Williams, Byrne and White fall foul of Festival’s unforgiving format in heats
“I’m gutted, it’s just one of those things but I just can’t believe we did 400 laps in testing with no problems and then something that costs 20 pence breaks.”
That was 2017 National Formula Ford champion Luke Williams’ assessment of this year’s Festival after he was forced out in heat one when a throttle linkage broke on his Firman RFR16 while sitting in fourth position.
The 25-year-old was one of a number of pre-event favourites who found that the nature of the Festival can be unforgiving with even the slightest problem or mistake severely punished.
Williams’ retirement from the heat meant he was unable to make it through to the semi-final and he was joined on the sidelines at that early stage by other notable names.
Jake Byrne, poleman for heat three, had been looking quick aboard his Ray GR13 and was leading until he went off line through Surtees and spun into the barriers. Oliver White, a Mazda Road to Indy Shootout finalist last year, was another to fall by the wayside.
Having been excluded from qualifying for passing while red flags were being shown, he guided his Medina Sport JL17 through from the back of the field to sixth in heat three at the chequered, only to be excluded again for passing under yellows.
The format of the Festival meant they would only be reserves for the semi-final.