Australian Daniel Erickson wound up his 2009 British Formula Ford campaign with a gallant 8th place in the Final of the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch today.
One of few drivers to begin the 25-lap, 48.5km race on old tyres, due to problems in qualifying, the 21 year-old Australian faced an uphill battle to hold his 10th grid position to the finish, but he did that and more.
Driving conservatively to maintain what little grip remained, Erickson lost one position at the start and then had to sit behind Jordi Cunhill for 16 laps until the Spaniard spun off the track.
By the finish he had closed the gap to the next driver, Sepp Koster from Curacao, from 5.8 to 3.2 seconds, and moved up two more positions as drivers ahead struck trouble.
“I just didn’t have the grip to get past Cunill, and even if I’d been on new tyres I wouldn’t have been able to catch the leaders – they were too far ahead by then,” Erickson said.
The Australian Motor Sport Foundation International Rising Star showed great speed in his semi-final by setting the fastest lap of the race as he progressed from sixth starting position to finish fifth on the 1.9km Brands Hatch ‘Indy’ circuit.
