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FF chassis test (motorsport-news.co.uk)

Monday, 08 March 2010 19:30

While we are waiting for the Finnish winter to end, people further south are already heading out to their tracks. Also Finnish teams like Buri and Mäkelä are heading out, Buri to the UK and Mäkelä apparently to Zandvoort.

While the rest of us are waiting for the season start, Motorsport News' article about the performance of different Formula Ford chassis may be time well spent. The article can be found at the British Formula Ford Championship site, or downloaded directly here. While the article does not go in-depth into the performance of the various makes (Van Diemen, Mygale, Ray, Juno and Spectrum are included), it certainly is interesting reading nevertheless. Certainly the comments about Van Diemen are easy to recognize, and anyone who has seen Ville Kivinen slide his car into the corners knows what the article is talking about...

It would be great to see similar expert writing in our Finnish motorsport journals!

Last Updated on Monday, 08 March 2010 19:39

ATL fuel cell after a season of ethanol

Saturday, 06 March 2010 18:17

Last season the Finnish Championships in Formula Fords was run with RE85 fuel by St1. This is bioethanol, 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The cars used ATL fuel cells, and there was some concerns ethanol might cause some damage to the fuel cells. ATL does offer fuel cells with a treatment that makes them durable even when used with ethanol, but apparently only Janne Knuutinen had one of these cells.

On my car a new fuel cell was fitted prior to the previous season. My car, and that of Ville Kivinen, were built at the same time and fitted with new ATL fuel cells at the time. The cells had consequtive serial numbers.

Olli Kaurala had inspected Ville's car and the fuel cell after a season of running ethanol. Apparently there was serious leakage in many seams. This of course made me concerned too. However, when I today inspected my cell, it was absolutely fault free. No signs of any kind of leakage, actually quite on the contrary - the cell looked bran new! Now, our team had flushed the cell after every race with gasoline and then drained the cell empty. This apparently is a good practice.

It seems this season (2010) Zetec's will have the opportunity to run either gasoline or RE85. Personally I will be happy to run ethanol. The fuel works well, and with the Motec ECU I have full data logging capability as well.

Last Updated on Sunday, 07 March 2010 19:45

Dash2 installation in Formula Ford

Saturday, 20 February 2010 19:26

Just finished my Dash2 installation in the FF. Attached some pictures.

Plenty of drivers in FF 2010

Saturday, 20 February 2010 07:10

This year's Rata-SM (Finnish Championships) in Formula Ford seems to be more active than in years. Although the "public" sources (Formula Ford Finland pages and KITI) do not reveal more than eight drivers officially enrolled, the actual figures seems to be already twelve.

The Duratec squad seems to include last year racers Nummi, Kivinen, Miikka Mäkelä, UK-returnee Antti Buri, Milla Mäkelä and probably also Pinja Forsman (if her information about racing with Team Söderman implies she takes the Duratec that is in that team). Antti seems to be taking on his "last chance" (?) to win a Finnish Championships medal, but is also planning to do a full season in the UK. Apparently the race calenders match pretty well, the only exception being Kemora. We also hope that Milton Lundström will be mixed into this soup, he did a good show last year and would bring color to the races for sure. However, at least for now rumors have it he left the garage and is "wasting" his winter vacation in Austria...;-) Oh well, we all know Milton, the magnetism to wrenches and hard greasy work is occasionally lacking...;-)

As for Zetecs, so far Markus Ollila and myself are listed. Ollila apparently drives the ex-Hirsimäki car. However, also the ex-Kivinen car is in contention with driver Kristian Laine (apparently he was seen testing at Alastaro already late last fall), and so is the ex-Vähämäki-ex-Kurki-Suonio Mygale run by ADRF. Two more drivers are expected, one of which driving the ex-Veera Virtanen car. However, all drivers may not do all races. Count that to six drivers,and we have a pretty good line-up!

Thus summing up, so far rumors indicate about twelve drivers, half in Duratecs and half in Zetecs. All cars will be eligible to compete for the Finnish Championships points. On the Board of Directors in the Formula Ford Finland Association, discussions are on-going regarding series sponsors for the season. Also a separate Zetec trophy series is planned (Zetec Malja, perhaps?). Some discussions about allowing both gasoline and ethanol in Zetecs is also taking place (ethanol fuel would attract much needed series sponsorship money, and might make it easier for drivers to get funding too - although of course being a bit of a hassle due to somewhat limited availability). And, to top it off, there is some initiative that we finally would get a cool Formula Ford Finland jacket, similar to the Ford racing blue coat available in the UK series. Prices for a jacket would be very favorable, early indication suggests below 100€ for a good quality garment.

Stay tuned, and also - if you are thinking about racing this series - don't hesitate to being in touch with racers, association officials and others involved. Now is the time to get your voice heard!