Formula Ford win number five for Lichtenstein

6th August 2012

Eric outfoxes Antti Buri to claim victory at the final corner
George Blundell takes a maiden Duratec win

Eric Lichtenstein snatched his fifth win of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford GB season at Snetterton this afternoon, the Argentinian 17-year-old beating not only treacherous track conditions but also championship leader Antti Buri at the final corner.

The race, which got underway late after a thunderstorm, was blighted by a four-lap safety car period which left only two racing laps for Buri and Lichtenstein to settle the outcome. Buri had started from pole position in the JTR EcoBoost Mygale and made a good start with Lichtensteins Jamun Racing Mygale in pursuit, but the Finn saw his advantage wiped before the opening laps end by the arrival on track of the safety car.

It was called into play after Duratec runners Alex Drabble (Fluid Van Diemen) and Abdul Ahmed (Hardman Ray) tangled at the Montreal hairpin. Their cars came to rest in awkward places and, with the circuit infield waterlogged, removing them to safety was a time-consuming matter.

Buri gunned it at the restart to lead into the penultimate lap but Lichtenstein staged an opportunistic move through Nelson to nose in front. Eric then erred at Murrays and ran wide to hand top spot back to his rival for the final lap.

The final corner of the race was Buris undoing, the JTR man making a similar mistake to Lichtensteins of a lap earlier. Eric pounced to retake the lead and stayed ahead by four-tenths at the line to take the win.

I just locked my brakes and went wide on to the kerbs, said Buri. But second is OK - all good points for the championship. Antti leads the title race by 103 points with eight races remaining.

The track conditions were really tricky, said a triumphant Lichtenstein. It wasnt really wet and not really dry. After I passed him the first time I made a mistake; the track was very difficult, it was like a river running across it and it was difficult to know when to brake. I had better pace than him and then I managed to take him on the inside. My car was great and all thanks to Jamun for a good job.

The battle for third was just as intense, Jake Cook snatching the place away from Julio Moreno on the final lap only for the Ecuadorian to repay the compliment out of Murrays to collect his third podium finish of the season for JTR. Cook placed fourth ahead of Cavan Corcoran, who lost ground on the opening lap, with Ryan Cullen close behind for sixth.

Luke Williams, driving a borrowed chassis after his Zandvoort crash, spun from contention on the lap following the restart; he came home 11th overall and seventh in the EcoBoost class.

George Blundell claimed a popular maiden win in the Duratec class, the Essex 19-year-old taking control after a superb start in his Enigma Motorsport Mygale. I made a good start, said George. I was quite shocked actually because I overtook a few of the EcoBoost cars. The problem then was that I wanted them to hurry up and get away from me so I could see where I was going. After the safety car it got a bit close towards the end, but nevertheless its my first win and Im very happy.

Duratec points leader Fabian Welter was 0.5s behind to take class second, ahead of Race Car Consultants driver James Hammond and Fluid Motorsports sole finisher, Matt Rao.

 

Provisional results

Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain
Round 16 (of 24), Snetterton 4/8/2012
7 laps / 20.78 miles

Overall & EcoBoost
1  Eric LICHTENSTEIN/ARG  Jamun Mygale EcoBoost  19m 38.598s / 63.47mph
2  Antti BURI/FIN  JTR Mygale EcoBoost  +0.404s
3  Julio MORENO/ECU  JTR Mygale EcoBoost  +3.065s
4  Jake COOK/GBR  Jamun Mygale EcoBoost  +3.353s
5  Cavan CORCORAN/GBR  JTR Mygale EcoBoost  +8.425s
6  Ryan CULLEN/GBR  Cullen-Jamun Mygale EcoBoost  +9.939s etc

Duratec class
1  George BLUNDELL/GBR  Enigma Mygale  +18.067s
2  Fabian WELTER/MEX  RVR Mygale  +18.560s
3  James HAMMOND/GBR  RCC  Mygale  +18.745s
4  Matt RAO/GBR  Fluid Van Diemen  +20.244s

Fastest lap Lichtenstein 2m 09.120s / 82.77mph Est Rec

Full results bit.ly/QhS5K8

Provisional championship standings
Overall 1 Buri 427 points; 2 Cook 324; 3 Moreno 304; 4 Lichtenstein 300; 5 Corcoran 299; 6 Luke Williams 215; 7 Cullen 202; 8 Fred Martin-Dye 198 etc.
Duratec class 1 Welter 373; 2 Rao 349; 3 Blundell 256; 4 Alex Drabble 234; 5 Olly Rae 218; 6 Abdul Ahmed 120 etc

 

 

TAGGED AS : Formula Ford, motorsport news, Eric LICHTENSTEIN, Jamun Mygale EcoBoost, Antti BURI, JTR Mygale EcoBoost, Julio MORENO, JTR Mygale EcoBoost, Jake COOK, Cavan CORCORAN, Ryan CULLEN, CullenJamun Mygale EcoBoost, George BLUNDELL, Enigma Mygale, Fabian WELTER, RVR Mygale, James HAMMOND, RCC Mygale, Matt RAO Fluid Van Diemen , 

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