Formula Ford



Formula Ford is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula Ford has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone into formula racing after karting. The series typically sees professional career minded drivers enter alongside amateurs and enthusiasts. Success in Formula Ford can lead directly to other junior formulae such as a Formula Renault 2.0 or even an F3 seat.

Formula Ford is not a one-make championship. It allows freedom of chassis design, engine build and numerous technical items of specification on the car. This opens the door to many chassis manufacturers, large and small. Many other single-seater formulae impose fixed specifications. Only two other professional single seater racing formulae in the world offer the same freedom of chassis and engine build: Formula Three and Formula One.

History
The origins of Formula Ford began in the early 1960s, where motor racing schools such as The Jim Russell school and Motor Racing Stables featured single seat Formula Junior and Formula 3-like machines from world class constructors like Cooper and Lotus. Many aspiring Formula 1 stars looked to these schools in the hope of learning the craft and also looking the part. However, although there was no shortage of aspiring drivers, these schools had much trouble avoiding bankruptcy. The 1 litre Formula 3 engines, the 1.1 litre Coventry Climax FJ and later the Ford Anglia 105E, cost around £3,000 at the time in addition to the Dunlop racing tires which cost £80 a set. Furthermore, these engines were incredibly fragile to boot, meaning these engines had a tendency to self-destruct. All these factors contributed to a steep maintenance and upkeep cost of these schools.

In 1963, Geoff Clarke; the owner of Motor Racing Stables, moved his racing school to the Brands Hatch circuit. This brought him in contact with John Webb; Managing Director of Developments at Brands Hatch. At about this time, two of the school’s Lotus Formula Junior chassis were fitted with a stock 1498cc Ford pushrod engine as featured in the then-recently introduced Cortina GT sedan. The 1500 Cortina, with its sensational reliability and horsepower output fairly close to “F3 proper” proved a resounding success in the school. The earliest experiments with radial tires bore fruit as well: the students of the day didn’t care that these weren’t the racing engines or racing tires, just that the cars were equal.

At an informal meeting at the December 1966 racing car show day at Olympia, John Webb and Geoff Clarke were discussing the possibility of building a fleet of identical open wheel race cars based on the success of combining the Ford power plant and road wheels, radial tires, and Formula junior style chassis. Not only would they make ideal school cars, but would also provide a new entry level formula for a race series. They felt if they called it “Formula Ford” they could get backing from Ford itself. Webb was on the phone the next day to Ford competition manager Henry Taylor, who agreed to provide Clarke and MRS with 54 Cortina GT engines at £50 each (£15 below retail). Webb also approached the Royal Automobile Club's competition director, to establish rules for this new class. Late in 1967, Ford announced the new Formula Ford class to the world.

Geoff Clarke then set about approaching existing race car constructors to build the first Formula Fords. Both Bruce McLaren and Jack Brabham turned down the idea; Colin Chapman however dusted off the then obsolete Lotus 31 Chassis and reinvented it as the Lotus 51. He agreed to provide the first of two 25 car batches at £850 per car. The only stipulation Chapman had was that a Renault gear box was used. This proved to be fundamental weak point in the drive train. Difficulty with the Renault transmission resulted in a failure to continue with the second batch of cars for MRS.

Jim Russell approached Colin Chapman to supply Formula Ford cars for his own school. Chapman insisted Russell match Clarke’s 50 car order; Russell would only commit to 10 cars so the deal fell through. Russell then approached Allan Taylor who built the Alexis car and a deal was struck to jointly produce the Russell-Alexis. This car had the Hewland racing gear box which made the car more expensive (£999), but was more reliable and allowed interchangeable ratios.

The first standalone Formula Ford race took place at Brands Hatch on July 2, 1967. Of the 20 cars that competed, 10 were MRS Lotus 51’s, including the eventual winner, Ray Allan. The Russell-Alexis car demonstrated its superiority by winning its debut race in August 1967 and by 1968 54 Russell-Alexis had been sold. Based on this success Jim Russell opened 2 more racing schools in Britain, another in Canada, and another in the United States.

Chapman and his Lotus 51 did recover, replacing the troublesome Renault gear box with the Hewland unit, even claiming Jim Russell as a customer in 1968. 1968 also saw the debut of Meryln as a Formula Ford constructor, dominating sales for that year. Other new manufactures included Crosslé Car Company, Dulon, Elden Racing Cars, Hawke Racing Cars and Royale Racing Cars, together with existing constructors such as Brabham choosing to build a Formula Ford chassis.

As the production Ford Cortina engine evolved to a new 1600cc crossflow unit, so did the Formula Ford regulations. Increasing costs forced them to relax the £1,000 price ceiling on Formula Ford as blueprinting of the engine was now allowed.

Belgium hosted the first race outside England, in 1967. Formula Ford racing quickly spread across Europe and North America, with the first official Formula Ford race in the United States on March 23, 1969. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Formula Ford had established itself as a direct path to a seat on a Formula 1 car, the highest level in open wheel motorsport. Australian Tim Schenken won over 2 dozen Formula Ford races in 1968, two years later he was driving a Formula 1 car for Frank Williams. Emerson Fittipaldi impressed during the 1970 Formula 1 Grand Prix Season after a short stint in Formula Ford. In 1970, he became the first Formula Ford graduate to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix. In 1972, he became the first Formula Ford graduate to win the Formula 1 World Championship.

Currently, Formula Ford racing exists in two main forms: National Series for aspiring 'career' drivers run around the world which have used the 1600 Duratec engine, (which replaced the heavier but not significantly more powerful Zetec engine in 2006), and for 2012 are beginning to adopt the new EcoBoost 1600 turbo engine; and a mainly amateur, club-racing series attracting serious enthusiasts using the now elderly 1600 Kent engine with which the formula ran from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s. Whatever the engine of the Formula Ford car, it has long provided a relatively inexpensive way for drivers to race purpose-built racecars. There are many Formula Ford 1600 series for drivers of the older Kent-powered cars.

Formula Ford cars
A Formula Ford car is one of the more distinctive-looking open-wheel race cars because it does not have wings to create aerodynamic downforce. In order to reduce cost and allow smaller manufacturers to produce their own design of chassis without prohibitive tooling costs, chassis are steel space frame, unlike the monocoques found in other types of single seater racing. The more popular marques were Van Diemen, Mygale and the Australian-built Spectrum, but smaller manufacturers such as Ray and Vector have had some success. Historical designers who have made a mark on the series have included: Titan, Lotus, Merlyn, Hawke, Citation, Swift, Euroswift, Elden, Reynard, Crosslé, Lola, Zink, Bowin, Royale, and Cooper Racing.

Top speeds in the National Class are easily as high as in the other Junior Formulae of BMW and Renault, but cornering speeds tend to be lower as Formula Ford cars lack the downforce-producing aerodynamic aids on the other cars; handling is therefore entirely down to mechanical grip, and the lack of wings ensures that cars following another are not aerodynamically disadvantaged, allowing some of the closest racing with plenty of overtaking. Series' rules may permit slick or treaded tires, generally supplied either by Dunlop or Avon. As the rules limit engine modifications, all cars are relatively equal and racing results tend to be close. Formula Fords allow suspension, damping, gearing and braking bias changes, but not aerodynamic options such as winged cars.

In 2012, new specifications and regulations were introduced, allowing the use of the new Ford EcoBoost engine along with improvements in chassis design. Unlike its predecessors, that used Naturally aspirated engines and manual gearboxes, the EcoBoost car utilizes power from a turbocharged engine and a sequential gearbox. The new car has 165PS, with identical engine calibration for every competitor's car. The chassis remains a steel spaceframe construction, with free chassis design open to all manufacturers. New to the car is its compliance with Formula Three safety standards, which involves mandatory crash structures, side-impact panels running the full height and length of the cockpit, an FIA-specified headrest and an extricable safety seat. In addition to the safety enhancements, some mandatory elements of bodywork shape have also been introduced. These will define the shape, size and orientation of the sidepod air intakes and the roll-hoop cover. By mandating these the frontal areas will be equalised between different manufacturers, removing the potential for significant aerodynamic advantage, making driving ability and the skills of engineers and designers in car set-up the major factors.

Championships and events around the world
Championships for Formula Fords are run in many countries around the world. The major series is the British Formula Ford Championship, however there are many other thriving series. Each run to essentially the same rules and regulations, with minor variations for local conditions.

British Formula Ford Championship
The British series is the main Formula Ford championship in the world. Created in 1976, the championship has run to all four generations of regulations and specifications. From 2013, the series will adopt the Formula Ford EcoBoost 200 specification, which will include an increase in the EcoBoost engine power, along with the new addition of a fully adjustable aerodynamic package which includes front and rear wings previously never seen before in the British championship. In late October 2012, the series organisers announced that from this season Duratec class cars will be ineligible for the championship, leaving only the EcoBoost class. The series will also move back to supporting the BTCC.

Several former drivers of the British championship have become successful in Formula One, including Eddie Irvine and Anthony Davidson, whilst Formula Ford champions Ayrton Senna and Jenson Button also went on to win the Formula One Drivers' Championship.

Formula Ford Festival
For many years the highlight of the Formula Ford season was the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, England. Entries of several hundred cars from all over the Formula Ford world were common into the 1990s, with racers competing in knockout heats to decide the grid for a grand final. Entries later declined, and later Festivals struggled to attract more than 40-50 cars, enough for two heats and a final dash. More "historic" FF1600 cars had been turning up for the supporting races than contemporary Zetecs, however in 2006 the Festival saw the Duratec engine for the first time thereby having a final for all 3 marques at one meeting for the first time. The Walter Hayes Trophy now recognises the continuing interest in 1600cc 'Kent' Formula Ford and attracted over 150 entries in 2006, including several drivers who more commonly compete in much more senior formulae.

Formula Ford EuroCup
The Formula Ford EuroCup, known originally as the European Formula Ford Championship, is the current incarnation of a pan-European championship for Formula Ford competitors, last held previously in 2001. The 2011 series was aimed at giving drivers experience at European race circuits. Three national Formula Ford Championships are involved in the revived championship, these being the British, Benelux and Scandinavian championships. While individual events nominate a winner, there is no overarching point score to declare a series champion.

Australian Formula Ford Championship
The Australian Formula Ford Championship is a Confederation of Australian Motor Sport sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of Formula Ford racing cars. It has been held annually since 1970, originally as a national series, and later as the 'Driver-to-Europe' series. The series was upgraded to Australian Championship status in 1993 and has been known officially as the Australian Formula Ford Championship since that year. The series moved from the first-generation Kent engine to the third-generation Mazda-sourced Ford Duratec engine in 2006.

U.S. F2000 National Championship
The U.S. F2000 National Championship powered by Mazda is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, Formula Ford 2000, that resumed operation for the 2010 season. It is sanctioned by IndyCar, and is a part of The Mazda Road to Indy.

Administration
Ford Motorsport administers some of the national Formula Ford championships around the world, and continue to control the Technical Regulations for all cars globally. The older Kent-engined cars are very popular with club racers, providing the ground for several organizations to run their own series. Many racing schools offer driver training in Formula Ford cars. However, in many countries, Formula BMW and Formula Renault Campus had superseded Formula Ford as the main entry level class in the mid-2000s; the demise of Formula BMW in Europe after only a few years of operation caused somewhat of a resurgence in support for the Ford grids. In the UK there are many club-level regional series aimed at the amateur enthusiast, as well as championships for older Fords. So popular is the Kent engine around the world that Ford Motorsport recently restarted a limited production of the increasingly hard to source engine blocks: for a major motor manufacturer to restart output of a 40 year old design just shows how well-established the formula still is.

Related Formulae
Formula Ford has given birth to several other categories of racing: Formula Ford 2000 evolved in the 1970s to use a Pinto engine and, although it used basically Formula Ford chassis, permitted use of slicks and wings; it was seen as a natural step up from the 1600cc formula and a stepping stone to categories such as Formula Three. Formula Ford 2000 engines and transmissions were married to sports-racing chassis to produce Sports 2000.

Older Formula Fords, with outboard shock absorbers, race in the United States as Club Formula Fords in SCCA and other club racing series.

Formula 100 was an unsuccessful attempt in the late 1960s to create a sportscar category related to Formula Ford but using a 1300 cc Ford engine; the cars were heavy and slow. The proposed Formula Turbo Ford, an attempt to update FF2000, of the mid-1980s was limited to one Reynard that ran a few demonstration laps.

Formula Ford remains popular in its 1600 cc form&mdash;the cars are widely raced, sprinted and hillclimbed. Formula Continental is also a popular choice in the USA and Canada. The class provides a venue for Formula Ford 2000 as well as the earlier Formula C (1100 cc pure racing engine) and Formula Super Vee (production-based VW engines) cars. Formula Continental cars employ aerodynamic effects (front and rear wings).