For release: April 29, 2005

CROFT SHOWDOWN FOR UK FORMULA FORD

BRENTWOOD, April 29, 2005: With two new faces on the grid for the fifth and sixth rounds of the UK Formula Ford Championship, and a healthy battle brewing between at least three young drivers for the series lead, the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire looks set to provide plenty of excitement next weekend (7/8 May).

Irishman Charlie Donnelly, 21, leads the title race to Croft, the Jamun Racing driver having one race victory under his belt and a 100% top-three finishing record in the Ford-backed championship.

But the Dubliner will be under pressure once more from Joe D'Agostino, the 20-year-old Brackley-based American who blitzed the season opener at Donington Park for Team JLR and who went on last weekend to claim twin wins at Oulton Park. Donnelly has an 18-point lead over D'Agostino and Joe is set on reducing it: "There's a long way to go in the championship," he said, "and if I keep driving to the best of my ability I'm sure that I can close the gap."

D'Agostino will be joined in the Team JLR squad for their home race by his regular running mates, Norwegian Thor-Christian Ebbesvik and Jonny Baker (Farnham Common), and also by a guest driver, 25-year-old Andrew Bentley, from Barnard Castle. Bentley was a star of the BRDC Single-Seater Championship last year and also placed third overall in the Formula Ford Winter Series.

Joe at Croft in 2004
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Second overall in the driver standings - just a point in front of D'Agostino - is another consistent top-three finisher, Wiltshire's Rob Sunderland, who will be looking for another podium placing at Croft in his Mackie Motorsport Mygale.

Twenty-year-old Sarah Playfair (East Lothian) leads the Scholarship class thanks to her consistent finishing record for the Marque Cars Racing team and the mishaps which befell her class rivals Baker and Stephen Roberts (Whitchurch) at Oulton Park.

Also expected on the Croft grid are Ulsterman Darwin Smith in the new Spirit chassis and his Kartstart Motorsport team-mate Alan Kirkaldy (St Andrews); Donnelly's Jamun Racing team-mate Duncan Tappy, who was quick but unlucky at Oulton; and Nottingham's Liam Clifford.

Provisional championship standings after round 4, 24/4/05
1 Charlie Donnelly, IRL, Dublin, Jamun Racing, 111 points
2 Robert Sunderland, UK, Yatton Keynell, Mackie Motorsport, 94
3 Joe D'Agostino, USA, Brackley, Team JLR, 93
4 Thor-Christian Ebbesvik, NOR, Bergen, Team JLR, 64
5 Stephen Roberts, UK, Whitchurch, Kevin Mills Racing & Sarah Playfair, UK, East Lothian, Marque Cars

Scholarship Class:
1 Playfair, 105; 2 Roberts, 97; 3 Jonny Baker (UK/Farnham Common/Team JLR), 84.

Championship website: www.ukformulaford.co.uk