A poor start left me badly positioned heading into the first corner.
As a car ahead went for a move, I had a choice.
2026 AD Modular BRSCC Oulton Park Mazda Race Day, Geoff Page Engineering Super Classic Pre-99 Formula Ford Championship
Brake hard and hope the possible collision ahead didn’t happen, while also risking being hit from behind.
Or commit to running the car off the circuit and avoid the situation completely.
The two cars missed each other by a tiny gap.
By then though, I was already committed to my line through the gravel.
A Formula Ford only weighs around 500kg, so I knew if I kept the momentum up, the car could skip across the surface rather than immediately dig in.
The difficult part was that I was already turning.
Once you are sideways in gravel, you have to be careful not to add too much rotation.
If the car digs in too aggressively, the situation can escalate very quickly.
The wall wasn’t far away either.
I used the strip of grass to help settle the rear and control the drift.
After that, it was about holding the angle and modulating the throttle carefully to keep the momentum stable.
The grip itself was actually surprisingly consistent.
The key was not fighting the car too much.
I had to let it slide, keep looking where I wanted to go, and wait for the right moment to straighten it.
At one point the car went light over a bump and all four wheels left the ground.
My main thought then was honestly the oil pan.
The landing was clean enough, and the car settled again.
Once I knew it was still moving properly, my mind was already back on the race.
Before I had even reached the end of the gravel, I knew where I wanted to re-join the circuit.
As soon as the gravel ended, I brought the rear back in with a quick throttle lift and pickup, a small amount of counter steer, and got the car straight for the re-join.
Then it was straight back to racing.
The next couple of corners were about getting everything back underneath me.
After dragging the car through gravel, I needed to clean the tyres, rebuild the grip and get the temperature back into them.
I kept an eye on the rev counter, felt what the car was doing underneath me, and tried to match the throttle to the movement of the car.
It was not about rushing.
It was about getting the rhythm back quickly.
By the time I was heading towards Shell Oils, I was already thinking about the cars ahead again.
That was the important part for me.
The moment had happened.
The car was still underneath me.
Now I had to get back on with the race.
You can read the result here Oulton Park International | Events | Morrow Motorsport
