[AMS2] Formula Ford Festival – DURATEC Champions 2007 - 2011

The Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, still alive as a club event, once marked one of the annual highlights of UK’s motorsport. A showdown of the best talents from several Formula Ford Championships around the globe taking the chance to compete against each other. For many drivers, the Festival marked a mandatory milestone on the road to F1, IndyCar, and other series. Starting in 1972 the Festival reached its golden era at the end of the 1980s when it was regarded as the motorsport’s junior world championship.

Formula Ford series and the Festival in particular needed to adapt to a changing motorsport landscape seeing other car manufacturers investing in F1 ladder single-seaters (Vauxhall, Renault, BMW). In 1993, the Zetec engine (1800cc, 145PS) was introduced replacing the Kent engine (1600cc, 105PS) after 2 decades. The new engine came with increased cost and increased weight, changing the handling of the cars. Side pods came in 1994 and slick tires in 1997. Despite providing great racing, the interest in Formula Ford dropped dramatically in 2002 ending up with the retirement of the Zetec as main class engine in 2005. It gained momentum again in 2006 with the introduction of the Duratec engine (1600cc, 155PS). Decreased weight and increased power promised the new class to be successful. And so it was - a spectacular Festival’s final in awful conditions inaugurated the new class. (look for the “Formula Ford Festival 2006” video on yt!)

In the following season the entries to the Festival raised again, and the class continued to produce superb racing from quality grids. The fortune took not too long and with the Festival’s 40th anniversary in 2011 the era’s peak was already reached. The Festival returned to its Kent roots in 2013.

Let’s revive the exciting Duratec era with this skin pack for the AMS2 Formula Trainer Advanced model, perfectly approximating the successful Mygale SJ chassis of these years with wide side pods and the overhead air box, appropriate engine specs and slick tires.

It consists of car skins as they appeared at the Festival from 2007 to 2011. Unfortunately, there are only 27 slots available. So, the selection tries to balance between podium drivers and variety in liveries and driver nationalities. Helmets, suits, proper previews and a custom AI file are included as well. Drivers and cars are mainly from British FF Championship spiced up with entries from Benelux and Danish FF Championships as well as the US.