Driver Database News

Dani Domit had his first race meeting this weekend – of any kind – and came away with a podium and a fastest lap!

The Mexican driver is a novice and had no car or karting experience before early last summer when he decided to become a racing driver! While studying engineering at the University of Florida, he signed up for a two day Skip Barber school course and followed that with a three day one in August.

All fired up, he bought himself a shifter kart and hit the local track for open lapping sessions and some fun racing. The feedback he got from his Skip Barber coaches gave Dani the confidence he needed to sign up for Grand Prix Shootout and history was made!

With a late deal made with JTR to do the MSA British Formula Ford championship, Dani had done no testing at all prior to arriving at Oulton Park for the race weekend.

A test was planned for the Wednesday which saw very little running due to rain, sleet and hailstones! The test on Friday was a bit better. Dani got some dry sessions in the morning and two wet ones in the afternoon.It wasn’t much but better than nothing and he looked forward to first qualifying session the next day.

Dani qualified second, third and third in the scholarship class only about three tenths off the pace.

In race one Dani ran very well and came second in the Scholarship class and so visited the podium for the first time! Race two was a bit disappointing as Dani found out how tough racing is. He spun on the second lap and another car hit him on the side damaging his radiator.

Race three was a mix of emotions. Dani was getting into his stride and feeling more comfortable when he clipped the tyres at the Knickerbrook chicane. His race was over but not before he had set the fastest lap in his class.

It was a very difficult way to start a racing career. Dani had to start as a novice from zero with a new car, team and circuit. Oulton Park is one of the most difficult tracks in the UK and can be very intimidating to newcomers – especially if they are novices!

However, Dani was lapping at the pace that the other Grand Prix Shootout winner, Tio Ellinas, was doing three weeks earlier on his first trip to Oulton Park. Tio was very impressive at the weekend and everyone hopes that Dani will too very soon.

Tio Ellinas has very quickly established himself and JTR as title contenders for the 2010 MSA Formula Ford Championship and has already got a lot of people talking about him since his race début at Oulton Park at the weekend.

Tio had just five outings in a racing car before the Easter weekend meeting though most of his running was affected by poor weather and red flags. Despite this, Tio was quickest by up to two seconds in the two wet test sessions on the Friday before the first race.

On Saturday morning, Tio was still getting up to speed in the dry during qualifying. With seven minutes to go he set the quickest time ahead of the experienced Josh Hill, Scott Malvern and Daniel Cammish all in their second year of Formula Ford. However, with three minutes to go, Australian driver Scott Pye pipped Tio for first place and so Tio had to start race 1 from second on the grid. It was a shame because if he had held on to that first place, he would have been the first driver to get pole position for a British Formula Ford race in his race début since Ayrton Senna thirty seasons ago!

Race 1: Tio held his grid position and was running second behind Scott Pye but a pedal problem caused his foot to apply 30% throttle while braking. This caused his brake pedal to go “soft”. His telemetry showed that this cost him 0.4 seconds per lap which prevented any challenge to Scott Pye and forced him back towards Malvern, Hill and Cammish. The pressure from Malvern and the “soft” pedal caused him to lose two places but he still managed to pressurise Hill into a spin. He finished fourth, his first ever car race. Tio, Malvern, Hill and Cammish’s fastest laps were separated by 0.02 of a second!

Having spent Easter Sunday fixing the pedal problem, Tio and the excellent JTR team were looking forward to Monday’s two races where Tio would start 7th and 6th.

Race 2: Unfortunately, Tio stalled his engine as the cars were going out on the green flag lap. He had to wait in the pit lane while the rest of the field did two laps of the slightly damp track. In the race, Tio stormed through the field from a distant 25th place to challenge Jake Cook for 6th on the last lap. He made an error attacking Cook that lost him one place. He set the fastest lap and was the only driver to get under 1:41:00. Team boss, Nick Tandy: “A lot of drivers would have over-driven and made mistakes. Tio put his head down and drove a very fast race and overtook a lot of people. It was an amazingly mature performance!”

Race 3: Tio started 6th on the grid. The result was that he found himself in 6th place in the race behind Daniel Cammish but obviously quicker. He made a move down the inside of Cammish at Turn 1 and unfortunately ran out of room. He went over the top of Cammish’s rear wheel and his race was over! The team felt that if he had sat behind Cammish for eight laps nobody would have been happy and it was best to have a go. Tio has learnt a valuable lesson!

The only driver to have outpaced Tio all weekend was Jamun driver Scott Pye in the dry. Title favourite Pye had already competed in over 80 Formula Ford and Formula Toyota races before this year and had tested a lot with Jamun before the first race. Jamun have won the British Formula Ford title for the last five years and, with four drivers, have a lot of testing data to call on to aid performance. They use a new 2010 spec car where JTR are still using last years chassis.

All of the team are extremely impressed by Tio’s performance.

Stuart Prior, JTR’s coach, said he was flabbergasted by Tio’s performance all weekend and that Tio drives a Formula Ford as well as anyone he has ever seen…already!

Guy McCullough, Tio’s race engineer, said that Tio basically has almost nothing to learn from the data of JTR’s previous drivers and now has to forge ahead with development of the car to go faster. Guy says that when you tell Tio to do something, he does it perfectly from then on and that he is great to work with.

Nick Tandy, JTR team principal, said that he was “blown away” by Tio’s performance and that he is very proud Tio is driving his car. Nick has won the Formula Ford Festival and was a race winner in British F3 but when he saw Tio through Lodge Corner in the wet he said “I couldn’t do that!”

Following on from Phillip Island and Nick Percat’s emphatic victories in races 18 and 19 of the Australian Formula Ford Championship, we now prepare to celebrate one of the all time great open wheel drivers in Australian motor racing history. It’s with these victories in which Percat sealed the 1st place trophy with 4 races remaining.

Some of the statistics achieved in 2009:

• MOST POINTS IN THE 40 YEAR HISTORY = 371 (2ND TIM BLANCHARD 346)
• 3 POLE POSITIONS (EQUAL MOST IN 2009)
• 12 RACE WINS
• PODIUM RESULT IN 20 OUT OF 23 RACES
• FINISHED EVERY RACE
• CAREER WINS IN NATIONAL FORMULA FORD = 22 (HIGHEST BY 5 WINS)

The racing on the streets of the Gold Coast was always going to be slightly muted for a few reasons, one being that the Round would only decide who was to come 2nd, so it became in sporting terms, a dead rubber.

Nick explains some of the highlights of the weekend, and his thoughts on becoming the 2009 Champion.

“Well our weekend was a pretty low key affair having already done the business at Phillip Island. So it was just a matter of trying to keep it off the walls during the races and see if we could get Mitch the second place in the Championship, which we did!”

“The final race for me in a Formula Ford was a pretty exciting one, with rain coming almost on queue as we rolled out on the track, and I love racing in those difficult conditions so to charge from 5th to 2nd in such a shortened race was a great way to sign off!”

Percat leaves Formula Ford with a record that could stand for some time, and a future full of opportunities.

“I’d dearly love to have a crack overseas again, I got a taste for it with my Festival win last year, and my driving style seems to suit the European way of thinking! If the right deal came along I would have to have a serious look at it. Its slightly frustrating seeing guys I have raced with and beaten doing say World Series Renault next year, but given the chance I’d love to show what I could do in the new GP3 feeder series in 2010″

While racing overseas is an option, currently Percat’s Brains trust are putting the final touches to Nick’s 2010 Fujitsu Series Assault.

“2010 isn’t 100% locked in yet, but I’d have to say that with the support from my current backers in Walkinshaw Performance and No Fear we should be able to sign off on something soon…. It would be nice if we could find another backer to get us over the line, but I am not the only one looking for financial support right now, so we will have to wait and see! Hopefully my form book is worth something!!”

Nick would like to thank the following for his 2009 Championship campaign:

• NO FEAR
• SONIC MOTOR RACING SERVICES
• WALKINSHAW PERFORMANCE
• CASTROL AUSTRALIA
• MYGALE
• REVOLUTION RACEGEAR

To sum up the massive year that was 2009, we leave you with the often quoted comment by the youngest of Percat fans…

“Dad I want a photo with the angry car!!”

The “angry car” and the driver with NO FEAR will be back on the track soon….

Andre Borell and Master Electricians Racing are looking to finish the 2009 Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship in style. With the championship already decided with Nick Percat having taken the 2009 crown – the Nikon SuperGP on the Gold Coast may not be a series decider – but will still be an exciting event with everyone looking to stamp their authority on the streets of Surfers and signal their intentions for 2010.

Andre Borell started his preparation for the Nikon SuperGP by racing on the streets of the Gold Coast in a different disciple recently – the ITU Triathlon World Championships. Andre stunned his competitors by placing 2nd in the Male 20-24 SprintMan category. Andre loved the event, intending to compete in the world famous Noosa Triathlon in November. “It’s a great sport, I love it. I didn’t expect to place on the podium on the Gold Coast. I had a really bad swim, but recovered on the bike and blew them away on the run. I intend to get into it a lot more – the fitness benefits translate directly to how you feel physically in the Formula Ford”.

With his full attention now turned to the Nikon SuperGP, Andre intends to go one better than his Triathlon performance come October. “We are making some massive changes to the car for meeting. The circuit is all about braking and power-down. We are fitting new brakes as well as redesigning the suspension geometry to make the car better in these two areas, especially power-down. That is where we have struggled all season. It’s a big move, and it will either pay dividends or be a disaster. It’s all or nothing here – win it or bin it. Actually I’ll be happy with a Top-5, but that doesn’t sound as cool” said a jovial Borell.

With Master Electricians confirmed to be staying on board for 2010, Andre also hopes to have a strong showing so that he can carry some momentum into the 2010 Australian Formula Ford Championship. Andre explains his decision, and his affection for Formula Ford: “Why would you race any other category? It’s second only to V8 Supercars in terms of professionalism and on-track competitiveness in Australia. Racing Formula Ford again is a no brainer, you can’t race at a higher level in this country unless you are in a V8. Next year we will have more resources, new equipment, and we are going for the Title”. Borell however remained tight lipped on his exact plans for 2010, including team and chassis choices. “We’ll announce that in good time…” said the 22-year old.

With his SuperGP and 2010 Formula Ford plans so ambitious – Andre Borell and Master Electricians Racing are faced with a very steep mountain to climb, but the evidence so far indicates they are up to the task. Andre is also up for nomination to win an entry into the GRAND PRIX SHOOTOUT competition held in the UK – make sure you head www.driverdb.com/drivers/33514/ and register your vote.

Andre is supported by Master Electricians, simPRO, Extreme Safety, Wizzard Concrete, Xtreme Racing, PM Lubricants and Powerade. For more information please visit www.andreborellmotorsport.com

Daniel Erickson once again showed his Aussie fighting spirit by putting his race 1 DNF behind him to score third place in Round 23 of the British Formula Ford Championship at Brands Hatch today.

In his first race meeting on the daunting Brands ‘GP’ circuit, the CAMS International Rising Star came within a whisker of grabbing second place from Rogier de Wit, shadowing the Dutch driver by just 0.79 seconds at the chequered flag.

The 12-lap, 44km race was won by American Josef Newgarden, who escaped from his battling pursuers to clean-sweep the meeting’s two BFFC rounds.

Typically, Erickson was more disappointed about not finishing second than bouncing back from his disastrous Round 22.

“It was a tough battle with Rogier,” he said.

“Second place should have been mine, but I just couldn’t get past him.”

After today’s result, Erickson is now only eight points away from being the top-placed British Formula Ford debutant in this year’s championship.

The final two rounds will be at Castle Combe on October 3.

Young Australian racing driver Daniel Erickson was an early retirement from Round 22 of the British Formula Ford Championship at Brands Hatch today.

The young Australian driver said his Spectrum 011c spun off the track after running into the rear of Chrissy Palmer’s car at Surtees corner on lap five of the 12-lap race.

“Chrissy braked early, leaving me with no option but to collide with him,” Erickson said.

Rather than soldier on in the race and gain only a point or two towards the championship, Erickson pitted to after the incident to conserve his little-worn tyres for a concerted attack in today’s second and final BFFC race (5.10pm UK time, 2.10am Monday AEST).

A solid day’s testing at Castle Combe (pronounced “koom”) last week has put Daniel Erickson close to the required pace for the last two rounds of the 2009 British Formula Ford Championship on October 3.

Like all of the venues in the prestigious development series, Castle Combe is new to the CAMS International Rising Star, making every practice lap another step along the learning curve. This test was all the more crucial, because there’ll be little margin for error during the unusual one-day race meeting.

The 3.0km former RAAF airfield circuit, near Bristol in south-west England, is very fast and bumpy, putting extra strain on the transmission and suspension. And there’s precious little space between the bitumen and the fences outside the sweeping corners, making any off-track excursion potentially very costly.

After 80-odd laps during the day in his Australian-built Spectrum 011c racer, Daniel was tired but reasonable satisfied with his day’s results with the Kevin Mills Racing team.

“It was a pretty tough day, physically and mentally,” he said. “Castle Combe is rougher than Silverstone or Oulton Park, more like Knockhill, and there aren’t many slow corners.

As usual we concentrated on finding ways to keep the car’s lap times consistently quick during the races. It’s important to start at the front, but it’s even more important to finish at the front!

“For the first two sessions I drove on the tyres I used at Brands Hatch the previous weekend. They were fairly well worn, so my lap times weren’t anything special. Then I changed to a set of tyres that hadn’t done quite as many laps, and my times improved quite markedly to 67.7-67.8 seconds. That was only a couple of tenths of a second off the circuit’s Formula Ford race lap record.

“In the last session before lunch the gearbox input shaft broke, which meant my mechanic, Greg, had to fix it before he could eat!

After lunch we fitted a set of new tyres, and I did a 67.3s lap. Our team was timing the other quick drivers, and the championship leader James Cole did 66.8s on new tyres, but that might have been with a qualifying set-up.”

Daniel said that he’s confident of being among the frontrunners in the two 18-minute races that will wrap up the 2009 series next month.

“We’re on the pace in qualifying – there are just a few things we need to work on to stay at the front in the races.”

Having left behind the cool weather once again in Victoria, the Formula Ford championship moved north to Queensland Raceway, a happy hunting ground for Percat in the past. “Last year we proved to be very quick here, and I hope to carry that pace forward this weekend! However my focus is firmly on the championship and I will be doing everything I can to extend my lead going into the final 2 rounds” said a confident Percat.

It was confidence well placed, when in the opening two sessions of Practice, Percat topped the time sheets with an impressive gap to second. “Our used tyre pace has always been good here, and I really can’t fault the car in any area so we will see what Qualy brings tomorrow” smiled Percat, knowing the unseasonal hot weather Queensland was experiencing was playing to into his hands being one of the fittest drivers on the grid.

Qualifying was held early on Saturday morning in relatively cool conditions, with Percat leading the grid onto the circuit. With the battle for pole always tight with the high quality field of drivers in 2009 Percat had to settle for 3^rd on the grid for the open race later in the Afternoon. ” I wasn’t able to get the balance back in the car that I had in the earlier sessions, which is a bit of a shame, but we will press on knowing I just have to race the guys that are in the championship hunt” said Percat.

Race 1 held in the middle of the day was a great battle between the leading drivers of 2009, and also some names to watch out for in the future. As the dice at the front commenced with SONIC team mates Mitch Evans, Nick Percat and Geoff Uhrhane together with Chaz Mostert the race was set to be an epic battle for the 12 laps around Queensland Raceway. With Evans leading, he was able to put his head down early on and pull out a small but significant lead that was never headed taking the win. “I got a reasonable start from the dirty side of the track, and paced myself in this first race, as I know that tyre wear can be an issue here, and also the fact that my closest competitor at the moment is Scott Pye, so all I had to do was out point him. However the battle with Geoff and Chaz was a pretty good one, and it was nice to see Geoff get his best result for 2009 and a 1-2-3 for SONIC as a team is really good also!!” said a happy Percat on returning to the garage extending his already impressive championship lead.

Race 2 held on Sunday morning, and was a lot closer affair, with team mates Evans and Percat pulling away from the rest of the field, and drove in formation for the entire 12 laps to finish 3 seconds ahead of team mate Uhrhane. “I’m happy to just keep ticking the races off at the moment, and 2^nd is a solid amount of points for my championship, so there was no reason to risk it all with a desperate move on Mitch” said Percat.

The final race of the weekend, once again held in hot conditions was another close tussle between Percat and Evans. With the lead changing in the early laps, Percat kept his team mate honest as they pulled out another commanding gap over the rest of the field, Mitch taking the win, with Percat right on his gearbox to the chequered flag.

“A great team effort this weekend, as we had all 3 cars right on the pace from the start, and to leave here now 1-2 in the championship, and extending my lead to 80 points with a possible 122 to play for it’s a great position for me to be in” beamed Percat, knowing full well that he could wrap up the championship at one of his favourite tracks, Phillip Island Round 7 September 11-13.

Nick is also in the running to win an entry to drive in the “GRAND PRIX SHOOTOUT” which would see the most successful Formula Ford driver in Australia’s history given the chance to compete on the world stage! http://www.grandprixshootout.com/

Nick having already worked with the likes of Rob Wilson previously, would certainly be a worthy winner, so give him the boost he needs by logging into his driver data base profile, and register your email now!

http://www.driverdb.com/drivers/10915/

votes close at the end of September, so get racing….

For all the latest news visit http://www.nickpercat.com/

That’s what Daniel Erickson discovered today in Round 19 of the British Formula Ford Championship. Erickson started from third grid position in his first ever race on the ‘Indy’ circuit, but he finished fourth. A less than perfect getaway by the CAMS International Rising Star allowed Dutchman Rogier de Wit and Briton Chrissy Palmer past on the first lap. Erickson repassed Palmer before the chequered flag, but by then de Wit had scampered away. The 18-minute race was won by American Josef Newgarden, with de Wit second and championship points leader James Cole third.

Erickson said after the race that his fate was virtually decided at the start.

“I didn’t get away all that well,” he said.

“I was trying to be careful not to get too much wheelspin, but instead I bogged it down a bit.

“Roger de Wit went to my outside on the entry to the first corner, Paddock Hill Bend, then he snuck down the inside off the exit.

He ran me wide on the run up the hill to Druids, and Chrissy Palmer got past as well, so suddenly I was back to fifth.

“I followed Chrissy for three or four laps, and then managed to get by him on the inside through Surtees and McLaren.

“We touched wheels but I made the move stick, and pulled away from him after that. By that point the leaders were long gone, and it was impossible to catch them.”

Erickson said that racing on the short, simple-looking ‘Indy’ layout had been harder than setting quick laps in testing and qualifying.

“On most circuits I’ve been able to make up ground on other drivers fairly easily, but here it was extremely tough,” he said.

He vowed to get away from the grid faster in Sunday’s remaining two BFFC races.

“To be honest I’m a bit cranky with myself, because car definitely has the pace to run at the front,” he said. “I’m determined to get better starts tomorrow.”

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

If recent history is anything to go by, this weekend’s British Formula Ford Championship rounds at the Brands Hatch ‘Indy’ circuit should be good for Australian Daniel Erickson.

The CAMS International Rising Star is looking for another big points haul on the Kent circuit as the prestigious development series enters its closing stages.

Erickson was one of the pace-setters in his Australian-built Spectrum 011c at the last month’s Ford-sponsored test day on the 1.9km ‘Indy’ layout.

And despite racing for the first time on an unfamiliar track yet again, Erickson is looking forward to maintaining his recent good form.

His challenge will be heightened by an unusual race meeting schedule, which precludes testing before Friday’s official qualifying session.

BFFC competitors have had an opportunity to get their cars into race trim on the Friday preceding previous rounds, with qualifying for grid positions in the first two races normally held the following day.

“I’m quite positive going into qualifying, although it could be a bit strange because there won’t be any practice sessions,” Erickson says.

“We found a good set-up at the Ford testing day, and I was able to set fast times, even on old tyres.

“It’s like at Donington, where I didn’t feel any pressure going into qualifying because I’d already been quick in testing there.

“I thought ‘I can do this’, and put it all together and set the two fastest laps, which in the British Formula Ford Championship gives you pole position for the first two races.”

Erickson says that qualifying at Brands Hatch ‘Indy’ is even more crucial, because overtaking another driver on the circuit’s tight confines can be next to impossible.

“It’s so hard to pass there, especially at the two hairpins – Druids and McLaren. They just go on forever!

“If a driver in front of you takes a defensive narrow entry line, you really can’t go wide and try to cut back on the exit because there’s no apex like on a ‘stop-go’ type of corner.

“Of course that’s slower than taking the normal racing line, so you often find a ‘freight train’ of cars lining up waiting to pass.

“You just have to be patient and wait for the driver in front to make a small mistake so you can sneak past – a big ask in Formula Ford, with so many young drivers trying to show what they can do.

“The other scenario is that you can get hit from behind, which is why there’s usually carnage somewhere on the Indy circuit during Formula Ford races!

“That means qualifying will be even more crucial than usual. I’ll have to go for it right from the start, because you get only one or maybe two laps to set a quick time before your new tyres are past their absolute best.”