24/06/2010 - Castle Combe Weekend goes with a Bang!
The Juno Formula Ford cars experienced a difficult weekend at Castle Combe for Rounds 9 and 10 of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain.
After limited running in testing, the Juno team moved into Qualifying with optimism for both drivers, Luke Williams; the Scholarship Championship leader, and 2009 Formula Ford Festival Champion Chrissy Palmer, standing in for the injured Jake Green for his first appearance of the season and a reunion with his old team.
Tyre issues hampered Luke Williams progress and he struggled to get to grips with the balance of his car resulting in a lower starting position towards the back of the grid.
A collision between two other cars left debris on the track, which caused a puncture for Chrissy, who was running strongly in the top 10 at the time. The slow lap to the pits, a quick tyre change and time lost regaining heat in his tyres resulted in a disappointing 16th on the grid, but happy with his set up and the car the team looked forwards to the racing in hot and sunny conditions.
In Race 1 both cars made strong starts and overtook a number of competitors. However Luke’s race was short lived when an Alternator failure put him out of the race after just three laps, which was a huge disappointment and a blow to his scholarship aspirations.
Chrissy battled a damaged dog ring in his gearbox to make his way into the top 10 and an eventual 10th place finish. Once again happy with the car he rued the missed opportunity to finish higher, but without the ability to change into 4th gear properly he drove a very good race.
It was role reversal in Race 2 as Chrissy did not finish, after a brake problem caused him to lose pace and then crash out of the race in spectacular fashion after 7 laps. The race was red flagged as the marshals and medical teams were on hand to remove him from the cockpit and recover the heavily damaged car from the barriers. Bruised, Chrissy was taken to the medical centre where he was given a clean bill of health, but for a knock to his hand. The Juno Chassis doing a good job in protecting him in the accident.
At the restart Luke fought his way up to tail home the leaders and finish a close second in the scholarship battle, after he bravely fought off a challenge from Dani Domit earlier in the race. In the circumstances, with tyre problems Luke drove a mature race, to keep his lead in the championship, all be it a reduced one.
The team now has a few weeks until the next meeting at Rockingham in July, they will be busy rebuilding the second chassis ready to be back on the pace and heading to the front.
