F Ford:McMullan continues to extend championship lead
Castle Combe, Chippenham, UK – Irish Sports Council supported driver Jonny McMullan travelled to Castle Combe last weekend for rounds nine and ten of the BRSCC British National Formula Ford 1600 Championship. The Antrim driver has been a sensation in the series so far this year, a recent double victory at Brands Hatch earned him a 37-point advantage coming into the weekend. A further boost to his season came in the form of a new partner for 2015 with Naylor Engineering joining him in his bid to win both the Irish and British National Formula Ford Championships.
McMullan made his intentions for the weekend clear from the off, securing pole position in qualifying for race one ahead of main championship rival, Patrick Dussault.
Despite a solid start off the line in the Motorsport Ireland and Dunlop supported Van Diemen, McMullan initially slipped back to second on the opening lap. However a superb switch back move into Quarry corner allowed Jonny to have the inside line on the run down to the Esses and move into the lead on lap two. McMullan got his head down and set about opening a commanding lead. Dussault kept the Northern Irish man honest early on until Adam Higgins started to put the Canadian under pressure for second. This allowed Jonny to extend a lead he would secure to the end and with it, increase his advantage at the head of the championship.
Sunday’s lunchtime race two grid was drawn up from the finishing positions of race one. Starting once again from pole position, Jonny had a similar start to the previous day, slipping just behind Dussault going into the first corner. However, McMullan was now coming under pressure for second from local Formula Ford expert Adam Higgins, but very quickly he managed to break away in hot pursuit of the race leader.
Jonny made several attempts to pass the Canadian who wasn’t going to allow McMullan to further increase his championship lead. With Adam Higgins rapidly closing in on the battling pair, the race would go down to a three way battle for the lead in the closing stages. However with Higgins being handed a penalty for a track limits infringement, on the timing screens it was now just a two way battle which would remain unchanged to the flag as Jonny crossed the line in second place, but improved his previous fastest lap time to secure two bonus championship points.
Jonny McMullan – #5 Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Van Diemen Formula Ford 1600:
“It’s been a great weekend here at Castle Combe with brilliant pace all weekend! We put the car on pole for race one and won it, which put us on pole for race two, where we finished in a close second place. We had huge potential to win having secured the fastest lap of the race by over four tenths. However we achieved our goal of the weekend to extend our championship lead. Massive thank you to Motorsport Ireland, Dunlop, the Irish Sports Council and my newest partner, Naylor Engineering. Thanks also to Bernard, Sam and FCR Media Racing for a great car all weekend. Now I’m really looking forward to my next race at home in Mondello Park on August 9th.”
