September 19, 2009
Never mind the grid - look at the times!
An excellent qualifying performance - just two tenths of a second off pole position - has put Daniel Erickson well into contention for tomorrow's rounds of the British Formula Ford Championship at Brands Hatch.
Daniel's best lap time of 1 minute 30.858 seconds earned him sixth position in Sunday morning's Round 22 of the international junior development series. Pole position went to the series champion-designate, Briton James Cole, with American Josef Newgarden second and Irishman Patrick McKenna third.
Daniel's next-best lap of 1min. 30.882sec., which determined his grid position for Round 23 on Sunday afternoon, was even more competitive - third fastest behind Newgarden and Cole. The action promises to be thick and fast, with the top 14 qualifiers for both BFFC races covered by less than a second.
An off-track incident that halted the single 20-minute qualifying session worked in Daniel's favour.
"I was a little hot coming into the last corner before my first flying lap on new tyres, and the car started to slide, so I had to back off the throttle a bit," he said. "That would have cost me a few tenths of a second and several grid positions, but just then the red flag came out, which gave me another lap on the tyres while they were still almost new!"
Daniel's performance, driving the Australian-built Spectrum 011c, is all the more creditable considering his lack of experience on the daunting 3.7km Brands Hatch 'Grand Prix' circuit. The Australian Motor Sport Foundation International Rising Star contested three BFFC rounds on the short 'Indy' version of the Kentish track two weeks ago, but before today he had driven only 15 laps of the entire former F1 track during Friday's two crash-shortened practice sessions.
He believes that there's plenty of room for improvement in tomorrow's twin 18-minute races. "On my two quickest laps I didn't quite nail the 'Indy' part 100 percent but they weren't too bad, and I did a pretty good job around most of the back section. But there were some corners where I didn't have the confidence to go charging in, simply because of my lack of laps here. Brands Hatch is quite narrow with not much run-off space, so even a small mistake can cost a lot of time."
Daniel described the 'Grand Prix' layout as a combination of Winton and Phillip Island. "The 'Indy' part is mainly tight and slow, like Winton, so you have to drive neatly and keep off the kerbs. But the 'Grand Prix' part is more like Phillip Island, with some faster corners - 130-150km/h in a Formula Ford - where you dab the brakes to wash off a bit of speed, drive over the kerbs, and then get back on the throttle again."
Daniel estimated that a minor braking problem and a couple of driving errors also cost him at least a couple of tenths of a second. "I'm disappointed because the potential was there for two front rows, if not pole positions. But I really can't be too hard on myself - I just hadn't done enough laps before today."
The weather could play a role in the races, with light rain forecast in south-eastern England for Sunday, but Daniel isn't unduly concerned. "Racing in the rain doesn't really bother me - I usually go quite well on wet tracks. The biggest problem is visibility through the spray coming off the tyres, but fortunately I'm near the front so I should be OK as long as I get decent starts."
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Sunday, September 20
11.55am-12.13pm UK time (8.55-9.13pm AEST): Round 22
5.10-5.28pm UK time (2.10-2.28am Monday AEST): Round 23
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