Official Race Report:- Kimber-Smith Takes Rockingham Double

Tom Kimber-Smith (Workingham) took a Rockingham double with victory in rounds nine and ten of the UK Formula Ford Championship at the Northamptonshire circuit this weekend, June 21st and 22nd. The Team JLR driver now holds a commanding lead in the Championship Class at the halfway point of the season. The Scholarship Class battle continues between Stephen Jelley (Leicester) and James Walker (Jersey), who took a win apiece at Rockingham.

"I’m pleased to win," said Kimber-Smith after his third win of the season. "The car was strong, and I was much quicker than Asmer who couldn’t defend too much. I’m pleased to take the points and increase my championship lead."

The race was stopped after two laps when Nexa Racing’s Matt Koskinen (Nottingham) and James Harris (Wallington) in his Jato Motorsport Van Diemen. Neither was injured, but the red flags came out, and a new race run, using the positions of the stopped race to provide the grid. That put Kimber-Smith third on the grid despite having been pushed wide on the opening lap and having toured round the oval section of the circuit to re-join the battling pack.

"I did what we were told in the driver’s briefing," explained Kimber-Smith, "we were told that if that happened then to rejoin where we had been running – without gaining any advantage."

Alx Danielsson (Bedford) was on pole, but lost ground in his Ray at the re-start. Finn Makela took the lead in his Nexa Racing Van Diemen, before pulling off on his fourth lap with a mechanical problem on his car. That put Asmer into the lead, but with Kimber-Smith rapidly closing. He was quickly past Asmer, who then battled with ComTec’s Tom Gaymor (Twickenham) for second. These two clashed, Gaymor retiring and Asmer losing places to finish fourth.

Their incident put Danielsson into a secure second, his Ray following Kimber-Smith across the line.

"I still can’t seem to keep up with them on the straights," said Danielsson. "When Tom Gaymer caught me he was so much quicker that I let him past hoping he could pull me along."

Oliver Jarvis (Newmarket) worked his way up the order to take third in his ComTec Van Diemen: "I’m pleased to be on the podium but would like to be two steps higher tomorrow."

An intense Scholarship Class battle went the way of points leader Jelley, who took fifth overall after having been 16th on the original grid.

"I made a brilliant start in both races," said Jelley. "I got past several Championship class cars, and made a couple of memorable moves – one around the outside into the first corner.

On pole virtue of his win the day before, Kimber-Smith was never headed in the 11-lap race round ten on Sunday. He did not have an easy run all the way, team-mate Asmer pushing him close in the early laps. The leader had opened a slight gap on lap six when two separate incidents round the circuit left cars stranded – one at the exit of the chicane – and the Safety Car came out, closing up the field.

Kimber-Smith led away from the re-start, and soon Asmer’s challenge was over as the Estonian toured into the pits with a gearbox problem. That moved Walker up to second, he having gone past Tony Rodgers (Lisburn, N. Ireland) in a slick move into the chicane on lap nine.

That was the order on lap twelve when the race was stopped after two cars clashed at the chicane, and stopped with their wheels entangled.

"Two wins is pretty awesome for us," said championship leader Kimber-Smith. "I made a better start than yesterday and managed to pull away. I had to do it all again when the Safety Car came out, so it was great to win."

"This result was what I needed," said Walker, "after yesterday I needed a good result. I hadn’t qualified well, then got taken out on the race so had to start today from 12th on the grid so to be second by the end of it has shown what we can do. The Safety Car helped my gain on the leaders, and it only took me a lap to catch and pass Tony Rodgers. It is a shame that Marko Asmer went out – it would have been great to have had a one-two-three for Team JLR."

With Walker running in the Scholarship class, third on the road Jato Motorsport’s Rodgers stood on the second step of the Championship Class podium.

"It’s fantastic to take second in the Championship class," said Rodgers, "though it would have been great to have beaten James Walker on the road. It was a great race and I knew I wasn’t really racing him, but I was surprised how quickly he towed past me. Then I found I could stay with him – so I was a bit annoyed at letting past."

Joey Foster (Truro) was the third man on the Championship Class podium, having improved from qualifying 15th on Saturday morning and having started today’s race seventh.

"It was a tough race, we were struggling for set-up at the start of the weekend due to a lack of testing," said Foster. "We had to guess a bit at set-up, and today we were pleased to be on the podium."