BRSCC GERRIT VAN KOUWEN ANNIVERSARY FORMULA FORD FESTIVAL LINES UP FOR 2024
As Autumn is in full swing, October means only one thing for the British Racing & Sports Car Club – Festival season!
For the 53rd time since it first took place in 1972, the prestigious Formula Ford Festival is back for another year as many of the best and brightest in Formula Ford racing from both the British Isles and overseas descend on the speed bowl that is the Brands Hatch Indy circuit in Kent to fight it out for supremacy.
This year’s event takes on an extra special tone, as the 2024 edition is being run in memorial of one of its greatest champions – 1984 Festival winner Gerrit van Kouwen. The event takes on the Dutchman’s name and is known as the “BRSCC Gerrit van Kouwen Anniversary Formula Ford Festival for this edition, meaning everyone competing this weekend will be hoping to emulate his success 40 years ago. We are proud and honoured that the van Kouwen family have chosen to associate Gerrit’s name this year with an event that he dearly loved and cherished, and was a regular attendee of as a pure motorsport enthusiast.
The task of this year’s Festival competitors will be somewhat identical to that of Gerrit’s way back when. For the benefit of those spectating the Festival for the first time, entrants are separated into three heats on Saturday where they compete for automatic qualifying spots in Sunday’s semi-finals. Those who don’t make it through automatically move on to the Progression Race at the end of Saturday to determine the rest of the grid orders for the following day.
After the semi-final races are complete on Sunday, the top 12 finishers in each guarantee their places in the Grand Final with the faster winner between the two claiming pole position. As the name says on the tin, non-automatic qualifiers head to the Last Chance Race to decide the final six cars that will make up the 30-car grid for the Grand Final, where first past the chequered flag sees the winner crowned Festival champion for 2024 and receives the perpetual Neil Shanahan Trophy, which will be presented for the 25th time this year to the winner.
There’s also a standalone Historic Final on Sunday afternoon prior to the main event for all competing Formula Fords built before 1999, with all eligible battling it out to win the Brian Jones Memorial Trophy in honour of the legendary “Voice of Brands Hatch” who sadly passed away at the beginning of 2021. Just this race alone provides an excellent showcase of Formula Ford across the years from when it began in 1967 and through the glory days of the ‘70s and ‘80s, and the entire event sees contemporary and classic Formula Ford chassis do battle with each other on track throughout.
In terms of just how significant this event has been in motorsport history, you only have to look back through the Roll of Honour to find a plethora of familiar names to those who are fans of the sport. The Festival was the launchpad for the careers of previous winners such as Jenson Button, Johnny Herbert, Mark Webber, Eddie Irvine, Jan Magnussen, Roberto Moreno, Derek Daly and more, while it also made cult heroes of the likes of Tommy Byrne, Vincenzo Sospiri, Roland Ratzenberger, Dave Coyne and of course, Gerrit van Kouwen himself. Even others that took part and didn’t win have gone on to incredible success in their careers, including legends such as Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Alain Menu, Kimi Raikkonen and many more. That’s what has made the Festival so special over the years – its innate ability to see the cream truly rise to the top and step forward.
It’s a good time to talk about who the main contenders are for victory in this year’s Festival, and previous champions returning for another shot at glory is a fitting place to start. Last year’s victor Rory Smith returns to shoot for his third Festival victory to add to 2020 and 2023’s successes and ultimately must start as favourite. He won’t be the only one searching for another win as Joey Foster makes a welcome return to the event too, the “Flying Cornishman” having taken victories in 2003, 2004 (in the Kent Festival) and in 2017. He’s been trying for another Festival title ever since and will be hoping he doesn’t come up short again this year. Then there’s 2018 champion Josh Smith, back at the Festival for the first time in five years. Back then he was at the wheel of an Oldfield Motorsport Van Diemen, and he’s decided to reunite with his old team to roll back the years and go for glory again.
Next, there’s a couple of drivers who have come close over the years but found themselves just missing out on a Festival win. Someone who will be more determined than ever is Chris Middlehurst, last year’s Walter Hayes Trophy winner and a two-time Grand Final podium finisher. Chris’ form in Formula Ford over the last couple of years has been solid, including a National title in 2022 and no matter where and when he takes to the grid, he never loses his pace. He’ll also have Luke Cooper for company too, another perennial Formula Fordster that had a strong run in 2023 and will be wishing to rekindle this form in this year’s event too. Don’t be surprised to see his red and white Swift challenging at the front from the outset once more.
What about young guns? There’s been a decent influx of new talent developing in Formula Ford over the past couple of seasons and that includes last year’s National champion Jordan Kelly who didn’t quite have the Festival he was expecting. He’ll be back to put that right in 2024, along with teammate Morgan Quinn who has always looked impressive over the past couple of years and would love this year’s Festival attempt to be his most fruitful.
While there’s sadly no Team USA Scholarship team this year, America will be represented by Jason Pribyl and Hugh Esterson (brother of 2022 victor Max), while Team Canada do return with their new young charges in Callum Baxter and Antonio Costantino, both hoping to make an impact on their European racing debuts and follow in the wheel tracks of Scholarship alumni that have gone before them. There’s also the impressive Jason Smyth who has been making waves throughout 2024 and has to be in with a shout of challenging the experienced names at the front, along with Brazil’s Isaac Canto Da Silva.
Others you can’t count out for a strong run include another former National Formula Ford champ in Jonny McMullan, Belgium’s own John Svensson, Charlie Mann and two-time Kent Festival winner Gavin Wills making a welcome return to the event, hoping to be in the mix and driving a 2000 Van Diemen, the same constructor and model he took to the victory 19 years ago.
Over in the classic and historic ranks and those who will likely contest the Historic Final for the Brian Jones Memorial Trophy, last year’s victor Richard Higgins is also back to try and become the first driver in its short existence to win the trophy in consecutive years. However, he certainly will have plenty of suitors lining up to try and claim it for themselves. There’s the evergreen Rick Morris, a veteran of the Festival and Formula Ford and one you can NEVER count out to be in contention, someone who can still match competition decades his junior in his Royale. Historic Formula Ford star Samuel Harrison could be a real threat for victory in his Elden and match the younger cars in the field, so be sure to watch for him throughout the weekend.
Will Liston’s UK odyssey has been a remarkable one, the Australian managing to take multiple wins and podiums in his short time here and now gunning for a respectable Festival performance. His drivers in the Super Classic Pre ‘99 rounds at Brands Hatch in August will certainly put him in good stead for this weekend. Also look out up and down the grid for the likes of Alex Ames, Gaius Ghinn, Sam Street, Oliver Buckton, Jonathan Barnes, Tom Hawkins and another Formula Ford veteran in Andy Charsley.
All in all, not only will this be another magnificent celebration of all things Formula Ford and another stellar Festival weekend in prospect, but also a fitting tribute to the man who produced one of the event’s greatest all-round performances. We’re certain if Gerrit were still around today, he would once again be enthralled and excited to see some of the best that Formula Ford has to offer charging around Brands Hatch in another quest to become the Festival champion for 2024.
Written by Scott Woodwiss
