Modified Ford Series @ Ford Power Live Brands Hatch 17th September 2023
MIXED CONDITIONS PRODUCE MIXED WINNERS AT FORD POWER LIVE
The Modified Ford Series provided the feature race action at Brands Hatch’s Ford Power Live spectacular on Sunday the 17th of September. The entry would be split into two groups, with each competing in a pair of races. The more powerful Class SA, A, SB and B+ cars formed Group A and Group B comprised classes B and C. The less-than-certain weather forecast meant that some unexpected results could be on the cards.
Group A
Tommy Field's BDT-powered RSR MK1 Escort should be a fixture near the front of the Class SA pack and overall with the ex-Wayne Crabtree car. Late entrant Rod Birley should run the RSR closest on paper, with Piers Warwick’s Nissan Turbo-powered Mk1 Escort and the Malcolm Wise Escort Cosworth providing the rest of his opposition in the class. James Allen started as the favourite among the Class A runners aboard his Focus RS. Four Sierra Cosworths featured on the entry list, handled by Jeremy Sutton, Brian Lilley, Sean Fairweather and Tom Murphy. Another Focus Turbo would be guided along by Stefan Marsh, whilst the RWD Martini-liveried Escort Cosworth of Mike Head made its debut and joined the similar Brooklyn-liveried car of Stuart Day. The rumbling 6.8-litre Capri V8 of Alan Breck should be one of the fastest in a straightline but Lydden Hill showed that its overall pace is increasing too. Ex-BTCC racer Lea Wood brought out his Mk1 Escort RSR in Class SB and was sure to fly, the Hereford man was joined in the class by the Vauxhall-engined Mk2 Escort of Mat Brennan. A number of highly-developed cars were on the Class B+ entry list, including Steve Goldsmith’s superb Anglia now with Ecoboost turbo power, Josh Payton’s smart Millington-powered Mk2 Cortina, series boss Paul Nevill’s droop-snoot RS2000, Wayne Crabtree’s Gulf-liveried Mk1 Escort and the turbocharged Fiestas of Kester Cook and David Guthrie. Nigel Craig’s Mk2 Escort plus three further Ecoboost-motivated Fiestas driven by Cliff Pellin, Dan Cowan and Tim Sandhu completed the field.
Qualifying: The Tommy Field RSR Turbo flew around the Indy circuit to grab pole position for the Group A race, the ex-Formula Ford racer turned engine tuner set a time of 49.877 seconds to head Lea Wood‘s non-turbo Class SB RSR by 2.118 seconds. Just 0.017 seconds back from Wood sat the Class A-topping James Allen Focus RS and he was joined on the second row by Josh Payton’s Class B+ Mk2 Cortina, which made a fine sight lapping in close quarters with Steve Goldsmith’s Anglia during the fifteen-minute session. The newly turbocharged Anglia ended qualifying in sixth, just behind Kester Cook’s similar engined Fiesta. Series head Paul Nevill was seventh fastest in his RS2000 ahead of three Cossies which made up the top ten, with Stuart Day's 2WD Escort Cosworth starting ahead of Brian Lilley and Jeremy Sutton's Australian touring car replica RS500 Sierras.
The Modified Ford Series provided the feature race action at Brands Hatch’s Ford Power Live spectacular on Sunday the 17th of September. The entry would be split into two groups, with each competing in a pair of races. The more powerful Class SA, A, SB and B+ cars formed Group A and Group B comprised classes B and C. The less-than-certain weather forecast meant that some unexpected results could be on the cards.
Group A
Tommy Field's BDT-powered RSR MK1 Escort should be a fixture near the front of the Class SA pack and overall with the ex-Wayne Crabtree car. Late entrant Rod Birley should run the RSR closest on paper, with Piers Warwick’s Nissan Turbo-powered Mk1 Escort and the Malcolm Wise Escort Cosworth providing the rest of his opposition in the class. James Allen started as the favourite among the Class A runners aboard his Focus RS. Four Sierra Cosworths featured on the entry list, handled by Jeremy Sutton, Brian Lilley, Sean Fairweather and Tom Murphy. Another Focus Turbo would be guided along by Stefan Marsh, whilst the RWD Martini-liveried Escort Cosworth of Mike Head made its debut and joined the similar Brooklyn-liveried car of Stuart Day. The rumbling 6.8-litre Capri V8 of Alan Breck should be one of the fastest in a straightline but Lydden Hill showed that its overall pace is increasing too. Ex-BTCC racer Lea Wood brought out his Mk1 Escort RSR in Class SB and was sure to fly, the Hereford man was joined in the class by the Vauxhall-engined Mk2 Escort of Mat Brennan. A number of highly-developed cars were on the Class B+ entry list, including Steve Goldsmith’s superb Anglia now with Ecoboost turbo power, Josh Payton’s smart Millington-powered Mk2 Cortina, series boss Paul Nevill’s droop-snoot RS2000, Wayne Crabtree’s Gulf-liveried Mk1 Escort and the turbocharged Fiestas of Kester Cook and David Guthrie. Nigel Craig’s Mk2 Escort plus three further Ecoboost-motivated Fiestas driven by Cliff Pellin, Dan Cowan and Tim Sandhu completed the field.
Qualifying: The Tommy Field RSR Turbo flew around the Indy circuit to grab pole position for the Group A race, the ex-Formula Ford racer turned engine tuner set a time of 49.877 seconds to head Lea Wood‘s non-turbo Class SB RSR by 2.118 seconds. Just 0.017 seconds back from Wood sat the Class A-topping James Allen Focus RS and he was joined on the second row by Josh Payton’s Class B+ Mk2 Cortina, which made a fine sight lapping in close quarters with Steve Goldsmith’s Anglia during the fifteen-minute session. The newly turbocharged Anglia ended qualifying in sixth, just behind Kester Cook’s similar engined Fiesta. Series head Paul Nevill was seventh fastest in his RS2000 ahead of three Cossies which made up the top ten, with Stuart Day's 2WD Escort Cosworth starting ahead of Brian Lilley and Jeremy Sutton's Australian touring car replica RS500 Sierras.
Race One: Seventh-row qualifier Wayne Crabtree’s Mk1 Escort was loaded onto a recovery truck outside the assembly area prior to the race starting with, ahem, a fuelling problem, whilst Rod Birley and Mike Head's Escort Cosworths were absent too after trouble in qualifying. As the field rolled in formation towards the lights, second-row starter James Allen’s Focus RS frustratingly darted into the pits to take the car out of contention. Polesitter Tommy Field blasted into the lead as the race got underway, whilst Josh Payton’s Cortina threatened Lea Wood's RSR on the outside of Paddock Hill Bend but was held off by the ex-BTCC racer. The Bristolian then got up the inside of Wood at Druids, where a snap of oversteer kept the Cortina in third. The Mk1 Escort RSRs of Field and Wood soon began to pull away from Payton, who was coming under fire from Steve Goldsmith’s Anglia. Goldsmith got ahead on the way into Druids for the third time but Payton fought back on lap fourteen as the Anglia’s tyres went away. Up ahead, Field’s pace started to fade with a failing fuel pump relay and Wood reeled in the turbocar before hitting the front on lap eleven and racing away to the win. Field's RSR soon peeled off when the relay gave up the ghost, the car requiring fire extinguishers when it came to rest, which elevated the Payton and Goldsmith squabble to second and third, with Payton prevailing by 4.461 seconds in the end to triumph in Class B+. During the later stages, the pair were passed by the delayed James Allen as he unlapped himself on his way to an eventual eighth-place finish, his crew having ’fiddled with some wires’ to cure a misfire when he pitted at the end of the formation lap. Kester Cook took a lonely fourth in his Fiesta Ecoboost, with Paul Nevill’s RS2000, Brian Lilley’s Class A winning Sierra RS500 and Alan Breck’s thundering Capri V8 in fifth, sixth and seventh. Dan Cowan's Ecoboost Mk6 Fiesta and Jeremy Sutton's B&H Sierra RS500 rounded out the top ten.
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Race Two: The earlier rain had subsided by the time Group A’s second race was due to commence and the surface was close to fully dry once more. Race one polesitter Tommy Field had repaired his turbocharged RSR, after a two-hour clean-up operation, and lined up on the tenth row of the grid, where he was joined by Wayne Crabtree’s flushed-out Mk1 Escort. With the grid order set by the Race One result, Lea Wood and Josh Payton started from the front row aboard their Mk1 Escort RSR and Mk2 Cortina respectively, with Steve Goldsmith's Anglia and Kester Cook's Fiesta on row two. Paul Nevill's RS2000 and Brian Lilley's Sierra sat on the third row, whilst on the fourth row lurked Alan Breck’s mighty Capri and James Allen's Focus RS, whose progress would be one to watch. At the rolling start, Payton drew ahead of poleman Wood towards Paddock Hill Bend for the first time but the RSR held its ground on the inside to take the lead, whilst Cook and Nevill both jumped ahead of Goldsmith when the lights went out to sit in an initial third and fourth. They would hold the positions only temporarily as a fired-up Tommy Field had cracked into the top ten by Druids, then moved up to seventh by Graham Hill Bend, before blazing into fifth towards Surtees and finally powering past Nevill through Clark Curve to end lap one in fourth! Fourth quickly became third as the RSR took the place from Cook's Fiesta into Paddock Hill Bend on lap two, Field would be second by the end of the lap before he streaked by leader Wood past the pits ending lap three to complete his charge to the front. A red flag was soon to follow on lap four to recover Allen’s Focus, which had come to rest at Druids with a broken rose joint on lap two, having just taken sixth place. The restart would be run over ten minutes with the grid order set from the standings at the end of lap three, which placed Field's RSR Turbo onto pole position with Wood's normally aspirated RSR alongside, Payton and Cook shared row two ahead of Nevill and Goldsmith. The top three set off in starting order, once Payton had held off Cook’s Fiesta into Paddock Hill Bend, whilst Goldsmith got ahead of Nevill at the rolling start and Cook too, after getting a good run up the hill to Druids. Cook's Fiesta stayed to the outside of Goldsmith at Druids, however, and repassed the Anglia at Graham Hill Bend to start a battle that would run and run, Cook had his hands full with the similarly powered car all race but the Fiesta held the Anglebox off for fourth after escaping in the latter stages. Wayne Crabtree had made good ground prior to the stoppage to line up ninth for the restart in his 2.3 Duratec-powered Mk1 Escort. His progress continued when the race got going again too, getting by David Guthrie's Fiesta at Druids on lap one before dispensing with Brian Lilley's Sierra in the same place a lap later. Crabtree then went on to have a great battle for sixth with Paul Nevill, which went the way of the Mk1 Escort after getting up the inside into Druids for the penultimate time and resisting the RS2000 as they virtually dead-heated past the flag. Nevill was originally given the spot by a mere 0.007 seconds but the positions were reversed on review, with Crabtree getting the verdict by a scant 0.001 seconds! At the head of the leaderboard, Field's RSR disappeared up the road to take an 11.401-second victory from Wood's similar car, helped by setting a scorching 49.848-second fastest lap on lap number two. The Millington-powered Cortina of Payton took a solitary third to back up his earlier second place and again win Class B+, whilst behind Cook, Goldsmith, Crabtree and Nevill came Brian Lilley in eighth and took his second Class A win of the day. David Guthrie had been running with Lilley in the early stages before the Dick Johnson Racing replica Sierra edged away. Cliff Pellin’s Mk7 Fiesta Ecoboost completed the top ten.
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Group B
Neil Jessop and Mike Thurley rejoined their battle for honours from 2022 in the packed Class B entry. Chris Baker’s Mk3 Escort continues to gather momentum and would aim to go with the two Zakspeed Escorts, whilst the Chris Jones Escort Mk1 scored a couple of class wins at Lydden Hill in August. Further capable Mk1 Escorts graced the entry in the hands of Gary Johnson and Andy Pipe. HT Racing director Aaron Tucker made his first appearance in a while with his three-door Sierra and Harry Hardy’s Puma returned to the fold too. The fleet of Fiestas in the class would likely have Oliver Bullion and Sam Shimwell’s Mk6 STs at their forefront. Further Mk6s would be handled by Ian Seale, Richard Sanders, Mac McCarthy, Reeve Robinson and the experienced Will Arif shared a car with John Mayhew. Tyler England’s earlier Mk4 car finished the Fiesta ranks whilst Paul Solbe’s Focus completed the class lineup. Gary Littlewood, the double Class C winner in the opening races of the year at Silverstone, was back with his yellow Fiesta and classic racer Bob Bullen brought his orange Mk1 Escort out for a blast. Tom Burgess’ immaculate Datapost Fiesta Group One car was a welcome addition to the Class C field and would face class regulars Dave Barrett and Jimmy Neophytou. The half-a-dozen-strong class entry was filled out by newcomer Darryl Taplin’s Puma-engined Fiesta.
Qualifying: The Zakspeed Escort Mk1 of Mike Thurley secured pole position among the Group B field by 0.626 seconds from Chris Baker’s free-revving Mk3 Escort. Andy Pipe’s black Mk1 Escort lined up alongside the three-door Sierra of Aaron Tucker on row two. On the third row could be found Gary Johnson’s immaculate Mk1 Escort, running on slicks for the first time, and he had Richard Sanders' Fiesta ST beside him. Two more Fiestas in the hands of Oliver Bullion and Sam Shimwell lined in seventh and eighth, just in front of Chris Smith's Mk1 Escort. The top four Class C cars qualified within 0.261 seconds of each other and were headed by Dave Barrett in tenth overall from Jimmy Neophytou, Gary Littlewood and newcomer Darryl Taplin, all driving Fiestas of differing vintages. Expected pacesetter Neil Jessop’s bewinged Zakspeed Mk2 Escort lost his best lap time, which had placed him in sixth overall, for a track-limit offence and ended up starting from the sixth row alongside Neophytou.
Neil Jessop and Mike Thurley rejoined their battle for honours from 2022 in the packed Class B entry. Chris Baker’s Mk3 Escort continues to gather momentum and would aim to go with the two Zakspeed Escorts, whilst the Chris Jones Escort Mk1 scored a couple of class wins at Lydden Hill in August. Further capable Mk1 Escorts graced the entry in the hands of Gary Johnson and Andy Pipe. HT Racing director Aaron Tucker made his first appearance in a while with his three-door Sierra and Harry Hardy’s Puma returned to the fold too. The fleet of Fiestas in the class would likely have Oliver Bullion and Sam Shimwell’s Mk6 STs at their forefront. Further Mk6s would be handled by Ian Seale, Richard Sanders, Mac McCarthy, Reeve Robinson and the experienced Will Arif shared a car with John Mayhew. Tyler England’s earlier Mk4 car finished the Fiesta ranks whilst Paul Solbe’s Focus completed the class lineup. Gary Littlewood, the double Class C winner in the opening races of the year at Silverstone, was back with his yellow Fiesta and classic racer Bob Bullen brought his orange Mk1 Escort out for a blast. Tom Burgess’ immaculate Datapost Fiesta Group One car was a welcome addition to the Class C field and would face class regulars Dave Barrett and Jimmy Neophytou. The half-a-dozen-strong class entry was filled out by newcomer Darryl Taplin’s Puma-engined Fiesta.
Qualifying: The Zakspeed Escort Mk1 of Mike Thurley secured pole position among the Group B field by 0.626 seconds from Chris Baker’s free-revving Mk3 Escort. Andy Pipe’s black Mk1 Escort lined up alongside the three-door Sierra of Aaron Tucker on row two. On the third row could be found Gary Johnson’s immaculate Mk1 Escort, running on slicks for the first time, and he had Richard Sanders' Fiesta ST beside him. Two more Fiestas in the hands of Oliver Bullion and Sam Shimwell lined in seventh and eighth, just in front of Chris Smith's Mk1 Escort. The top four Class C cars qualified within 0.261 seconds of each other and were headed by Dave Barrett in tenth overall from Jimmy Neophytou, Gary Littlewood and newcomer Darryl Taplin, all driving Fiestas of differing vintages. Expected pacesetter Neil Jessop’s bewinged Zakspeed Mk2 Escort lost his best lap time, which had placed him in sixth overall, for a track-limit offence and ended up starting from the sixth row alongside Neophytou.
Race One: The heavy lunchtime rain meant that the field had to go scurrying for wet tyres before the start of their opening race. Chris Baker leapt into the lead towards Paddock Hill Bend like a man on a mission but unfortunately slid off at Surtees, after acting as the guinea pig in the treacherous conditions, and the RS1600i completed lap one down in 21st. Polesitter Mike Thurley then took up the running but had a big slide through Clark Curve as the first lap came to a close, which meant that Richard Sanders' Fiesta went into the lead, with the front-wheel-drive cars appearing more sure-footed in the wet going. Andy Pipe's Mk1 Escort had also passed Thurley when he had his wayward snap but slipped out of second himself after suffering the same moment as Baker on the Surtees river during lap two, promoting Oliver Bullion's Fiesta into the runners-up spot. Lapping with impressive speed, the two Fiestas at the front drew away from the rest of the field with Sanders establishing a lead which peaked at just over five seconds on lap four before Bullion began to stem the tide. The early Class C leaders Jimmy Neophytou and Gary Littlewood were also enjoying the slick conditions in their smaller capacity Fiestas and both ran in the top five after four laps, whilst poleman Thurley clearly wasn't as the two Class C cars left him in their wake on lap two. Neophytou's Mk1 Fiesta then passed Aaron Tucker's three-door Sierra for third into Paddock Hill Bend on the fifth lap but immediately ran wide at Druids, which let Littlewood's Mk6 Fiesta into third after following Neophytou past Tucker. Tyler England, Dave Barrett and Darryl Taplin had each passed the out-of-sorts Thurley by lap seven, whilst the Datapost Fiesta of Tom Burgess was catching all of them after a steady start. However, the Safety Car was deployed at half-distance to rescue Andy Pipe’s stranded Mk1 Escort at Surtees and the race restarted with two minutes left. Having brought the lead gap down to 1.883 seconds just before the interruption, a motivated Bullion was all over Sanders' similar car through Paddock Hill Bend and Druids at the restart, before a great run exiting Graham Hill Bend propelled the white Fiesta into the lead towards Surtees. Once in front, Bullion was able to stretch away into a 2.176-second winning margin in the last two laps. For the lowest step on the podium, Littlewood held off Neophytou by a little under a second as the Class C cars finished in a fine third and fourth overall. Tucker’s Sierra trailed them home in fifth. The wet weather produced some great results for some of the lower-powered cars as the Fiesta of Tyler England headed home the smaller-engined car of Dave Barrett to make up the top seven. Chris Baker’s Mk3 Escort recovered well to finish eighth ahead of Tom Burgess’ Group One Fiesta and impressive debutant Darryl Taplin, the 1.7 Fiesta from Class C had ran as high as seventh earlier on before a visit to the Paddock Hill Bend gravel trap.
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Race Two: The track was fully dry for the second Group B encounter which ended the day and with the earlier wet bout mixing up the grid order, an exciting race beckoned. The Fiesta STs of Oliver Bullion and Richard Sanders shared the front row, whilst the Class C entries of Gary Littlewood and Jimmy Neophytou started from the second row. Of the fancied runners in the dry, Aaron Tucker's Sierra was best placed in fifth, Chris Baker's Mk3 started eighth, top qualifier Mike Thurley went from twelfth and Gary Johnson lined up twentieth after qualifying in the top five. Neil Jessop and Andy Pipe, two more expected to rapidly climb the order, both non-started from their sixteenth and 21st grid spots respectively. Bullion led the field away from pole on lap one and quickly opened up a lead to Sanders through the opening corners. A charging opening lap from Thurley saw the Mk1 Escort complete it in second place, after outdragging Sanders along the Brabham Straight, before the Mk1 Escort took the lead from Bullion’s Fiesta at Surtees on lap two. Also on the move was Baker's Mk3 Escort, reaching third on lap two before taking second on the fourth tour. The initial five-second gap between Thurley and Baker gradually came down throughout the remainder of the fifteen minutes, until the Mk3 Escort was right in the Mk1’s wheeltracks on the final lap. The former oval racer held on to record the win by just 0.340 seconds. Race One victor Bullion in third resisted a long spell of pressure to hold off the remarkable Datapost Fiesta of Class C winner Tom Burgess, who had risen from the foot of the top ten at the start and whose commitment through Surtees was something to behold. The pair were being closed on in the later stages by Aaron Tucker’s Sierra running in tandem with Gary Johnson’s Mk1 Escort, after a fine drive through the field from twentieth, but the pair fell just 0.395 seconds shy of Burgess. Gary Littlewood's 1600cc Fiesta took second in Class C with sixth as the small hatchback filled the lower reaches of the top ten in the hands of Richard Sanders, Tyler England and Jimmy Neophytou.
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The Modified Ford Series concludes for 2023 on the International layout at Silverstone on Sunday the 8th of October, where an over-subscribed entry is on the cards.