FESTIVAL SUPPORTS READY TO SETTLE TITLES AT BRANDS HATCH
While the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch is always dominated by the main event, the support timetable is also packed full of excting championships and series and the 2025 edition is no exception. With three grids looking to settle their titles and provisionally crown new champions, the other three contests will purely be about bragging rights and trophies, meaning the action is guaranteed to be intense.
The stage is set – after its best and most successful season to date so far, the final round of the 2025 BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship is ready to line up one more time to conclude the campaign. The backdrop? The legendary Formula Ford Festival which this championship has fre-quented many times before and last did so in 2023. With a full field of junior-spec Mk7 Ford Fies-ta race cars Kent-bound and an exciting title showdown in prospect, this is going to be one grid of 14 to 17 year old future stars not to be missed.
So, who’s in contention for the championship? With just two races left to run, on dropped scores it’s Isaac Doble that’s leading the way by 16 points. The younger brother of BTCC star Mikey, Isaac had a steady start to his first season of car racing, but a first win at Snetterton in July boosted his confidence and another three later, he’s now ready to bid for the title as well as top Rookie Cup honours. His main rival is sophomore driver Thomas Merritt, also with four wins to his name after a straight run through early summer, especially the hat-trick clean sweep scored at Anglesey. A wise head on young shoulders, Thomas will play it smart to ensure he has the best chance of coming out on top.
Dara McInerney has been another impressive rookie this season, especially running as an inde-pendent outfit and taking two wins at Snetterton mid season. A run of rough luck in recent rounds has been a blow to his title chances, but third on drops 20 points ahead of Archie Davies means he could be in a comfortable enough position retain that championship podium spot. As for Da-vies (another sophomore driver), fourth looks pretty set here too and he’s another driver to have stood on the top step this year, further proving just how competitive the championship currently is.
Lewis Islin began the season as the BRSCC’s latest Fiesta Junior Scholarship winner and has lived up to that title since the very first round when he scored a podium on his debut weekend. While it may not have been the smoothest rookie year results wise, Lewis has remained com-posed, focused and determined to score well, and he’ll wish to bookend the year back in the top three. He’s ahead of Jack Burgess in 6th, another driver who was an early title prospect after winning both times in the Snetterton opener but faded backwards and missed the previous round at Donington. He’ll wish for a silver lining to a season that started with such promise.
2023 Scholarship winner Daniella Sutton has shown real grit, determination and progress in her second season, even coming close to a first podium on more than one occasion, while Isaac Doi-ble’s cousin Chris is another driver to claim a win this season after taking two at Donington. Chris being the cousin of Isaac, there’s definitely some healthy family rivalry amongst the Doble clan right now. Also watch for Eden Spanswick too, driving the ex-Jacob Hodgkiss title contending car from 2024 and hitting his stride with two podiums within the last few races.
Up and down the grid you’ll find plenty of young talents bidding to make their mark, especially those aiming to return for 2026 and even some making their debuts this weekend. All of this com-bined marks 2025 as the most competitive and successful FJC season in recent years. Let’s see which of our title contenders comes out on top!
A fast, exciting and intense season of racing has so far defined the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship in 2025, and it all comes to a head this weekend at Brands Hatch amidst this year’s Formula Ford Festival. These turbocharged tin-tops are not only the best next stepping stone for graduating Fiesta Juniors, but also a stepping stone to touring cars and beyond for many aspiring drivers.
Defending champion Alastair Kellett looks on course to retain his title both overall and in Pro class, with Brands Hatch set to provisionally crown him for a second time (subject to official con-firmation, and providing all is well). It took him until Anglesey to win a race, but when he did, he went on to win eight of the last twelve races, and has a lead of almost 70 points on dropped scores. A third Fiesta title and his second in ST240s looks set to be heading back to Ireland.
Trying his best to stop that from happening is fellow Irishman Gary Miller, who was in command of the points standings to begin with but had some bad fortune mixed with chasing Kellett more often than not. Second place outright and in Pro looks set to be his, but he will still have to run a trouble free weekend to not lose vital points at this late stage. In third is FJC graduate George Foxlow, who has run a busy campaign combining ST240s with racing in the Fiesta ST150 Chal-lenge too. His schedule this weekend will be packed, but his pace is undeniable having become a constant contender for podiums, top fives and victories. Expect him to be pushing at the front.
Zach Lucas’ fortunes are something of an enigma. Typically, he’ll begin a season strong and be a contender at the top of the standings, before his form dips around mid season. There’s no deny-ing he’s a constant threat and has two wins from this year, but it’s the consistency that has let him down, and his disaster Donington round saw him score nothing. It also means he has no dropped scores to rely on, so Brands Hatch will have to be trouble-free for him. Fifth in Pro class in Con-nor Blackburn, who has also had a few up and down fortunes, but has also shown flashes of great pace and he too will wish that Brands Hatch gives him a solid end of the season.
In Am class, there’s no question that Jason O’Connell has been the man everyone has been chasing – even if its his first season in the championship. Showing pace that has seen him claim outright pole positions and even contending for race wins against the Pro drivers, O’Connell is on course to be a deserved Am winner – could he end the year standing on the top step? While O’Connell looks uncatchable out front, there’s still a scrap for second in Am to resolve behind him. Luke Warr is just three points ahead of Maggie Webster, both of which have had their share of misfortunes and will want to bounce back after a difficult Donington. Daniel Robinson isn’t too far away in fourth place, hoping to end his first campaign out of ST150s on a high, while Harry Hayes completes the top five.
It’s time for the curtain to close on the 2025 Vinyl Detail Fiesta ST150 Challenge and what better place to round out the season than Brands Hatch in Kent on the Indy circuit, as part of the leg-endary Formula Ford Festival! This season has been super competitive and been thoroughly en-tertaining to watch throughout, and now there’s a title battle to settle and bragging rights to score. With just two races remaining to run, it’s all to play for.
Having dovetailed his ST150 campaign with a season in the Fiesta ST240 Championship too, George Foxlow has been one of the busiest drivers in club motorsport this season – but that hasn’t stopped the former Fiesta Junior man from rising to the top of the standings. Having found a run of five race wins in a row recently before scoring well at Silverstone last time, George car-ries a nine point lead into Brands Hatch over fellow young gun Dillon Davis, who has two victo-ries to his name. Dillon has managed to score in all but one race so far, near matching Foxlow’s consistency ahead of him. It will be close at the top and both will really need results and fortunes to go their way.
Sam Watkins is also in with a shout to cause an upset, as he’s just two points away from Davis in third and also twice a race winner in 2025. A former BRSCC Fiesta champion himself, Watkins is always a threat at the head of an ST150 field and could overhaul the 11 point gap to Foxlow in front. That means a three-way fight going into Brands Hatch which could get spicy given the chance. Outgoing champion Michael Blackburn will be hoping for a silver lining to finish his sea-son, and the recent few races have been kind to him as he hasn’t finished lower than third in the last five. While retaining #1 is out of reach, he will at least go down fighting.
Further back in fourth some 85 points behind the top four, Mark Blunt holds the final top five spot in points but could be under threat if he’s given trouble by both Robbie Harrison or Sophie King-horn, both young chargers that have impressed on more than one occasion throughout this year. Harrison is yet to score a podium but has come close, while Kinghorn has one to her name from Cadwell Park, and would love to finish her first ST150 Challenge season with at least one more.
Amongst many of the regulars, there’s some intriguing names making their first appearances on the grid this weekend too. They include Simon Ricketts, the ex-Mazda racer getting back on track and representing his successful SIM Motorsport business to test himself in front wheel drive. One prominent name to watch has to be William Kellett, a former Fiesta champion in Ireland and son of defending ST240 champ Alastair. William has always been formidable whenever he’s raced in the UK and his ST150 Challenge debut should be no different.
To honour the landmark of the Formula Ford Festival reaching the 50th edition to be run at Brands Hatch since the switch from Snetterton for 1976, this weekend the BRSCC will be running a spe-cial pair of feature races for Formula Ford built before 1982. Supported by Geoff Page Engineer-ing, the title sponsor for the Super Classic Pre ‘99 Formula Ford Championship, these races will take fans and drivers back to some of the glory days of the category, when it held its rightful place as the premier junior single seater platform on the road to motorsport stardom.
To show just good of an entry that’s present here, the line-up for the pair of feature races will see no fewer than eleven different chassis manufacturers, truly showcasing just how varied the For-mula Ford scene was during the early years when anyone and everyone tried their luck at build-ing the fastest car possible for the category. The best performing driver across the two races will also be the recipient of the John Webb Memorial Cup, created and named in honour of the leg-endary man himself who not only oversaw Brands Hatch in its glory years, but was also instru-mental in Formula Ford’s creation and resounding success over the years.
Notable names in the field include the evergreen veteran of FF1600 that is Rick Morris. Regard-less of age, Rick is never a driver you ever count out when he gets behidn the wheel and his Royale RP29 is just as quick as it ever was in his hands. Considering he even made the overall Formula Ford Festival Grand Final last year in a car of this vintage (1981), it proves that he will be one of the favourties to succeed. Another driver to watch will be Ben Powney, dovetailing his Fes-tival entry and his Super Classic Pre ‘99 season by taking to the wheel of his 1971 Jamun T3. He engaged in some fierce battles with Super Classic A class winner Tom Hawkins all season, so be sure to watch for him as a contender.
Also in the mix is certain to be Cameron Jackson in what will certainly be one of the oldest cars in the field – a Winkelmann. Cameron is another driver that is formidable in historic machinery and will definitely be a contender for victory or at least running at the front. You can also look through the entry for regulars from the Super Classic Pre ‘99 Championship including Oliver Buckton, Colin Williams, Oliver Chapman, Alan Slater, Matthew Sturmer and Jonathan Nash. All of which will be familiar with each other and hoping to place well.
This pair of races is only set to add to the Festival fever and help many fans wind back the clock to a time when Formula Ford was THE place to be to make it as a racing driver. Enjoy this retro rewind, FF1600 style – it’s time to relive the glory years of the category in the only way we know how!
For the final time in 2025, the BRSCC’s new Fix A Wheel Production Cup takes to the track for its last two races of the season, and they’ll be a special occasion seeing as they take place there this weekend on the support timetable for the legendary Formula Ford Festival! Racing on the shorter Brands Hatch Indy circuit, this will mean plenty of back and forth battles amongst the con-tenders, which are once again a strong mix of hot hatches up and down the grid.
This exciting new-for-2025 series has provided a home for a vast variety of clubman-level race cars to compete against one another in a BHP/Tonne class-based structure within 15-minute race durations. To allow each class to remain attractive and ultra-competitive, the BHP/Tonne differ-ence between the most/least powerful cars in each has been set realistically to allow class wins to be achieved by any car/driver within each class.
Rich Hockley’s Honda Civic will be the sole Class A car in the field and looks likely to be favourite for victory in both races, but given Brands Hatch Indy’s short and sharp nature, some of the more nimbler cars in the classes below could also give him a run for his money and threaten. That could definitely be the case with Class B as Jack Watts’ Ford Fiesta ST150, Matt Hollier’s Re-nault Clio and Martyn & Barrie Culley’s pair of SEAT Leons will all be on the hunt to try and win their class and even trouble Rich out in front.
Class C will be a straight face-off between David Mycock’s Renault Clio and the MINI Cooper of Elliott Walker, the latter having won its class here several months in a wet ClubSport Trophy race. Also making up the entry will be Dan Cogswell in his wonderfully unique Nissan Almera GTi liver-ied to mimic the Nissan Primera BTCC Super Touring cars of the late 1990s. All three will be pushing to finish well and do so trouble free.
Also on the grid, as they have been all season, will be contenders from the new Silverlake DS3 Cup, a new single make category based on the sporty Citroen DS3 1.6VTi (MY2010-15). Former CityCar Cup champion Elliot Lettis will be the favourite on paper to succeed having taken a hand-ful of wins in class already, but also watch out for Theo Longman and Henry Swanson too, two drivers that have also been rapid aboard the new DS3s.
The Classic and Modern Motorsport Club has brought an eclectic mix of Super Saloons and Tin Tops for their final two races of the season.
In the Super Saloons, local driver Rod Birley from West Kingsdown has enjoyed four outright wins and five class victories this year in his Escort WRC. He’ll be eager to add to that tally but faces strong opposition from the rapid Renault Clio Turbo of 90-year-old Tony Skelton from Can-terbury. Another likely front-runner is Mike Thurley from Dereham with his Mk1 Ford Escort. Mike took two second-place finishes at Lydden earlier this year and almost won a Modified Ford race here last month, only to spin on oil dropped by another car.
Clive Haynsford from Gravesend is another to watch—his Mazda RX-8 rotary turbo is a crowd favourite, often spitting flames from the exhaust. Other notable entries include Lee Cleugh (Audi TT), Colin Claxton (Mk1 Ford Escort Turbo), Steve Dann (VW Polo Turbo), Dominic Ryan (Ford Fiesta Turbo), and Ken Hunt (VW Golf). A late addition to the grid is Martin Reynolds from Wisbech, a prolific Ford racer bringing his potent Mk2 Ford Escort, which will certainly be in con-tention for overall honours.
In the Tin Tops, four drivers look set to challenge for victory. Sam Haywood scored an outright win at Silverstone last month in his Renault Megane Turbo, but the tighter Brands Hatch layout could play to the strengths of the Hondas driven by Graham Richardson and Neal Gardiner. Terry Wal-ler has found strong pace with his Ford Fiesta, though reliability has been his Achilles heel. Ex-pect another close duel between Rick Skelsey and Ian Seale, whose near-identical Fiestas pro-duced thrilling wheel-to-wheel racing over both Silverstone contests.
Should the weather turn wet, the Tin Tops could well mix it with the faster Super Saloons—either way, spectators can look forward to excellent action and plenty of inter-class battles.
Scott Woodwiss / CMMC
