GERARD’S BEND

Gerard’s being such a long corner, practically a big U, it’s all about carrying the initial speed in and getting a good balance mid-corner, so the car starts to rotate when you get on the power.

As you’re rolling the speed in, the car tends to slide out towards the mid-track, but by that point you’ve already picked up the power. Then, depending on how the car reacts and how balanced it is, the ideal situation is to jump straight back on the power as soon as the car settles and ride it out with your foot flat to the floor all the way through.

It’s a slight brake on the way in, but it’s still fourth gear, which is top gear in Formula Ford. There are no real references in terms of braking markers – it’s more about rhythm on the bumps on the approach, which does make it slightly difficult to judge. The more laps you do the easier it gets, but it certainly takes a deep breath getting up to speed.

You don’t really ever try to force it there. If you do, the car ends up in all sorts of trouble with the weight being distributed wrongly, which makes it harder to pick up the power. If you are slightly earlier or later on turn-in, then so long as it’s near enough to the mark, you can set consistent times – it’s not Gerard’s where the time is lost or found, it’s more in the hairpin.

The tyres certainly take a bit of a hammering at Mallory, but especially at Gerard’s. It’s hard to settle the car there, so unless you’re on new tyres and not going through the graining stage, it’s very hard to get the car set up. It’s more a question of reacting than making sure you’re hitting your marks, because it’s so hard to get it exactly the same on the way in every time.