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| September 09, 2012 |
| British FF: Lictenstein Extends Win Streak at Silverstone |
 | Eric Lichtenstein kept the championship fight alive with a weekend sweep at Silverstone
(Photo: Jakob Ebrey Motorsports Photography) |
The champagne will remain on ice for Antti Buri for a further three weeks, following another hat-trick of race victories in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain for Eric Lichtenstein. The Argentinian EcoBoost ace followed up his Silverstone race one win with a further two wins on Sunday (September 9) to keep the title fight alive a little longer.
Buri followed Lichtenstein home for second place in the first of the day’s races but was sidelined in the finale by suspension problems after running off track. Ten points separate Antti from the crown - just one race finish at Donington Park at the end of the month will clinch it for the JTR driver.
Lichtenstein enjoyed a pole-to-chequered flag romp in the first of the day’s Silverstone races, leading home Buri by six-tenths at the line.
Buri kept Lichtenstein close, and indeed challenged for the lead in the opening laps, but the Finn’s pace was hobbled by a sticking throttle mid-race which saw him drop four seconds behind as Lichtenstein romped away. A canny Lichtenstein throttled back towards the end to preserve his tyres for the final race of the day, allowing Buri to close back up in the closing laps, but the result was never in doubt.
“It was a good race and I am very pleased. I saved the car at the end because we have another race to go today. I promise I will end that race with no tyres left!”
“It was unbelievable,” said Buri. “Maybe a stone or something got in the throttle. Then after a couple of laps the throttle came back again.”
Lichtenstein’s Jamun teammate Jake Cook joined the leaders’ battle on laps one and two, but slipped behind on lap three after a lock-up at Becketts. Then JTR’s Julio Moreno closed on to the Brit’s tail, passed him and was repassed before Moreno made the move stick through Copse on the penultimate lap. Taking his fourth podium of the season.
“It was pretty tough for two laps trying to pass Jake. On this track because of the long straights it’s very hard to pull a gap, but once I got past him I pushed really hard to get away.”
With Luke Williams sidelined early by gearbox woes, Cook collected fourth overall and Ryan Cullen fifth to complete the EcoBoost class finishing order.
Rendez-Vous Racing’s Fabian Welter was once again the master of the Duratec class, leading the division from start to finish to take the flag 7.6s ahead of his closest rival, George Blundell. Blundell had lost his clutch on the startline and was lucky to get away at all; the Enigma Motorsport driver picked his way through to second in class by the fourth lap, but by then Welter was long gone.
“This is a great circuit; I love it,” said Welter after his win. “The car was really good and these are important points for me for the championship.”
Third in class went the way of Don Hardman Automotive driver Abdul Ahmed after Fluid’s Alex Drabble was penalised five seconds for exceeding track limits. Drabble stayed ahead of his teammate Matt Rao to collect fourth in class.
His gearbox problems fixed, Williams took the fight to his teammate Lichtenstein early in the final race of the Silverstone weekend, drafting past the pole man for the lead on the opening lap. Lichtenstein repaid the favour on the following lap however to regain top spot, with Buri following him through to bump Williams back to third.
Lichtenstein had pulled clear by 1s by the third lap but it wasn’t enough of a gap to prevent Buri from slipstreaming back on to his tail. Buri set the fastest lap of the race in his pursuit, and narrowed the leader’s advantage to 0.3s going into the final lap.
The race had claimed its first JTR casualty at Becketts on the opening lap, with Moreno spinning off into a gravel trap, and then its second on the last tour, when Buri ran wide and off the track, over a bump and damaged his Mygale’s suspension.
Buri’s misfortune was a rare bit of good luck for Williams, for it promoted the Sowerby racer to second place and his best finish since June. Cullen profited too, the Somerset man taking third - his first Formula Ford podium. Jamun’s other driver, Cook, finished well back after suffering an intermittent electrical problem.
Lichtenstein was more than pleased with his 10th win of the year and his seventh in succession.
“It was a really good race for me. This track is really tricky - I was much faster than the others but every time they caught my tow they got close. It was just a case of keeping it steady and making no mistakes. What happened to Buri is what you get when you make mistakes; I think he tried to overtake me and braked too late.”
Cullen said he felt relieved to get his first podium.
“It’s been a while coming. I’ve had some bad luck in past weekends but I feel I really deserved this one.”
Like Lichtenstein, Welter collected a hat-trick also, and again the Mexican RVR driver led the Duratec class from start to finish. As in the earlier race he was pursued by a determined Blundell, who closed to within 1.6s by the chequered flag.
“In the end my tyres were completely dead,” said Welter. “On the last lap I was so slow. George was really catching me up, and I could see him coming. It feels really good to win here again; this is such a special weekend.”
Rao completed the podium for the Fluid Motorsport Van Diemen team.
“It’s been such a tough weekend,” he said, “it’s really good to end it with a podium.”
Ahmed and Drabble placed fourth and fifth in class.
The Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain comes to a close on September 29-30, with a trio of races at Donington Park.
Full British FF Championship Race results available HERE and HERE |
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