Road to Indy boost for FF1600 Festival
AN OFFER OF A PLACE AT THE
Mazda Road to Indy Shootout could boost the Formula Ford Festival to its best entry in years, as the event continues a welcome upward trend in attracting Kent racers.
There’s already ample chance to gain an entry to the Road to Indy Shootout in the UK, via winning the British Racing and Sports Car Club FF1600 National Championship, Scottish, Northern Irish or James Beckett-run Superseries. But the Festival now offers one more chance for aspiring club racers to put themselves in front of Mazda at Laguna Seca to win a $200,000 scholarship to compete in USF2000.
“We are looking for the most talented open-wheel racers in the world, and we believe the Festival is recognized globally as a special event,” said Mazda operations manager Kyle Kimball.
Autosport also received confirmation that if a person who already has a shootout place wins the Festival, the person finishing second will not automatically take the slot.
“We do have the right to select an ‘at-large’ driver to attend the Shootout if they show exceptional talent and potential,” said Kimball. “But, just like our Mazda Road to Indy scholarships all the way to the Indycar series are awarded only to champions, that is our policy for the Shootout as well.”
The Festival has been attempting to re-establish itself since the Duratec and Zetec variants of Formula Ford – which the Festival favoured – have wilted away. The other major Uk-based end-ofseason event, the Walter Hayes Trophy, has always remained committed to putting the Kent at the forefront.
That left the Festival with ground to claw back, which it has been doing in recent years (see graph, right). Whether the Road to Indy offering helps that further remains to be seen.
This year, the Festival had 58 entries as Autosport went to press, five fewer than started last year. Crucially, though, there is still time to enter before the October 21-22 event, and the news of a Shootout ticket could boost that further.
The Festival is the event with the most extensive history, but has had less appeal than its Silverstone-based brother in recent years. The Shootout ticket should go some way to restoring the balance of appeal to ambitious young drivers. 120 100 80 60 40