2024 BRSCC GERRIT VAN KOUWEN ANNIVERSARY FORMULA FORD FESTIVAL – ONE FOR THE AGES!
The 2024 BRSCC Gerrit van Kouwen Anniversary Formula Ford Festival will go down as another memorable single seater contest for the ages for this historic event, as the elements threw everything at the drivers but didn’t deter them from putting on a superb contest. The weekend was run in honour of the 1984 Festival champion, a true enthusiast of the event who sadly passed away at the beginning of the year, and many of his family and closest friends and competitors turned out to pay tribute and mark the occasion.
An entry of 67 cars took to the event, separated into the traditional heats with rain characterising all three qualifying sessions on Saturday morning. Defending Festival champion Rory Smith charged to pole for heat one as many expected he would, while Tom Hawkins surprised many with fastest time for heat two in his 1995 Swift ahead of Luke Cooper. 2018 winner Joshua Smith’s return to the Festival began with just pipping Jason Smyth to top time in the heat three session.
Racing hadn’t even begun before drama befell Rory Smith, when his final tyre warm-up to the grid caused a driveshaft failure, forcing him out of Heat 1 (dedicated to Kees van de Grint) before the start. Darwin Smith got away cleanly to lead with former National champion Jordan Kelly on his tail, an early and brief safety car keeping the pack close, and before long the leading six had broken away on the restart. Smith defended his lead well, but Kelly slipped by at Druids on Lap 8 with Tom Nippers following through and the pair quickly left the rest behind. Kelly drove on to the Heat 1 win with Nippers on his tail, followed by Charlie Mann, John Svensson and Jason Pribyl in the top five. Early leader Darwin Smith finished in 8th.
There was plenty of competition in Heat 2 (dedicated to Danny Blundell) with pole man Hawkins losing the lead to Chris Middlehurst at the line at the end of lap one. He was tailed by Luke Cooper with Morgan Quinn joining them after a few laps to produce a three-way dice for victory, and then Joey Foster made it a quartet. The order remained static all the way to the flag with Middlehurst victorious, while Hugh Esterson completed the top five ahead of pole man Hawkins, Anthony Amato and Ben Powney.
Jason Smyth got the better of Josh Smith from the front row of Heat 3 (dedicated to David Robertson) and managed to keep the #200 car at bay for the first two thirds of the race, before Smith squeezed his way through exiting Clearways, also losing him second to Jonny McMullan. Smith drove on to complete the heat victory ahead of Smyth and McMullan, with Isaac Canto Da Silva fourth ahead of Team DOLAN teammate Jonathan Kotyk.
After his driveshaft failure, Rory Smith had the challenge of making his way through the Progression Race on Saturday afternoon in order to get to Sunday’s semi-finals. James Buckton and Leanne McShane took up the front row, but Smith only needed five laps to get up to second place behind Spencer Shinner, before slipping by a lap later. Smith duly drove on to win, followed by Shinner, Rob Hall, David McArthur and Peter Daly in the top five.
The conditions for Sunday’s semi-finals were overcast with the threat of returning rain in the air, meaning unpredictability for setup choices. Kelly and Smith took to the front row of Semi-Final 1 (dedicated to Mike Blanchet) just as the rain began to fall, with Luke Cooper getting a quick launch to move into P2 behind Kelly in front. Behind them, a rapid Rory Smith was swiftly moving up the order and climbed to seventh before a safety car was called, helping his cause as the pack closed up. The safety car ensured this would be the slower of the two semi-finals, but that didn’t stop Kelly from charging away on the restart after the rest of the pack had to wait to pass a lapped car at the green flag. Kelly duly won to book his front row spot in the Grand Final, ahead of Josh Smith, Luke Cooper, Jonny McMullan and Jonathan Kotyk. Smith had been in an qualifying spot until an off at Clearways dropped him back.
With the track now fully wet, Semi-Final 2 (dedicated to David Minister) saw Middlehurst get the best launch from pole and never headed from start to finish. He drove away to be unchallenged and win the race and top starting spot for the Final later in the afternoon, leaving second placed Jason Smyth to trail in behind him in P2 in no man’s land. Morgan Quinn managed to pull away in P3 from Tom Nippers, with Morgan Quinn completing the top five.
The first of the big trophy races was next up, with the Historic Final sponsored by HEDTEC tackling the wet conditions with all pre-’99 cars competing to win the Brian Jones Memorial Trophy. Tom McArthur’s hard luck in this race struck at the first corner as he ran wide after starting from pole, giving Darwin Smith a free run out in front in the early moments. Tom Hawkins quickly caught him up and even on either side of a mid-race safety car, both cars were inseparable. Hawkins gave it his all, but was unable to unseat Smith who drove superbly to claim the Historic Final win at the flag. Behind the top two, an exceptional drive from Samuel Harrison saw him claim a superb third in the Elden chassis, ahead of Formula Ford veterans Andy Charsley and Rick Morris.
Rory Smith once again wasted no time in spread eagling the field in the Last Chance Race sponsored by Raceparts, which saw two starts before the defending Festival champion could truly make the race his own. Once leading, he drove as many expected he would and took the win after the race was declared following a late incident. Smith’s place in the Grand Final was secure, as was those of David McArthur, Leanne McShane, Spencer Shinner, Andy Charsley and Drew Cameron.
The Grand Final, dedicated to Gerrit van Kouwen himself, was expected to be another thriller regardless of the wet conditions – and in typical Festival fashion, it didn’t disappoint. The intensity truly ramped up at the end of lap two when initial leader Kelly and Smyth tangled at Clearways, leaving Josh Smith to inherit top spot with Middlehurst in tow. While the early laps played out, the man everyone was watching behind them was Joey Foster who’d had something of a lowkey Festival this point, but was revelling in the wet thanks to a brand new set of tyres and a setup clearly in the sweet spot. By the end of lap five, Foster was up to ninth from 22nd on the grid with the fastest lap.
Smith and Middlehurst left the rest of the pack behind with Hugh Esterson in third ahead of Cooper and Quinn, but it wasn’t long before Foster had them all in his sights. The first of two safety cars was called for Leanne McShane stranded at Clearways, with a new rule for 2024 allowing up to five laps to be added to the race distance in a bid to ensure the Grand Final could reach a green flag conclusion. Foster was fourth on the restart and produced a sensational outside pass at Paddock on Cooper on the green flag, before quickly locking onto Middlehurst’s gearbox and doing the same again one lap later. With just Smith left to pass, Foster was on the prowl and on pure pace along, it looked as though he was on course to take the lead.
Despite another short safety car for Jordan Kelly’s off at Paddock Hill Bend, there was still no way through for Foster as he hounded Smith with Middlehurst in tow. Foster tried his daring outside pass at Paddock Hill again on the restart but ran too deep to make it work, forcing him to continue the pressure. It all came to a head on Lap 22, when an attempt to take the outside line into Clearways saw Foster run wide, through the gravel and collecting Jason Smyth on rejoin, forcing both out.
Now Middlehurst seemed to be the only challenger left to Smith and he too tried as hard as he dared, but a gutsy defensive drive from Smith saw him head to the chequered flag in car 200, the same number as Gerrit van Kouwen himself in 1984, and take the victory after defending hard from start to finish. Chris Middlehurst finished on his gearbox in second place ahead of a first Festival podium for Luke Cooper in third, with Hugh Esterson and Morgan Quinn completing the top five.
Smith was not only awarded the Neil Shanahan Trophy for the second time in his career, but also the Roger Pedrick Trophy as the best placed Englishman. Joey Foster may not have seen the flag, but his stellar drive earned him the John Nicol Memorial Trophy for the best performance from a British driver, as well as the renewed Mike & Polly Blanchet Trophy for setting the fastest lap. The GVK200 Future Star Trophy for the best finishing driver under the age of 25 went to fifth placed Morgan Quinn.
All in all, it was a magical occasion and another Formula Ford Festival to remember as everyone in attendance honoured the man who had won the event 40 years prior. Our thanks go to the van Kouwen family, his closest friends and fellow racers, and all those who took part in the Festival itself for putting on a superb show of motorsport from start to finish across both days. We look forward to doing it all over again in 2025!
Written by Scott Woodwiss
