{"id":6711,"date":"2023-10-20T21:08:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T21:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/?p=6711"},"modified":"2023-10-20T21:08:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T21:08:49","slug":"houk-sullivan-set-for-brands-hatch-formula-ford-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/?p=6711","title":{"rendered":"Houk, Sullivan Set for Brands Hatch Formula Ford Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Houk (left) and Sullivan feel they are ready to race (Gary Hawkins Photography).<\/p><\/div>\n

DARTFORD, Kent, UK<\/strong> \u2013 Three days of testing at the historic Brands Hatch Circuit are in the books. Now it\u2019s time to go racing. For well over 50 drivers, including Team USA Scholarship representatives Ayrton Houk, 20, from McCordsville, Ind., and Jack Sullivan, 17, from Hamilton, Ohio, the 52nd annual BRSCC Formula Ford Festival officially kicks off on Saturday morning with qualifying for three 12-lap Heat races to set the grids for the Semi Final round on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Houk and Sullivan are following in some illustrious footsteps. The Team USA Scholarship is supported by a wide range of entities from the United States motorsports community, which has been providing opportunities for talented youngsters since 1990. Jimmy Vasser was the inaugural scholarship recipient, while reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden was the first American to win the Formula Ford Festival \u2013 carrying Team USA\u2019s distinctive patriotic colors \u2013 in 2008.<\/p>\n

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Houk pushing hard through Clearways.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI am very excited to kick off the 2023 Formula Ford Festival tomorrow morning here at Brands Hatch,\u201d said Houk, who finished third in this year\u2019s FRP F1600 Championship Series in the U.S. \u201cComing off of three solid days of testing I am confident and ready to see how Jack and I stack up against the field in qualifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe past three days have been a great experience running in full wet, damp, drying and full dry and really getting to understand how the balance of the car changes for each. The track itself looks simple from the outside; however, it is quite tricky to drive as each corner presents unique challenges. Altogether, I have had a amazing time testing at this historic track and cannot wait to get racing in the next couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Climbing Hailwood Hill toward Druids.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cTesting was great,\u201d added Sullivan, who took third in the FRP series in a car entered and prepared by he and his father. \u201cIt was awesome to finally get on track at Brands Hatch and it was great to have had three days to get adjusted. It was a bit difficult to find pace at first but finally in the very last session I was able to find a good rhythm. I\u2019m super excited for qualifying and the heat race tomorrow after the great finish to our Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy initial impression on Brands Hatch was the elevation of Paddock Hill Bend and Hailwood Hill. I don\u2019t think pictures really can capture how steep the hill really is. When I hit the compression at the bottom of the hill, I feel my eye lids and cheeks being pushed down by the G-forces. With the rain, it becomes a whole different animal with Surtees and Clearways having absolutely no grip and to be fast, you have to be on the very outside of Clearways, just inches from the gravel trap. This place is just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The distinctive livery has become a staple at Brands Hatch.<\/p><\/div>\n

Houk and Sullivan will drive a pair of Ray Formula Ford cars run by the Ammonite Motorsport team. They are joined this weekend by a strong U.S. contingent, including teammates Nolan Allaer, who after running for the entire season in the UK, recently returned home to score a fine victory in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at VIRginia International Raceway, and Hugh Esterson, whose brother Max carried Team USA colors in 2021 and last year returned to score a proud victory in the Formula Ford Festival. In addition, Festival veteran Jeremy Fairbairn has shown strong pace during the latter part of the UK season, while FRP champion Porter Aiken and 16-year-old Isaac Canto da Silva also will be making their UK debuts.<\/p>\n

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Formula Ford has helped develop driving skills since 1967.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sullivan has been drawn in Heat One and will be first onto the track tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. for qualifying. His Heat race is set to start at 11:40 a.m. Houk will venture out for Heat Two qualifying at 9:50, with his race due to start immediately after the lunch break at 12:55. The schedule is subject to change. The events will be live streamed on the BRSCC\u2019s YouTube channel, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jDBnBRfiOhk<\/a>. Live timing will be available at https:\/\/www.tsl-timing.com\/Event\/234230<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both Team USA cars carry a \u201cTD3″ decal in recognition of long-time Road Racing Drivers Club member and five-time SCCA National Champion Tom Davey, who passed away earlier this week at age 81. A staunch advocate of Formula Ford and the Team USA Scholarship, Davey, an accomplished writer and filmmaker, directed and produced the entire library of SAFEisFAST.com videos \u2013 a free online resource originated by Davey and fellow RRDC member Jim Mullen which has benefited countless aspiring racing champions over the past 12 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DARTFORD, Kent, UK \u2013 Three days of testing at the historic Brands Hatch Circuit are in the books. Now it\u2019s time to go racing. For well over 50 drivers, including Team USA Scholarship representatives Ayrton…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,6],"tags":[191,188,68,135,114,113,121,292,259,291,290,66],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6711"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6711"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6718,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6711\/revisions\/6718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/teamusascholarship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}