Herta Shines in Super-Competitive FF Festival

Oct 27, 1991
Dartford, England – Bryan Herta produced some impressive drives in his first-ever overseas event, the prestigious Formula Ford Festival and World Cup at Brands Hatch, and wound up finishing 11th out of almost 160 competitors in his “American to Europe” Scholarship Reynard.

“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. It’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.”

Herta’s weekend began inauspiciously when a misfire developed in his car during the crucial qualifying session on Friday, which was used to set the starting positions for his heat race –  one of eight that would take place on Saturday. Under the circumstances, Herta did well to qualify seventh. He then put his head down in a fraught 10-lap race and emerged a fine third after passing Briton Simon Harrison on the final lap.

Sunday began with a quarter-final race, which, unfortunately for Herta, was red-flagged after just seven laps. Nevertheless, the 21-year-old Californian already had made his mark, passing one car around the outside at the daunting Paddock Hill Bend en route to a strong fourth-place finish.

Herta started eighth for his semi-final race, which once again was red-flagged due to an incident in the pack, preventing him from making as much progress as he hoped. The premature conclusion was especially galling since an over-ambitious maneuver at the Druid’s hairpin on the opening lap had cost him a few places.

“I blew it,” Herta admitted. “I tried to pass too many cars. I was trying to get toward the front right away and I slid wide and lost the places I had gained.”

Herta then was frustrated in his attempts to pass a particularly obstructive Steffan Nielsen, from Denmark (who ironically had collided with Jimmy Vasser in the 1990 Formula Ford Festival), and had to settle for eighth.

“At least we made the final,” said Herta. “That was our primary goal going into the weekend, so I feel good about that.”

Herta lined up 15th for the 20-lap Grand Final and quickly found a way past Nielsen, who promptly crashed on the next lap. Herta wasn’t able to match the pace of the front-runners but he did move up several positions and finally took the checkered flag in 11th.