What Is A Formula Ford?
The first ever race for a Formula Ford race car was held on the 2nd July 1967. This was run with a chassis made of a tubular steel construction, a 1498cc engine from a Ford Cortina and a set of ordinary road going Firestone F100 tyres. Due to its great success, a Championship was established and to this day, Formula Ford is still thriving all over the world. It is still classed as one of the premier entry-level formula for young drivers trying to achieve a career in motorsport.
Many changes have taken place since that first year of competition. These were mainly instigated to keep the cars updated and in line with current production. The chassis’s remain basically the same (except for mandatory safety changes), but the most notable change has been in the engines. Several years into the category and the engines were updated to the Ford 1600cc unit. This was known as the “Kent” engine as was used in Fords Escort “Mexico” and “RS” road models. This engine is still being used in Formula Ford Championships all over the world to date, with the exception of the Premier National Championships which now uses the all new Ford “Duratec” which can be found in many of Fords current production cars. The main differences in the two engines other than age and output, is that the “Duratec” is a modern electronically controlled engine with a fuel injection system and the “Kent” still uses the standard twin-choke “Weber” carburetor.
Another change from the early years of competition is the tyres. As with all forms of motor sport, tyres are a major factor and Formula Ford racing is no exception. Over the years, numerous tyre manufacturers have been contracted to supply tyres for Formula Ford with the list including Dunlop and current supplier, Avon. All cars run on a controlled tyre. This basically means that all competitors have to use the same tyre. The same tyre is used in the dry as in the wet. The exception to this is the Duratec Formula Ford, which runs on a “Slick” tyre for the dry and dedicated wet weather tyres in the rain. Basically, a “Slick” tyre is a tyre without a groove cut into the rubber tread. This allows as much surface area contact between the road and tyre as possible, thus increasing grip.
.jpg) Although the chassis’s have to be constructed within certain dimensions and safety requirements, there have been many different car designers and manufacturers over the years, all with their own slant on what it takes to build the quickest car. Some of these include Crossle, Hawke, Swift, Van Diemen and Ray to name but a few. Each having its own period of success before a competitor improves on a design and they are then making their own adjustments to regain the advantage.
In motorsport terms, a Formula Ford is relatively straightforward to maintain and repair, but the key to speed is mainly in the set-up of the car. This involves fine-tuning aspects of the car, i.e. changing gear ratios to suit a particular circuit and adjusting suspension settings such as the camber/castor/toe of the road wheels all to eek out those extra tenths of a second. This is an art form in itself. You could be the quickest driver the world has ever known, but if the car is not correctly set up, it will not respond to the drivers input. A good driver is instrumental in relaying information back to the engineer as to what the car is doing on the circuit. The engineer will then adjust the car according to that information. The driver is immensely important in the development of the car, but is still only a small percentage of the overall speed in the car. Broken down, the equation would read something like this:
ENGINE = 50% + CHASSIS = 30% + DRIVER = 20% = 100%
FORMULA FORD IS BIG. And the 1600 Kent engined category is currently having a new lease of life with Championships flourishing, dedicated websites and Blue Ribbon events throughout the year. As previously stated, it is contested throughout the world, but as the UK is essentially the capital of world motorsport, many young foreign drivers head for these shores in an attempt to showcase their talents. Winning a major UK Championship is regarded very highly in motorsport circles
Whilst there are many other categories for young drivers to use to enter the world of Motorsport these days, there are none that offer the ‘value for money’ racing that Formula Ford does.
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