# Formula Ford Festival

The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered single-seat racing cars which is held at the end of the British racing season, at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, in Southern England. The events are held over the course of a weekend and although various classes of past and present Formula Fords are present, the high point for many is the championship in which young but skilled drivers from Ford competitions in Europe and beyond race against one another. Often it is a rare chance to compare the skills of drivers who take part in different Ford competitions around the world. Many winners of the festival have gone on to enjoy professional careers in various branches of motorsport - including fourteen who have raced in Formula One.
The event is administered by the British Racing and Sports Car Club.

## History
### Inception

The inaugural season in 1972 took place at Snetterton, where the festival was held until 1975. It then moved to Brands Hatch where it has stayed to date.

### The Kent years

The Kent engine was the lead engine in early Formula Ford, and so from the first festival in 1972 until the Zetec was introduced in 1993.

### The Zetec years

The 1800 cc Zetec engine was the leading engine from 1993 until the Duratec took over in 2006. Zetec remained an engine sub-class until 2014.

### The Duratec engine

The 1600 cc Duratec engine is currently used in the leading races although the Zetec and Kent engines are still used in junior and classic classes of racing. Duratec remained the Festival champion class until 2014.

### Loss of prominence

For many years the festival was the highlight of the Formula Ford season. Entries of several hundred cars from all over the Formula Ford world were common into the 1990s, with racers competing in knockout heats to decide the grid for a grand final. Entries have been declining and recent Festivals have struggled to attract more than 40-50 cars, enough for two heats and a final. Support races from other classes e.g. Caterham, Club F3, and Historic Sports 2000 have also been included in the program. This is because although the event still has the atmosphere of past years its position as a rite of passage for young drivers has largely been usurped by other junior formulae, mostly by the FIA backed Formula 4 and karting.
More "historic" FF1600 cars have been turning up for the supporting races than contemporary Zetecs, however, in 2006, the Festival saw the Duratec engine for the first time thereby having a final for all 3 marques at one meeting for the first time. The Walter Hayes Trophy now recognises the continuing interest in 1600cc 'Kent' Formula Ford and attracted over 150 entries in 2006, including several drivers more commonly seen in much more senior formulae, including current two-time IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden, who won the 2008 Kent class, the most recent prominent champion to have raced in this festival.
From 2015 the Festival became exclusively for Kent engined cars, restoring the Festival to its pre-1993 format.

## Winners

Below is a list of overall festival winners. Since 1993, a secondary festival was run alongside for older specification cars running the Ford Kent engine. Since 2009, a third event has also been held for cars using the Ford Zetec engine.
* denotes later raced in Formula One
| Year | Circuit | Overall Festival Winner | Overall Festival Winner | Overall Festival Winner | Kent Festival | Kent Festival | Zetec Festival | Zetec Festival |
| Year | Circuit | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Driver | Chassis | Driver | Chassis |
| 1972 | Snetterton | Ian Taylor | Dulon LD9 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1973 | Snetterton | Donald Macleod | Van Diemen FA73 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1974 | Snetterton | Richard Morgan | Crossle 25F | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1975 | Snetterton | Geoff Lees * | Royale RP21 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1976 | Brands Hatch | Derek Daly * | Hawke DL17 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1977 | Brands Hatch | Chico Serra * | Van Diemen RF77 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1978 | Brands Hatch | Michael Roe | Van Diemen RF78 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1979 | Brands Hatch | Donald Macleod | Sark 1 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1980 | Brands Hatch | Roberto Moreno * | Van Diemen RF80 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1981 | Brands Hatch | Tommy Byrne * | Van Diemen RF81 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1982 | Brands Hatch | Julian Bailey * | Lola T640E | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1983 | Brands Hatch | Andrew Gilbert-Scott | Reynard 83F | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1984 | Brands Hatch | Gerrit van Kouwen | Lola T644E | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1985 | Brands Hatch | Johnny Herbert * | Quest FF85 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1986 | Brands Hatch | Roland Ratzenberger * | Van Diemen RF86 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1987 | Brands Hatch | Eddie Irvine * | Van Diemen RF87 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1988 | Brands Hatch | Vincenzo Sospiri * | Van Diemen RF88 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1989 | Brands Hatch | Niko Palhares | Van Diemen RF89 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1990 | Brands Hatch | Dave Coyne | Swift FB90 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1991 | Brands Hatch | Marc Goossens | Van Diemen RF91 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1992 | Brands Hatch | Jan Magnussen * | Van Diemen RF92 | Ford Kent engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1993 | Brands Hatch | Russell Ingall | Van Diemen RF93 | Ford Zetec engine | Andrew MacAuley | Reynard 92FF | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1994 | Brands Hatch | Jason Watt | Vector TF94 | Ford Zetec engine | Gavin Wills | Swift SC92F | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1995 | Brands Hatch | Kevin McGarrity | Van Diemen RF95 | Ford Zetec engine | Topi Serjala | Swift SC95F | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1996 | Brands Hatch | Mark Webber * | Van Diemen RF96 | Ford Zetec engine | Mark Marchant | Jamun M96 | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1997 | Brands Hatch | Jacky van der Ende | Van Diemen RF97 | Ford Zetec engine | Not Held | Not Held | | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1998 | Brands Hatch | Jenson Button * | Mygale SJ98 | Ford Zetec engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 1999 | Brands Hatch | Ricardo van der Ende | Van Diemen RF99 | Ford Zetec engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2000 | Brands Hatch | Anthony Davidson * | Mygale SJ00 | Ford Zetec engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2001 | Brands Hatch | Alan van der Merwe | Mygale SJ01 | Ford Zetec engine | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2002 | Brands Hatch | Jan Heylen | Van Diemen RF02 | Ford Zetec engine | Dave Fricker | Reynard 89FF | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2003 | Brands Hatch | Joey Foster | Van Diemen RF03 | Ford Zetec engine | Matthew Gilmore | Van Diemen RF92 | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2004 | Brands Hatch | Dan Clarke | Van Diemen RF04 | Ford Zetec engine | Joey Foster | Reynard 89FF | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2005 | Brands Hatch | Duncan Tappy | Mygale SJ04 | Ford Zetec engine | Gavin Wills | Van Diemen RF00 | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2006 | Brands Hatch | Richard Tannahill | Van Diemen RF06 | Ford Duratec engine | Noel Dunne | Van Diemen RF92 | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2007 | Brands Hatch | Nick Tandy | Ray GRS07 | Ford Duratec engine | Keith Dempsey | Ray GRS07 | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2008 | Brands Hatch | Wayne Boyd | Mygale SJ08 | Ford Duratec engine | Josef Newgarden | Ray GRS08 | Not Held | Not Held |
| 2009 | Brands Hatch | Chrissy Palmer | Mygale SJ09 | Ford Duratec engine | Rory Butcher | Van Diemen RF90 | Neil Tofts | Mygale SJ04 |
| 2010 | Brands Hatch | Dennis Lind | Van Diemen LA08 | Ford Duratec engine | Neville Smyth | Ray GRS09 | Julian Hoskins | Vector TF93 |
| 2011 | Brands Hatch | Scott Malvern | Mygale SJ10 | Ford Duratec engine | Ivor McCullough | Van Diemen RF00 | Neil Tofts | Mygale SJ04 |
| 2012 | Brands Hatch | Antti Buri | Mygale SJ11 | Ford Duratec engine | Ivor McCullough | Van Diemen RF00 | Xavier Michel | Van Diemen |
| Year | Circuit | Overall Festival Winner - Kent | Overall Festival Winner - Kent | Overall Festival Winner - Kent | Duratec Festival | Duratec Festival | Zetec Festival | Zetec Festival |
| Year | Circuit | Driver | Chassis | Engine Builder | Driver | Chassis | Driver | Chassis |
| 2013 | Brands Hatch | Niall Murray | Van Diemen RF99 | MCP | Bart van Os | Mygale SJ10 | Julian Hoskins | Vector TF93 |
| Year | Circuit | Overall Festival Winner - Kent | Overall Festival Winner - Kent | Overall Festival Winner - Kent | Duratec-Zetec Festival | Duratec-Zetec Festival | Duratec-Zetec Festival | Duratec-Zetec Festival |
| Year | Circuit | Driver | Chassis | Engine Builder | Driver | Driver | Chassis | Chassis |
| 2014 | Brands Hatch | James Raven | Ray GR13/14 | Bold | Thomas Craincourt | Thomas Craincourt | Mygale Duratec | Mygale Duratec |
| Year | Circuit | Overall Festival Winner - Kent | Overall Festival Winner - Kent | Overall Festival Winner - Kent | Pre-1990 Winner | Pre-1990 Winner | Pre-1982 Winner | Pre-1982 Winner |
| Year | Circuit | Driver | Chassis | Engine Builder | Driver | Chassis | Driver | Chassis |
| 2015 | Brands Hatch | Wayne Boyd | Van Diemen MS13K | Bold | Matthew Cowley | Reynard FF88 | Stuart Kestenbaum | Van Diemen RF79 |
| 2016 | Brands Hatch | Niall Murray | Van Diemen RF99 | MCP | Job van Uitert | Van Diemen RF89 |
| 2017 | Brands Hatch | Joey Foster | Ray GR08 | Bold |
| 2018 | Brands Hatch | Joshua Smith | Van Diemen JL13 | Barnett |
| 2019 | Brands Hatch | Jonathan Browne | Ray GR18 | Bold | Alan Davidson | Mondiale M89S |
| 2020 | Brands Hatch | Rory Smith | Medina JL18 | MCP | Peter Daly | Van Diemen RF88 | |
| 2021 | Brands Hatch | Jamie Sharp | Medina JL17 | MCP | Matt Rivett | Van Diemen RF91 | |
| 2022 | Brands Hatch | Max Esterson | Ray GR18 | FMS | Cameron Jackson | Van Diemen RF90 | |