with the broken Crossle.
Eleven days later it was time for a last gasp at Dominion. Chris gave his RP16 to Josh to drive and tried to put together his RP36– but the motor he was told was good was bad! Caveat emptor is never more true than with race car purchases. Borrowing a bottom end from Joe, he worked late into every night and got it together enough to sort-of finish at the track. Andrew also cobbled together a working motor from spares. Joe, who was not going to run, managed to bolt the Crossle back together after the New Jersey misdemeanor. Doug Meis had a new Quicksilver engine in and out of the Lola several times the week of Dominion as he tried to get the clutch operating. Generally it was a bedraggled lot who arrived to do battle with many cars on their last legs after a long season.
This was the inaugural vintage meeting at Dominion and there was some trepidation. Much had been achieved since the last track inspection, and as the weekend wore on lists were compiled of what additionally needed doing. We had 16 entries, welcoming back a small VDCA contingent we had not seen since The Jefferson. First impressions were daunting, with an a jersey barrier concrete tunnel from the exit of turn 1 through turn 2, and a surprisingly bumpy track given it was new tarmac - particularly the Big Esses and the entry to Mudd Tavern, the last corner. As focus switched from obstacles to track the times came tumbling down, with a four second gain from open to close. Unsurprisingly Doug Meis, Scott Fairchild, Leon Austin and Joe Griffin set the pace, although Joe had a precarious relationship with the Mudd Tavern turn, as the author passed Joe pointing the wrong way neatly parked on the exit on several occasions!
We celebrated a successful first day with our barbecue, and guest grillmaster (and grill cleaner) Stewart Bartley, whose Lotus frame is currently under repair. The last barbecue of the year also meant the awarding of the Shoemaker Cup, to the person who has best displayed the highest standards of vintage racing spirit. Determined by the last two winners, Joe Griffin and Van VanDeurzen, this year's deserving recipient was Bernard Bradpiece, who accepted the Cup modestly and with deference to others. It was typical Bernard – thoughtful and generous.
On Saturday, Stewart was also good enough to bring down his beautiful low mileage 365GTB for pace car duties, but the Dominion powers-that-be had other ideas – it could be be used, but only if driven by the official pace car driver. Knowing the car to be a powerful beast that's easily spun by those unaccustomed, Stewart wisely withdrew the Ferrari from pace car consideration. The Royale race that followed was a return of the Scott and Doug show. Doug led off but was soon passed by Scott , who led every lap with Joe gamely hanging on in third but just not able to make up the 20 yards to get on terms. For those of us watching it was clear that Doug was waiting – every time they came down the front straight, Doug tucked in Scott’s slipstream without attempting to pass. Denny had a lonely race in fourth with Dave Fairchild slipping back towards the clutches of Paul Buttrose, who in turn was being hounded by Andrew Stein. Behind this group Tom LaCosta was making steady progress closing in on Andrew for the HF battle. And so into the last lap they went, on the pit wall we waited with baited breath and they came out of Mudd Corner with Doug using all his fresh Quicksilver power to make it across the line by 0.4 seconds. Andrew hung on for the HF class award. Bill Gaudreau in his first run out for a long time took the Stonebridge Cryogenics Hard Charger award.
One last task for the season. After the race award ceremony, Bernard presented the overall awards for the year. The winners of the trophies so creatively crafted by Graham Long were - Tom LaCosta winning HF and the Geoff Clarke Trophy, Storm Field wining Club Class and The John Webb Trophy, and Dan winning FF and the Ralph Firman Trophy. Overall winner of the Royale Cup was Storm Field with the largest points haul, largely from the most race starts and finishes of the Series – as it should be. And suddenly it was done, the last awards after the last Royale Challenge race of the inaugural season.
VRG as a whole had a terrific weekend virtually without incident. The track grew on the drivers as the weekend wore on, having a longish front straight followed by a highly technical section that certainly sorted the men from the boys. The owner has undertaken to make major improvements for next year to barriers, run offs, track surface, bathrooms, paddock etc . . . which will turn the place into a fine track. All our thanks should go to Jim Karamanis and his team, who had to make stuff up on the fly and with limited facilities for the meeting to work – and it worked seamlessly.
We have come a long way since VRG was formed and HF/CF spec tire group was created. Special thanks to Steve Hyatt, who persuaded and encouraged Royale Racing into creating a 45th Anniversary of Formula Fords series and Bill Hollingsworth for maintaining the momentum; without them this grassroots effort would never have taken flight. The fruits of everyone’s labor can be seen clearly, with steadily improving turnouts and genuine camaraderie both off and on the track. Together, we all make this series a very fun place to be.
Now on to 2017!
--- Royale Formula Ford Challenge Committee
info@formulafordchallengeseries.com
The slow corner onto the front straight combined with Scott getting an excellent launch on every lap meant that I could not quite get into his draft and there were no other opportunities to attempt a pass anywhere else. In my helmet, I was thinking: "C'mon, Scott, just make one mistake. That's all I need." Coming onto the start/finish straight for the last lap I got my wish as Scott missed the 1-2 shift and it was just enough to get into his draft and make the move for the lead going into T1. I kept it clean on the last lap and that was game, set and match. 
