Connor Mills retained his lead at the top of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain Scholarship class standings after claiming his eighth consecutive podium at a sunny Thruxton circuit on Sunday (4 May).
Lining-up ninth for the weekend’s final encounter, Mills bolted off the line to climb an impressive three places in the opening few corners, promoting him into a points-paying podium position.
Mills fended off Falcon Motorsport’s Ricky Collard for several laps, but was overtaken on one occasion as the pair exited Brooklands and headed up to the final chicane.
Not wanting to relinquish his position easily, Mills quickly retaliated , slamming on the brakes late and valiantly diving up the inside of Collard at Allard corner.
As the clock continued to count down, Mills made his car as wide as possible to keep Collard, who then fell into the grips of Meridian Racing’s hard charger, Bobby Thompson.
With Collard now having to heavily defend his position from Thompson, Mills managed to pull away from the pair and stretch his legs.
Second in class looked comfortable for Mills, but an unfortunate mechanical issue meant the 17-year old was unable to defend his position to Collard on the finishing straight and crossed the line in third.
Despite missing out on the second spot of the podium, Mills leaves the Hampshire circuit still in the lead of the Scholarship standings; a target he set himself prior to the weekend.
“It was very good,” said Mills. “I got a great start and made up several positions, but I eventually lost one, which dropped me into the clutches of Collard. I stood my ground for the most part and it was a really great battle – I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Collard passed me at the final chicane, but I was very quick to take the position back up the inside of the first corner. I then tried to hold him back as much as possible to allow Bobby (Thompson) to close up on him, and when he did, I bolted and was able to open up a comfortable gap.
“Unfortunately, I had a mechanical problem on the last lap and Collard passed me, but I still finished on the podium, which is fantastic. I also leave Thruxton with the Scholarship lead, so it has been a good weekend overall.”
Having never raced at Thruxton prior to this weekend, Thompson continued to find his feet and narrowly missed out on a Scholarship podium.
The Hornchurch driver lined-up directly behind teammate Mills in 11th and was keen to try round off his weekend on a high after passing Nigerian Ovie Iroro on the opening lap.
The Meridian Racing team worked tirelessly late into the night on Saturday, making changes to Thompson’s car, and its hard work was not in vain, as the 19-year old continually set personal best laps on the high-speed 2.36mile Thruxton circuit to become embroiled in an intense tussle with Collard and narrowly miss out on the Scholarship podium.
“I’m quite happy with that race,” said Thompson. “I caught up to my teammate and Ricky (Collard) and to be only a second off the leaders’ pace is fantastic, considering where we were at the start of the weekend. I still have a few more lessons to learn about the car, but I’ve grown in confidence and am very happy with how I’ve progressed over this weekend. Hopefully I can build on that at the next meeting.”
Meridian Racing Team Principal, Paul Abercrombie, said: “The team set itself the target of achieving more podium finishes in the Scholarship class, and that’s exactly what has been done throughout the weekend, which is fantastic! Connor was quick all weekend, despite his mechanical issues, and his confidence is continuing to grow. To claim three Scholarship podiums and still be leading is great news. Bobby has found loads of time, considering he has never been here before. He has also found a lot of confidence in both the car and his driving style.”
The Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain will resume at Cheshire’s Oulton Park circuit in five weeks’ time (7-8 June).