Herta Mixes it With the Best — and Learns

Nov 6, 1991 (reprinted from On Track magazine)
Costa Mesa, Calif. — The Formula Ford Festival and World Cup has become acknowledged as one of the most exciting events on the entire motorsporting calendar. Its level of competitiveness is legendary. The cars are evenly matched, with drivers competing on an equal basis as the skinny, treaded radial Dunlop tires ensure that car control is of paramount importance.

Former winners of “The Festival” include the likes of Geoff Lees, Derek Daly, Roberto Moreno, Tommy Byrne, Julian Bailey and Johnny Herbert, all of whom graduated into Formula 1 Grand Prix racing. Other Formula Ford graduates include three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna, former F1 and Indy Car champion Emerson Fittipaldi and the new PPG Cup champ, Michael Andretti.

Historically, however, the Formula Ford Festival has not been kind to its North American visitors. Many hungry young drivers have made the long journey since the event was first held in 1972; few have come away with any tangible success. None, in fact, have matched the results obtained that very first year by David Loring and Danny Sullivan, who finished fourth and fifth respectively.

A total of 90 drivers took part in the inaugural Festival. More recently as many as 200 drivers have entered, with the field whittled down through a system of eight heat races, four quarter-finals and two semi-finals. Only the top 28 make it through to the Grand Final.

In the last 18 years, Peter Argetsinger’s seventh-place finish in 1981 represents the best finish for the United States, although Ross Cheever was running strongly in 1983 before crashing out of the final.

This year Bryan Herta and Bobby Carville earned some new respect for the American contingent. Herta, the newly crowned Barber Saab Pro Series champion, had been invited to drive a factory-loaned Reynard 90F as part of a new “scholarship” scheme. Valvoline, Ford SVO, Truesports Choice and Carl A. Haas Automobile Imports were the primary backers of the venture, which was aimed at raising the profile of North American racing.

Herta rose to the challenge admirably. So, too, did Carville, last year’s Canadian Formula 2000 champion, who drove John Downing’s Van Diemen RF91. Both were using engines built by Long Island-based Marcovicci-Wenz Engineering. The third member of the “American” contingent was English expatriate Dominic Cape. Sadly, a heat race spin cost any chance of his Swift FB91 making it through to the next round.

Herta, meanwhile, was one of the stars of the entire event. The 21-year-old Californian finished a strong third in his heat race, fourth in the quarter-final and eighth in the semi, which, unfortunately for him, was red-flagged early due to a couple of accidents. In the final, Herta finished a strong 11th. Along the way he had to fend off determined challenges from French FF1600 champion Franck Guibbert, Nordic champion Kalle Jokinen and Irish champion David Wright.

“I’ve never ever been happy to finish 11th,” said Herta, “but I feel alright about this one. It’s amazing how much even a little experience helps. Itâ’s just so competitive. We came over here and tested a couple of times before the race and that really helped. I felt more comfortable every time I went out on the track.”

Carville, who had spent a month in preparing for the Festival, also earned credit for a strong performance, although a sticking throttle caused him to spin early in the final. He finished 23rd.

Both drivers received glowing reports in the British motorsporting press, with Herta also featuring strongly in the BBC television coverage.

“I didn’t realize how much recognition and how many opportunities I was going to get out of it,” said Herta. “I’ve had several people just call me up out of the blue and say they’d like to talk to me about racing in Europe next year. That’s fantastic. I never would have had those calls if I’d stayed at home. And with four races in one weekend — that’s amazing; I only did 12 races in my whole Barber Saab season!”