August 15, 2010
Pole and fifth place to Daniel in torrid Silverstone opener
Fifth place was scant reward for Daniel Erickson in the first of this weekend's three British Formula Ford Championship rounds at Silverstone today.
Daniel scored a brilliant pole position - his third in this year's series - after lapping the circuit's 3.6km 'International' layout fastest in this morning's qualifying session. However, he dropped to ninth place after being forced to drive his Australian-built Spectrum off the circuit to avoid an opening lap skirmish between American Josef Newgarden and Briton Ben Barker.
No sooner had he begun to climb back through the field than the race was slowed for several laps behind the Safety Car while wreckage from another clash was cleared away. Hard driving - and some good fortune when yet another pair of cars ahead of him came to grief - brought Erickson four places closer to the winner, Briton Chrissy Palmer, by the end of the truncated 11-lap, 40km race.
Daniel describes his first day's racing on the historic circuit:
"We were confident of getting at least top-five grid positions for rounds 16 and 17, which are set by each driver's two fastest qualifying times. With the circuit in fairly good condition I drove my Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum 011c onto the track with brand new Avon slicks fitted.
"I wanted to find some clear track to set a quick time while the tyres were at their absolute best, so I let Chrissy Palmer go by in his Mygale and open a gap in front. Then I got stuck into it, and followed him around to see if I could get a 'tow' in his slipstream down the back straight.
"I quickly caught up to Chrissy, and was on the outside - the quick line - into the Abbey hairpin. But for some reason he jumped on the brakes and let me go past, almost as if he was trying to help me get a fast lap. I couldn't have asked for more!
"That gave me a 1m 24.228s lap, which was good enough for pole position in the first race, Round 16 of the British Formula Ford Championship, later this afternoon. It also earned me another championship point, which is always welcome! If I hadn't got the tow from Chrissy - and his 'help' at the hairpin - I probably would have done about 1m 24.4s. That still would have been a good time, but it just shows how important slipstreaming is on a fast circuit like Silverstone.
"Behind me there was 0.216s - a big gap in Formula Ford! - back to Josef Newgarden, who set the second fastest time in his Mygale. The next 13 drivers were covered by just 0.733s, which shows just how competitive this year's championship is.
"What was strange was that the timing crew confused my transponder with the one used by my other Kevin Mills Racing team-mate, Daniel Cammish. I saw "24.2" on my dashboard display, but when I came back to the pits my pit crew told me I was only ninth fastest. I asked them how that could be, and got a bit cranky, but I settled down after the timing people eventually fixed their mistake. Still, it was a hollow victory because I couldn't get out of the car and give a big 'Yeehah!'
"My second-fastest lap, which determined my grid position for Round 17 on Sunday morning, wasn't quite as hot at 1m 24.670s. It was still good enough for third grid position, behind Patrick McKenna's Mygale and Chrissy Palmer. Again the lap times all the way back to 15th place are incredibly close, so almost anything will be possible during the race."
ROUND 16
Daniel found himself in the wars right from the start in his first race of the weekend, but some hard driving - and a lucky break - enabled him to bring his Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum 011c home fifth. Here he tells the story of a typically hectic Formula Ford race.
"I got off the line reasonably well. It wasn't the best of starts - my reaction time was good but I got a little too much wheelspin. I ran side-by-side with Josef Newgarden up to Copse corner, then dropped back into second behind him through Maggotts and Becketts. I dived down the inside into the righthander but ran a little bit wide, and we dragged side-by-side all the way down the back straight.
"Going into the hairpin it's important to turn in as late as you possibly can, almost at the apex, so I was out wide and Josef was on the inside, protecting his position. I noticed in my mirror that Ben Barker was right on Josef's gearbox, so I tried to run into the corner as fast as I could, with the aim of holding onto at least third place, behind Josef and Ben, on the exit. But Ben locked a brake going into the corner and hit Josef's car, bending a rear wishbone. Josef spun, and Ben went to the left to avoid him, which left me no choice but to go left as well to avoid Ben. We both went across the grass and then came back onto the circuit, and by the end of the first lap I'd dropped back to ninth place.
"I managed to get past Jodi Cunill at the Start/Finish line at the end of lap two, but then the Safety Car came out when Mark Harper and Dan de Zille took each other out of the race at the Abbey hairpin. The rest of us cruised around for four laps waiting for the track to be clear, by which time there were only 11 minutes of our 18-minute race remaining.
"At the restart I had some trouble getting past Josh Benson. He's a tough competitor, but I snuck by him into Copse on lap 8 when he didn't quite hold the inside line.
"Then Liroy Stuart spun at the hairpin on the second-last lap, and my Kevin Mills Racing team-mate Alex Jones virtually had to stop his Spectrum to avoid him. That let me through into fifth place.
"On the last lap I managed to get past James Cole into Becketts, like I did to Josef Newgarden on lap one. I held on down the back straight, through the hairpin and the fast righthand Bridge corner, but I made a small mistake at the next lefthander (Priory) and slid a bit wide. James took full advantage - he isn't leading the championship pointscore for nothing! - and took back fourth place. I wasn't able to make a counter-attack in the two corners before the Start/Finish line, so I ended up fifth.
"It was a very eventful race - a bit of a shambles really! If I'd had a better start it definitely would have helped, and if I'd been behind Josef instead of on the outside into the hairpin the accident with Ben might not have happened. It wasn't my fault, though, so I can't be too hard on myself.
"We'll make some set-up changes overnight to get a bit more speed for Sunday morning's race. Third grid position isn't a great place to starting from, though. The front of the grid at Silverstone is almost in the braking area for Copse corner, and pole is on the outside, which is unusual but at least it's on the racing line where the cars 'sweep' the track each lap. Third slot isn't on the cleanest part, so I might have a bit of trouble getting off the line.
"Still, despite finishing fifth today I'm confident of a good result tomorrow. A full race under 'green flag' conditions would be nice, too!"
2009 BRITISH FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP - SILVERSTONE 'NATIONAL' CIRCUIT, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
August 15
ROUND 16 - 11 LAPS (39.8KM)
1. Chrissy Palmer (GB) Mygale SJ09 19.13.955
2. Patrick McKenna (IRL) Mygale SJ09 19.14.696
3. Garry Findlay (GB) Van Diemen 09 19.15.806
5. Daniel Erickson (AUS) Spectrum 011c 19.19.851
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