An unfortunate accident for Chrissy Palmer during the first championship weekend left a vacant drive. I would like to thank James Crofts for presenting that opportunity to me.

I arrived in India in the early hours of Thursday morning and first visited the Irungattukottai Circuit the same afternoon. After a brief introduction to the team I was given a seat fitting and prepared to go straight out on circuit for the final of two test sessions.

My first impressions of the circuit were positive. Irungattukottai is a fast, 3.717km lap with a healthy mix of high to medium speed corners culminating in a slow and technical final sector. The track surface itself is consistent but the topography of the area (porous and marsh) yields significant surface bumps that influence both driving technique and vehicle setup.

The MRF Formula 1600 cars feature a tubular Van Diemen chassis, 1600cc Ford Duratec engines and a five speed sequential Hewland gearbox. A tentative comparison to a contemporary Formula Ford is that the cars have significantly less power to their European cousins but feature more mechanical grip from larger Formula Three style slick tyres. Front and rear wings are an obvious addition with a conservative aerodynamic profile that offers a small but noticeable level of downforce at very high speed. Given the challenge of producing a reliable single seater in a South Indian climate any shortcomings are easily forgiven. Constructed and assembled exclusively in India they are a promising product of a fledgling Indian motorsport industry.

I managed 15 laps on Thursday afternoon and enough to initially learn the circuit. On Friday, we were given another single test session. I used this time to lightly scrub a set of new tyres and continue my acclimatisation with the environment.

The race weekend featured a morning warmup, qualifying and a single race on the Saturday and two further races on the Sunday. The entire weekend was broadcast live on Neo Sport TV.

Come Saturday morning and qualifying I had completed around 25 laps of the circuit. I had a morning brief with my race engineer and we decided that the best use of Saturday warmup was to gain more experience of the circuit. We are assigned eight new tyres for the weekend, four of which I scrubbed on Friday and I was to warm up on the second set.

During the morning, I felt confident and our lap times reflected that. I was third fastest and faster than pole position for the previous weekend. Our telemetry overlay showed I was losing roughly four tenths to the talented Jukka Honkavuori in Turn 1 but matching his pace for the majority of the lap, even stealing a few hundreths in the slower final sector.

Unfortunately, Saturday morning warm-up was the peak of my performance over the weekend. I struggled to reproduce the fastest lap times throughout qualifying, suffered a cut left front tyre and ended up 10th fastest.

The first race (Saturday afternoon) was equally frustrating. After making a positive start and gaining a number of positions, I made a small mistake at Turn 5 and dropped a rear wheel onto the marbles towards the edge of the track. This tiny error became more substantial when I hit the harsh exit kerb (that Palmer had hit previously) and subsequently broke my front wing, ending my race.

The two Sunday races were similar to each other, progressively moving a couple of places up the grid for each. I had a very positive start to both and aggressively passed cars over the opening laps. As the races progressed (30 minutes each) I found myself having to be more defensive than I would have liked. Over long runs I progressively struggled with worsening oversteer. Upon reflection, I probably took too much out of my tyres in the opening laps and suffered severely as they exceeded their operating temperature. What’s more, this compounded an already high work rate and my body found it difficult to adjust to the over-40° cockpit temperature. I finished both races in the lower top ten. Considering the circumstances this was not a bad result.

My first experience of India leaves me with no reservations for the success of the first Indian Grand Prix in October. The professionalism and standard set by series sponsor MRF Tyres surpasses any I have seen in Europe recently. Currently, I will be able to return for the two race MRF Formula 1600 Delhi Championship to support the Grand Prix weekend.

I will relish the opportunity to prepare properly and I really can’t wait to be back at full race fitness for a high profile race meeting. Just three weeks ago I had little hope of driving competitively this season and in that time I’ve travelled four flights, 11,000 miles, landed in three different countries and received a unbelievable opportunity for later this year.

I would personally like to thank Mr Rodricks and the entire MRF Tyre company, Jatin Choksi for looking after us in India, Julian Bernard (my race engineer), Kartik (my superstar mechanic), James Crofts, Linton Stutely and everyone else who helped me over the weekend.

© 2011 Hari Lakshmi Ratan

Martin with the best mechanics in India!

The decision to race this weekend was taken very late. Without being able to afford to test on the Friday preceding the race, our rationale for competing was to use the seat time as an extension to last weekend at Anglesey. And ironically, despite being a Silverstone ARDS instructor, I have never actually been around the International circuit. For these reasons, it was important to be circumspect about our prospects and concentrate on how the car and I perform, rather than an arbitrary result.

Sunday was a typically wet and greasy morning at Silverstone. The circuit has an unusually impermeable track surface which sees water remain for long periods even after rainfall has stopped. There is also a significant build up of rubber which rises to the top and leaves a greasy and challenging level of grip rivalled only by Donington Park in similar conditions.

Qualifying was an adventure to say the least. Conditions were at their worst for the day and I was heading into the unknown on a circuit I did not know. It was also the first time I had driven the car in anger under wet conditions. None the less, we qualified 5th and under these circumstances, this probably wasn’t a bad result.

Thanks to the Bookers for the use of their awning this weekend.

By the time of the race, it had stopped raining but with overcast skies and no wind the circuit remained wet. I made a decent start from the third row and was almost alongside the leaders heading into Copse corner for the first time. I lost out on the exit, getting very out of shape and rounded out the first lap in fourth position, narrowly missing an accident behind me into the Abbey hairpin for the first time.

After a few laps I worked out a way past Jim Morris for third position, getting a better exit from Luffield and going around the outside of the Van Diemen RF05 at Woodcote corner. From this point on, I pushed hard for a number of laps to put a gap between myself and the chasing cars and whilst I was able to keep a constant distance from the two leaders, I was not able to make any dent into their already substantial lead. At this point I decided to ease off a little bit, even though the conditions were improving, maintain the gap to the chasing cars and concentrate on bringing the car home. As the circuit began to dry in places, I realised I had no real reference points at all for braking, turning and cornering.

So after a long day, we ended with our first podium in Formula Ford and much more progress with the car. Every time we have been out on track, we have improved both the performance of the car and I am beginning to feel more comfortable in the category. Overall, both Ian Gough and Matt Shawyer were quicker this weekend but having tested on the Friday (in similar conditions) and having raced on the circuit before, I guess this is to be expected. Third doesn’t seem so bad.

You don’t find these at Monaco. Getting trophy from Peter Ritchie, Midland South Co-Ordinator.

The next race weekend is May 3rd at Snetterton for rounds three and four of the National Formula Ford 1600 championship. Personally, I am feeling confident for this weekend and I am optimistic that it will be first weekend we will be able to properly challenge at the front of the field and possibly even for a win.

The day was essentially a shake down for the car and we had a generally positive day, completing 45-laps with no major problems.

Find photos and video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Testing: Friday

During testing on Friday we were making gradual progress with the car. Considering it was a shake-down test of a rebuilt car, my first full day in a Formula Ford (not for the want of trying, given the problems last autumn) and we could only guess at a setup, progress was never going to be rapid. However, we moved on with every session (in changing conditions) and by the end of the day we were a long way from where we needed to be but a long way from where we started.

The good news was that the car was running and proving predictable. As suspected, the gearbox needs a rebuild and I found myself having to physically hold the lever in gear at certain parts of the circuit (noticeably the Gooseneck and Charlies). My guess is that this could account for around one second per lap due to conscious thought and a lack of ultimate commitment in critical corners.

Qualifying: Saturday

For qualifying we put on a brand new set of unscrubbed tyres. These undoubtedly would take a few laps to come in but it made little sense to persevere with the tyres from the Festival. Although they were barely used themselves, the compound was seriously graining.

I spent the majority of the session on my own, evaluating what changes we made in the morning and overall, the balance was slightly worse on the new tyres as compared to the old. After about 12 minutes I found myself properly in a rhythm. The new tyres were working and I was on a quick lap, but unfortunately I came across three backmarkers in the Hall Bends and had to back out of it. Qualifying was cut short and I didn?t get another opportunity.

We ended up 9th for race one. Not exactly stellar but knowing there was more than a second in the gearbox and car in general, I?’d suggest 5-6 tenths in the setup (after only a shakedown, that is no surprise) and still time in me to be gained from more seat time – it could have been worse.

After a debrief, we decided that a solid top ten finish would be a good result for the weekend and anything else would be a bonus.

Race 1: Saturday

Whilst the weather tried its hardest to make the track fully wet – which would have suited me – by the time we made the grid it was an almost entirely dry circuit with the exception of the section between the Hairpin and Barn where the trees shadow the circuit. Being unfamiliar with the car and tyres we made a ?compromise? on setup which with hindsight probably wasn?’t the right decision. In fact, it reintroduced a problem I experienced on Friday at the Hairpin in which the front would quite suddenly push outwards towards the last third of the corner. In reflection, we might have benefited from increasing front droop.

Anyway, getting off the line I made a reasonable start. Alongside me, Barry Linley made a poor getaway and I pulled behind Josh Benson in seventh for the opening lap and on the back of the leading train. Into the Hairpin and the front ?push? finally got the better of me and I ran slightly wide on the exit giving Linley an overlap into Barn. From that point on I gradually lost the back of the train, having lost time in a couple of places thanks to the gearbox disengaging third in the middle of corners.

It became a lonely race. I could still see the battle from sixth to second ahead but I had no way of getting to it. Likewise, I had no pressure from behind.

On the final lap, on the exit of Park corner, that loneliness became despair. The engine went and with a chorus of grinding metal it was obvious the crank had broken and I no longer had a fresh Scholar engine.

After returning to the paddock, we packed up and left the following morning, well in advance of the scheduled second race.

What Next?

That?’s the problem. If we look at the positives, we can deduce that with just under a full days testing, the car is not a million miles away from where it needs to be with a dire gearbox and imperfect rear geometry (a story for another time). It was my first days testing and first real weekend in Formula Ford and I do now properly understand the difference in technique required to be competitive, something I did not to the same extent before. And with all of this considered, we were running solidly within the top ten of a National round and I think we now know how to get to the front.

But the negatives are against us. We’?ve been seriously on our back foot all year (financially) and if I?’m honest – it is hard to see how we can continue with the original programme of events. Reality, it seems, can be cruel.

On December 18th, our hard work was recongised by Autosport magazine by naming me the Number 1 Club Driver of Year. It may not be a McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year nomination (and believe me, I tried), but it really was unexpected and I am most honoured to receive such an accolade.

To win the UK Formula Vee Championship is not to be underestimated. It is the largest single seater category in the country, with 79 registered competitors in 2007. And with an average age within the top six of just 21 (the same as British Formula Ford) it is arguably amongst the most competitive too. I’m proud to have ended the three-year reign of the Jenvey-built JenVee, to have become champion on a miniscule budget having missed three rounds and also to have never finished off the podium.

There was some really great racing too, most of which was captured by my 4Kam on-board camera and can be relived on the Media page. My favourites: Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park and Mallory Park.

I only wish that 2008 promised as much. Formula Palmer Audi is looking unlikely and with no money, I have very few options for the year ahead. I still have the kind use of Alan Robinson’s Swift FF1600 but even for that to become competitive, it would require a cash investment.

One thing is for sure, I must continue to win because in motorsport, underfunded drivers are common; Champions, less so.