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UK Formula For Championship Press Release
from Castle Combe
BRENTWOOD, June 26, 2005: Championship leader Charlie Donnelly and his Jamun Racing team-mate Duncan Tappy were the big winners of the day at Castle Combe in the 11th and 12th rounds of the UK Formula Ford Championship, Donnelly claiming victory in the first of the races and Tappy taking home his ideal 21st birthday present in race two in the shape of his maiden championship win.
And the biggest loser of the day was Joe D'Agostino, who led both races but failed to finish either. The American now has a 69-point deficit between himself and Donnelly and only eight races remaining in the Ford-backed championship in which to reduce it.
Irishman Donnelly's fifth UK Formula Ford Championship victory of the season was a controversial one and came at the expense of Tappy, who crossed the line ahead but who was later excluded from the results for his part in a mid-race collision with the car of D'Agostino which ended the Brackley-based American's race.
Surrey-based Tappy was in strong form from the outset, rocketing into the lead on the opening lap from third on the grid, past the cars of Donnelly and D'Agostino. Less than a second had covered the top four in qualifying, with local Wiltshire hero Robert Sunderland completing the quick quartet.
D'Agostino and Donnelly had no intention of allowing Tappy a clear run, however. Joe tailed him for four laps before popping past at Tower Corner on the fifth tour to take control, and he held on in front by a whisker for a further five laps before the Avon Rise collision which sidelined him and handed the lead back to Tappy.
"It was one of those things," said Duncan of the incident. "Joe was playing the defending game and he came across my front and we clashed." D'Agostino's perspective was different: "He took me off, simple as that. It's not the way to win your first race." Joe's Team JLR Van Diemen spun backwards at 140mph, deep into the Castle Combe crops, with rear suspension damage.
Race officials later favoured D'Agostino's view of events, excluding Tappy from the results.
Tappy came under increasing pressure from Donnelly over the closing nine laps but held on to take the chequered flag ahead of the Irishman by 0.159s. Mindful of his championship hopes, Charlie was pleased enough: "This year it's all about using my head and racking up the points." Later promoted to victory by the stewards, his points haul was all the greater.
Sunderland's Mackie Motorsport Mygale finished third on the road and was subsequently promoted to second by Tappy's exclusion, with Steve Roberts (Whitchurch) scoring his best result of the season with third. It was also Roberts' ninth victory of the year in the Scholarship Class for less experienced drivers.
Norway's Thor-Christian Ebbesvik took fourth ahead of his Team JLR running mate Jonny Baker (West Ewell), and Linton Stuteley was sixth to claim honours in the Avon Tyres Clubmans Championship division. Returning team Myerscough College took seventh and ninth places courtesy Durham drivers Andrew Bentley and Sean Gaffney, who sandwiched the Clubmans car of Neil Tofts. Richard Mendoza rounded out the top 10.
A determined D'Agostino blasted away from pole position in race two and into a handsome lead which he stretched to 2.5 seconds before disaster in the shape of an engine failure brought him to a halt six laps from home. JLR team boss Richard Dean said: "It's very unusual to have an engine problem in Formula Ford. It may be a legacy of his high-speed backwards spin in the first race; we shall have to investigate."
With D'Agostino's victory hopes dashed yet again the battle for victory was once more between Tappy and Donnelly. Duncan had dislodged Charlie from second spot on the second lap and, despite tremendous pressure from the Dubliner, stayed in front to win by just 0.175s.
"It's the best birthday present ever," said Duncan, "and it more than makes up for losing out in the first race. I hope now to score a few more wins before the end of the season." Added Donnelly: "Second is a good result and the points are useful. I'm sorry for Joe but you have to make hay while the sun shines in this business."
Sunderland took third once again, this time less than six seconds behind the victor, with Baker leading Ebbesvik all the way from the grid to chequered flag to take fourth, his best placing of the year. Baker also scooped the Scholarship Class honours: his only rival Roberts retired on the opening lap with suspension problems.
Bentley was sixth ahead of Clubmans Championship runners Tofts, Stuteley, Jason Down and Craig Bell. Sean Gaffney recovered from a first-lap clash with the car of Mendoza to finish 11th, ahead of Matthew Dobson.
The UK Formula Ford Championship battlers return at Brands Hatch at the end of July.
Provisional championship standings after round 12, 26/6/05:
1: Charlie Donnelly, IRL, Dublin, Jamun Racing, 341 pts
2: Joe D'Agostino, USA, Brackley, Team JLR, 272
3: Duncan Tappy, UK, West Ewell, Jamun Racing, 229
4: Stephen Roberts, UK, Whitchurch, Kevin Mills Racing, 207
5=: Thor Ebbesvik, NOR, Bergen, Team JLR
5=: Jonny Baker, UK, Farnham Common, Team JLR, 203 etc
Scholarship Class:
1: Roberts, 315
2: Baker, 307
3: Sarah Playfair (UK/East Lothian/Marque Cars), 234.
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