Today at Brands Hatch Duncan took the next step to becoming one of Britain’s Grand Prix prospects by clinching the prestigious Formula Ford Festival, the previous winners of which have included a host of current and former F1 stars.

He said “Words can’t describe what this means to me. I’ve been into the Kentagon tonight and looked at the Roll of Honour and to be added to names such as Jenson Button, Johnny Herbert and Mark Webber has given me the most amazing feling. This is absolutely the best day of my life – without a doubt.”

Qualified: Pole for Heat 1

“Qualifying took place in really windy conditions that affected the handling of the car. When you hit the apex at Paddock the headwind gave the car real understeer. Luckily the wind died a little towards the end of the session.”

Heat 1: Grid – 1st, Finished – 1st

“I got a good start and must have pulled out about four car lengths and from there put in consistent times to give me about a three second lead over Dennis (Retera). It was 15 laps so once I was happy with the gap I kept it steady to look after the tyres.”

Semi-Final: Grid – 1st, Finished – 1st

“I was up against Michel Florie on the front row and got another good start. I was a bit worried. Michel (and everybody else for that matter) had put on new tyres but I’d decided to keep mine given that we only have two sets for the weekend. Even with older tyres I managed to pull out a lead, which was quite satisfying. The only downside to the race was that there were two safety cars which slowed the race. My time for the race was therefore slower than the winning time for the other semi-final so that meant I had to start the final in second place.”

Final: Grid – 2nd, Finished – 1st

“I made a storming start. I got round the outside of Dennis at Paddock and from that point I was three or four tenths faster each lap. I’d built up an eight second lead by lap 20 and then on lap 21 a safety car was deployed which wiped my lead out completely. The safety car was out for three laps and so the last lap of the race was basically a sprint to the line. I managed to get the jump on Charlie Donnelly, who was by that time the car behind me, to take the flag”.

“It was an absolutely brilliant day and I want to thank Jamun for doing such a fantastic job with the car. Thanks too to my sponsors – I hope everybody enjoyed watching!

•   Filed under: Events, Formula Ford
•   Tagged as: podium finishes, Team Jamun