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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">FORMULA FORD</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">23/04/2002</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">England finishes on podium for JLR</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">High powered Christian takes Panasonic to 2nd</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">Christian England took his first visit to the podium for Panasonic Batteries Team JLR this weekend. In a brilliant start to the 2002 season Christian England took second place in Round 2 of the British Formula Ford Zetec Championship.<BR> <BR> Qualifying on Saturday morning brought mixed fortunes to the team. Christian trading top times with works Van Diemen driver Wes Barber right to the end of the session, with Wes ultimately taking pole by only five hundredths of a second!<BR> <BR> Tom Kimber-Smith was on pole at one point in the session on a drying track but lost too much after flat-spotting a tyre with a quick spin. Time spent in the pits for a replacement whilst the track times were improving moved him down to sixth on the grid.<BR> <BR> Alx Danielsson's early season pace was proving hard to find in qualifying. Tenth place on the grid left the Swede unhappy. He reported back to the team that the car felt very well balanced throughout Fridays testing and Saturdays qualifying but still mysteriously off the pace. The team worked hard to find the problem even changing the engine and Alx was looking forward to a good race.<BR> <BR> The start of the race went far from according to plan. All three drivers got off the line well, Christian holding station and Tom and Alx moving swiftly through the pack but disaster struck on the first corner. An over-eager driver ran straight in to the back of Tom's car pushing him in to the tyre wall, a split-second later a car ran straight up the back of Alx, landing on top of him. Track marshals and other drivers sprang in to action and within seconds several ambulances and doctors’ vehicles were on the scene. After a tense 20 minutes Alx emerged from his car and was taken by ambulance to the medical center before being transferred to Chester hospital for a full check-up. Thankfully for everybody concerned Alx escaped with nothing more than severe bruising and a stiff neck. <BR> <BR> The race was restarted as soon as Officials were happy that Alx was relatively unscathed and Wes Barber and Christian immediately took the field by storm, pulling away at an alarming rate. In a nail-biting race in front of a capacity crowd Wes and Christian ran nose to tail to the chequered flag, Christian opting to take the points that would move him in to second place in the Championship. Team JLR's mechanics were thrilled with the result and cheered the exultant driver on to the podium before returning to the serious business of scrutineering and preparation for Round Three on Sunday.<BR> <BR> Christian, needless to say was happy with his performance.<BR> <BR> "Testing and qualifying went so well I couldn't have been anything but confident about the race. I got a good start both times and once the race got under way I was confident I could match Wes's pace, in fact I held fastest lap right to the end but with it being so early in the season I went after points. To finish first, first you must finish. Race wins are great, but uppermost in my mind is Championship victory so I have to keep a cool head, overwhelmingly tempting though it might be to just go for broke!"<BR> <BR> Team owner Richard Dean was equally happy, though his joy was somewhat tempered by concern for Alx Danielsson and Tom Kimber-Smiths' well-being.<BR> <BR> "Tom, Alx and a third driver who came to rest on Alx's car were caught up in someone else's reckless over-enthusiasm. Luckily, in spite of initial concerns, Alx escaped serious injury, but the car was not so lucky and will need to be rebuilt before Round 4 at Thruxton in 2 weeks time. I'm delighted with Tom, he's working well with the team, we're enjoying the season and seeing him at the front of the field showing his true potential. He just needs a run of good luck to show everyone what he can do."<BR> <BR> "On a more positive note Christian was just brilliant today, drove a blinding race and used his head to bring the team a result. Well done to him and to the team, who worked so hard to put him on the podium."<BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>