Brands Hatch

Round 4 of the HSCC Historic Formula Ford Championship took place at the iconic Brands Hatch GP circuit on 11th and 12th July. Heat wave conditions and a full grid of 37 cars brought a lot of pre-race excitement, especially as four entries had come all the way from California for a piece of the action.

Having not raced at Brands Hatch before, it was going to be another challenging weekend for Jacques in his 1971 Merlyn mk2oa. Taking part in the optional Friday test day on the shorter "Indy" circuit proved to be very useful, enabling him to learn the notoriously tricky "Paddock Hill Bend" and "Druids" hairpin.

Saturday morning's qualifying session saw Jensen grasp the "GP track" quickly, and despite a short session due to a red flag, he managed to qualify on the 5th row, in 9th position.

Race 1 started with too much wheelspin and a slow getaway from Jensen, losing 2 positions into turn 1. By lap 3, Jacques had managed to squeeze back past Mark Wilkes (Merlyn mk20), to put him back into the top 10. From here, Jensen chased down Danny Stanzl (Elden mk8). On Lap 5, a pack of backmarkers assisted in mixing the order up, and Jacques found himself up to 9th, then 8th by the end of lap 7. A great battle between Jensen, Simon Toyne (Winkelmann WDF2) and Matt Wrigley (Merlyn mk11a/20) took place during the remaining 4 laps. Jacques eventually crossed the finish line alongside Toyne, just missing out on 6th place.

Race 2 - A stronger start this time saw Jacques hold position from 7th on the grid. At the front of the field, Benn Simms (Jomo JMR 7) popped out of gear at the fast and poorly sighted "Sheene Curve".

Unfortunately he then selected first gear instead of third which inevitably locked the rear wheels and spun his car into the middle of the track. Jensen managed to react quickly and head to the grass in avoidance, but a few cars behind were not so lucky, with Danny Stanzl (Elden mk8), Kevin Stanzl (Merlyn mk20) and Mark Wilkes involved in the incident. The race was quickly stopped to clear the damaged cars and a full race restart followed.

A decent get away on the restart, and Jensen found himself in fifth position. As part of the leading pack, Jensen chased Christian Goller (Lola T202) up ahead whilst under pressure from Matt Wrigley. A missed gear from reigning champion Sam Mitchell (Merlyn mk2o) saw Goller and Jensen each gain a position, but this was short lived as Mitchell slip streamed back past. Jensen held position for the remainder of the race, taking the chequered flag in fifth place.

Jacques recapped, "It was a thoroughly enjoyable race weekend at Brands, and it was great to be part of such a popular and highly competitive event. I'm happy with the results and pace considering it was my first time at this challenging circuit and the strength of the grid. Bring on Round 5 at Castle Combe, my local track!"