Who's driving in Formula Ford next year? - Page 3

DavidStHubbins · 9 Jan 2003, 06:22 (Ref:468173)

Didnt Ambrose drive for Ray a few years ago when Courtney took his seat at Van Diemen? He did alright but he said it wasnt as good as the Van DIemen. Maybe the ray is better now.

GM Man · 10 Jan 2003, 08:54 (Ref:469263)

The works VD has always been extremly quick, no matter who's driving it. If one checks the results from a race, there will be VDs up the front but also in the back of the field. I reckon, with the right resources and testing the Ray could be a good challenger. It will also be interesting to follow the Glebe. Who will be driving that by the way?

racingdick · 10 Jan 2003, 11:08 (Ref:469345)

the other way round,
the ray works well in the cold and damp, not in mid season when weather conditions are better... thats from official sources!
mygale and van dieman had there new cars on display yest
with according to the froggie on mygale, taking in to account the language difficulty
Ben Clucas is a works driver for them.. in there 2003 chassis.
not sure what input Murrey racing will have but the team owner was on there stand

racingdick · 10 Jan 2003, 11:30 (Ref:469359)

mygale

Gaz · 12 Jan 2003, 21:30 (Ref:472444)

anybody know what it was all about having Clucas's name all over the new Mygale? Surely he's not staying in Zetec's next year is he? thought he was stepping up to Formula Renault or F3 Scholarship? My only guess was that his name was all over it because of what he achieved in a Mygale last year. Also any news on what Mygale are doing next year in the UK? I heard rumours after the Festival they could be teaming up with Jamun but have heard nowt since.

**bella** · 12 Jan 2003, 22:11 (Ref:472466)

guess his is just about the only sucessful name that mygale had to shout about..!

Russfeld · 13 Jan 2003, 04:26 (Ref:472692)

Who's running the Mygale?

El_Gibleto · 13 Jan 2003, 06:10 (Ref:472721)

Mygale Racing UK will be running a two car team in the UKFormulaFord championship. The cars to be rub by Malcolm "puddy" Pullen will be operated from a workshop near Snetterton.

Ben Clucas will be driving the #1 car, negotiations are ongoing with drivers for the second seat.

Mygale Racing UK is a "full works team" operation, with full support from the Mygale group in France.

btw, the "froggie" on the Mygale stand was Betrand Decoster, who owns the Mygale group!!!

Gaz · 13 Jan 2003, 10:55 (Ref:472854)

Have to say I'm shocked at this. After he ran in the Renault Winter Series and tested an F3 car I never thought for one moment he would step back into Formula Ford. Great news for the series though, one that Mygale are back and two a driver such as Clucas is driving for them. Gotta say if the car is up to scratch he has to be pre-season favourite. Although in saying that there's so many other good drivers out there it promises to be a vintage year.

I take it Mygale have probably offered him a fully funded drive or something to tempt him back.

racingdick · 13 Jan 2003, 12:43 (Ref:472932)

a driver is only human so will go where he or she has the best chance of winning...
most lickely to have been offered a subsidised drive, very rare for a fully funded drive in a low series like ford..

powerflowmotors · 14 Jan 2003, 09:32 (Ref:473713)

Without putting the kid down, I dont think its sensible to label him as pre-season favourite. He won juniors last yearin what was certainly a dominant fashion once he got his act together however Smiths budget was hardly a match to clucas's and this curtailed his effort. Smith was really the only other driver in the series with speed AND consistency and so with him out the equation its no surprise he walked it.

He did a fine job at the festival before barbers attempt to flip him failed but dont forget he was in a car very much suited to the slightly damp/cold conditions...

My expectations are for a JLR driver to take the driver after their performances last season. They have a good driver line up and are a good team, I thought Hall and Smith looked good in the winter series and with clucas in the works mygale and other top line drivers in the championship it should be a super year for us spectators.I cant wait!

**bella** · 14 Jan 2003, 13:07 (Ref:473853)

not sure darwin could really be counted as out of the equation just because he didn't have the budget. anyone who spoke to him or knows him is aware he's a determined person and certainly did everything within his power to ensure that he stopped ben clucas winning it. unfortunately, ben threw some questionable moves into it a few times, and those ended up deciding the championship (sorry mr clucas, but in my opinion that's the truth). take a look at the results and you'll see it was closer than the championship suggests.

enough of the rant, if ben has got a chance to show everyone what he's made of then you can't say he's daft for wanting to do so. depending how quickly they can sort the car out, he could be up for the main championship.

unfortunately though, if this season backfires then it'll really trash his reputation. look at the circumstances and he really should be doing well, whether it's fair or not to say so.

good luck to him.

prefabsprout · 14 Jan 2003, 16:08 (Ref:474019)

bella... I think your views are a little adrift of being the truth, you have even been wrong on truth/facts previously

Oh and powerflowmotors

Darwin had the budget for two senior rounds last year

so he couldn't of been that short of money to come do those in addition to the Junior championship unless he was being run for free at those, so would that not indicate together with Stickers on his car that he had more support/budget than the jamun driver

Both drivers had a good year but there is only ever one winner of a championship. With Wes godwin as the only true rookie they showed that the 2001 car could be as compatitive as the 2001 Van diemens... same cars as the year before, but the results the other way around.

2001 (Seniors)
van diemen 1,2,3

2002 (juniors on last years chassis)
Mygale 1,2,3

**bella** · 14 Jan 2003, 18:23 (Ref:474203)

in my opinion i did say. but thank you for passing on 'the other side's arguement. we are all biased here aren't we?

medler · 14 Jan 2003, 18:51 (Ref:474235)

By Smith I assume you mean Darwin Smith. Has he got a Fford drive this year then?

John Clucas · 14 Jan 2003, 20:59 (Ref:474371)

Quote:

Originally posted by bella
in my opinion i did say. but thank you for passing on 'the other side's arguement. we are all biased here aren't we?

I try very hard not to get embroiled in discussions about my own son - I would certainly be accused of bias. BUT I do think that, as moderator, you, of all people, should avoid making vague and unsupported slurs that, because they are non-specific, cannot be challenged. I can say quite categorically that no adverse formal or informal comment has been made by race officials about Ben's driving. I don't wish to indulge in a public debate about this, but if you wish to email me I'd be happy to discuss specific issues - I don't believe your views can be substantiated.

Gaz · 14 Jan 2003, 21:10 (Ref:474390)

Thanks for posting Mr Clucas, whats the score with Ben running Ford again next year thought it was almost certain he'd be in Renault or F3?

Have to agree although the racing was close in 2002 I was at every Junior FFord meeting and witnessed the battles between Clucas and Smith first hand and I never saw any wrong driving apart from when Smith took Clucas off at Brands. Not saying that because his dad's posting it's just my opinion from what I saw. Thought Ben did a fantastic job defending his position in some races as did Darwin in others and they produced some great racing between them.

For me anyone saying that Smith was more deserving of the crown than Clucas or anything along those lines just needs to look at what Ben did at Oulton Park. To be nearly a second ahead of your rivals at a circuit like Oulton Park and in a Formula Ford car is a fabulous achievement and that for me said it all about Ben's year not to mention what he did at the Festival.

Cannot wait for next year - Clucas, Jarvis, Danielsson, Hall, Kimber-Smith .... the list goes on. Things are really hotting up for a good year. Seems its gone all a bit quiet over at Renault

medler · 14 Jan 2003, 22:40 (Ref:474515)

Pleased to see Ben Clucas in Fford this year, I was very impressed with his driving at the festival. One of the great things about formula ford is the close driving, sometimes to close. I had also heard that Ben was going in Formula Renault love to know more about this Mygale works team. I Think the car is a modified 2001 car junked the 2002 design?

Mackmot · 15 Jan 2003, 13:51 (Ref:475043)

I dont think there is anything to argue. Both drivers deserved the championship and that produced some of the best racing out of all the championships in the world.

I would hope that next season we see both of them battling it out again. I just hope Darwin can get the budget to compete.

John Clucas · 15 Jan 2003, 20:30 (Ref:475519)

While Ben would love to be in F3, we have to cut our coat according to our cloth. The F3 drive was part of the prize for the winning the Junior championship, and, unfortunately a one-off. That said Formula Ford is looking very healthy next year, and the 2003 Mygale car and team look a strong combination. Ben is particularly looking forward to another crack at the Festival.

GM Man · 17 Jan 2003, 08:26 (Ref:476957)

So who will be driving what car this year then?

racingdick · 17 Jan 2003, 13:04 (Ref:477183)

Clucas as the main driver...

GM Man · 19 Jan 2003, 13:21 (Ref:478976)

Ok, if I put it this way then:

Lets have a stab at who is driving for what team.

Clucas - Mygale works team
Jarvis, Gaymore - Comtec
Danielson - Ray
Kimber-Smith, Hall - JLR

...please fill in the rest

medler · 19 Jan 2003, 13:40 (Ref:478985)

More names

Daniel Clarke, Comtec
Also I think Walker, is with Comtec
Joey Foster, Continental
Suk Saunder, Ray

Don't know any more, but there is supposed to be 20+ Drivers in the Senior Championship.

Ian Sowman · 19 Jan 2003, 19:06 (Ref:479248)

I'm surprised the subject of the format change hasn't come up in the forum so far, with two heats and a final the agreed structure to allow everyone a race each weekend, albeit only a 10 minute one for a lot of people. Entries have been opened up to 56.

I don't understand this. One would imagine that the cars should generally get a bit quicker year-on-year which suggests that if you drive a Scholarship car (are they sticking with those new class names or not?) you ought to be less likely to get through to the final all things being equal. So why did teams running year-old cars agree to this? Surely they would have been better off with last year's format; or at very least one championship running separate races for each class at most meetings.

Also, a lot of teams might now switch to the National series (what with the entry being opened up) rather than do the two regional ones. The entries could be spreas very thinly - for example on the weekend of April 21 (Easter Monday), the Nationals will be at Mondello, the Northern cars at Mallory and the Southerns at Brands for a double-header...

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