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| July 29, 2012 |
| British FF: 2 out of 3 for Lichtenstein at the Nurburgring |
 | Eric Lichtenstein reduced the championship lead with a pair of British FF wins at the Nurburgring
(Photo: Jakob Ebrey Motorsports Photography) |
Eric Lichtenstein was the big winner at the Nurburgring rounds of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain over the weekend (July 28-29). Jamun’s Argentinian driver claimed two race victories from three, and with them the Nurburgring Formula Ford EuroCup crown. JTR’s rookie Ecuadorian racer Julio Moreno took a popular maiden win in race two, while in the Duratec class Dutchman Bas Schouten completed a hat-trick of victories.
Lichtenstein scored his third win of the Formula Ford Championship on Saturday, claiming victory in the first round of the series ever held in Germany.
Lichtenstein seized the advantage on the opening lap of the wet Nürburgring race and held on in front of his Jamun Racing Mygale EcoBoost teammate Jake Cook, despite his losing turbo boost on the final lap.
He had started from the pole, but made a poor start, swamped by both Cook and championship leader Antti Buri (JTR). But Buri ran off track at turn one and Cook, hampered by a mystery lack of straightline speed, was unable to defend against Lichtenstein’s opening-lap attack.
“I had a bad start,” said Lichtenstein. “Buri went past me on the outside and Cook passed me on the inside. Antti then went straight on the first corner and I was able to overtake Jake. I think I had about 12 seconds advantage with two laps to go, and then a turbo pipe disconnected and I was running with no power. I tried to go at the best pace I could without the turbo, but I was very slow; thankfully I had built a big gap.”
Cook closed to within six seconds by the chequered flag.
Moreno held third for five of the eight laps, before running wide into turn one and ceding the final podium slot to his teammate Cavan Corcoran. Then, on the final lap, he lost fourth to another JTR man, the recovering Buri, who had battled back from dead last after his spin.
Ryan Cullen was the remaining EcoBoost finisher, the Somerset youngster having had to start from the back of the grid after turbo problems in qualifying and going on to suffer an early-race spin on dropped oil. The Cullen Motorsport driver placed seventh overall, just behind the first of the Duratec runners, Provily Racing’s Schouten.
Schouten’s teammate Michel Florie led home a trio of Fluid Van Diemens for second in class. Matt Rao, Alex Drabble, and Nicolai Sylvest completed the order.
There were highs and lows for many of the EcoBoost brigade in the second race of Formula Ford’s Nurburgring weekend, with Saturday winner Lichtenstein suffering the dejection of losing an almost certain repeat victory through car problems and rookie racer Moreno experiencing the delight of claiming his first racing win. Championship leader Buri meanwhile endured his first non-finish of the season.
Poleman Lichtenstein beat off a spirited challenge from his teammate Cook on the opening lap to take control of the race, but as Cook passed the pits for the first time he already knew victory was beyond him, with a recurrence of his earlier problem of a comparative lack of straightline speed.
Buri, who had started near the back of the grid after some of his qualifying times were disallowed for not respecting track limits, had made a great start and was carving his way through the Duratec runners when there was a clash of wheels and the JTR man had to pull off with broken rear suspension before even reaching the first turn.
By the sixth lap, Lichtenstein was 6.1s up the road and looked set for another win as Cook, his Mygale sounding less healthy by the lap, slipped back into the clutches of the men pursuing - Moreno and Corcoran. Moreno had snatched third from Corocan on the fourth lap as the latter struggled to find grip on a used set of Dunlops.
The seventh tour was the decisive one. Moreno took second away from Cook just as Lichtenstein slowed with a repeat of his Saturday turbo pipe failure.
“Yesterday I could manage because it was wet, but in the dry today there was no way,” said the disconsolate Argentinian.
Moreno swept past him for the lead on the penultimate tour and held off a determined challenge from Cook in the early part of the lap. On the run to the flag Cook lost his second place to Corocan, and Moreno, Corcoran and Cook crossed the line in that order, separated by three seconds.
“To win my first Formula Ford race is a really good feeling,” said Formula Ford’s first Ecuadorian victor. “This is the first time this year that everyone has been to a track that it new to us all. Yesterday was tricky because of the weather; today it was dry and my car was really good. All thanks to JTR for that; they did an amazing job.”
A limping Lichtenstein fell behind Ryan Cullen on the last lap, to fifth, just holding off Duratec class winner Schouten at the line.
Schouten led the Duratec boys for the duration, with young Dane Sylvest getting the better of a race-long fight with Florie for class second. Fluid Van Diemen men Rao and Drabble finished fourth and fifth in class.
Mechanically, everything went smoothly for Lichtenstein in the finale, but from lap two the Jamun driver had the looming presence of championship leader Buri to contend with.
Buri had made a clean start this time from P10, and moved up to third on the opening lap behind pole man Lichtenstein and Corcoran. Next time around the Finn swept past his teammate to start chasing the leader, whittling Lichtenstein’s advantage down from 1.6s on lap two to less than half a second by the penultimate tour. Buri posted three consecutive fastest laps during his pursuit.
Everything looked set for a last-lap shoot-out between the two, but Buri erred out of turn 10, running wide and giving Lichtenstein just the breathing space he needed to secure his second win of the weekend and the Nurburgring EuroCup trophy.
“That makes up for this morning,” said Lichtenstein. “Antti is so often out in front it’s nice to see him in my mirrors one time. I had good pace today and it was just a case of not making any mistakes and keeping it going to the end.”
“Nearly.” said Buri. “I made a mistake on the last lap, but I am not sure that I could have taken him anyway. It’s a big disadvantage starting from 10th.”
Corcoran slipped to fourth behind Moreno on lap two and played a waiting game, preserving his very worn tyres for a last-lap challenge. He left it as late as he dared, lunging through for third at the chicane to wrest the final podium place from his JTR running mate Moreno.
Cullen completed a solid weekend of results with fifth. Cook paid the penalty for an optimistic start with a drive-through, recovering from last after making his pit call to eighth overall by the chequered flag.
Schouten was once again the class of the Duratec field to secure his third class win of the weekend and with it the Duratec EuroCup for the Nurburgring. But the Dutchman had company the whole race in the shape of Sylvest, who harried him to the end and was just two-tenths adrift at the line.
“My first two races were quite lonely,” said Schouten, “but I enjoyed this one a lot more. It was a good fight.”
Florie led home Rao and Drabble to complete the Duratec finishing order.
Following their foray to Germany, the teams and drivers of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain are back on home turf on August 4-5, for three races at Snetterton in Norfolk.
Full British FF Championship Race results available HERE |
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