Caterhams and the Formula Ford Festival

[alfaman]

A couple of months ago I started a thread about "re-vamping the Formula Ford Festival".

Anyone who's read this week's AUTOSPORT (Nov14) will have seen the article about Caterham joining forces with the FFF to have a mini Caterham festival within the FF festival....

I've never been to the Caterham festival but I've read here and elsewhere how good it is.

I think to combine the Caterhams with the Formula Fords in a meeting puts together 2 of the closest racing categories around. And I hope it's a recipe for success.

The BRSCC says the programme will still have Zetecs, FF1600, Historic FF etc plus the Caterham races.

I think something needed to be done about the festival with this year's Zetec entry being on the disappointing side but the current huge interest in FF1600 could have seen as many heats and semis etc for these as for the Zetec runners next year.

It's good to see the BRSCC doing something about it and I for one will be there next year.

But I hope that the Formula Fords (in their various forms)do continue to be the main attraction at the meeting rather than becoming a side show.

If I was organising the Festival I would remove the T-cars and, sad to say, the Open Saloons from the programme and make sure there are no clashes with the HSCC, 750MC or Knockhill meetings so the only place that Formula Fords can race that weekend is at Brands Hatch.

Maybe next year is a toe in the water exercise and I hope it will be a huge success.

But after 30 odd years I wouldn't want to see the FF Festival start to sink without trace.

Just imagine October with no Festival - how sad is that??

[Stephen Green]

It is my understanding that the Caterhams will still have their own 'Festival' as they have done over the past two years and that this will be a few extra races within the FF Festival for them. You are correct in saying it will provide one of the best 'race' meetings of the year and as always I will be there to thoroughly enjoy it!

[JR Ewing]

Having the Caterhams will be enough to put me off and, I suspect, others too.
Why not build on the 1600s, have a Club Zetec Cup for drivers who competed in, say six Northern, Southern or 750MC races, and bring in the FF2000s for a race??
I'm not anti-Caterham at all but I find single seaters exciting and sports cars boring.

[Ian Sowman]

I personally find it hard to understand how someone can say 'sports cars are boring' (or single seaters, or saloons). Each branch of racing has its good championships and its dross. I love FFord, especially 1600, but F3 races (rather than the championship) were very often dull. Equally, I find GTs sleep-inducing but love Caterham racing. Each to their own I suppose.

To the Festival: it's important that there are no clashing FFord races. My own feelings are that the Festival should have knock-outs for all Zetecs and all Kents. No separate races for the various championships, that isn't what it's all about. The clubman should be competing alongside the aspiring F1 driver.

[verglas]

well said Ian. The Festival should be about F Ford, as it always has, without distractions such as T Cars, Radicals and Global Lights. There were enough Kents this year to replicate the good old days. Lets put pressure on the BRSCC to have heats, quarter and semi finals with finals for each discipline. As for the Caterhams, would there be space for them if all the Zetecs and Kents were there?