HOLIHAN TO COMPETE IN BOTH KENT MODERN AND HISTORIC'S AT FESTIVAL
Daniel Holihan is set to race in two formula ford categories on the same weekend at Winton Motor Raceway during the Formula Ford Festival on October 22-24. Last month during the second round of the New South Wales Formula Ford Championship Holihan qualified on pole position and finished second outright for the weekend boosting his confidence for the rest of the year.
The teams sole focus now is on the last three remaining rounds of the New South Wales Formula Ford 1600 Championship where Daniel Holihan hopes to finish inside the top three in the championship by the time the double points finale at Sydney Motorsport Park comes around. When the Australian Formula Ford Festival got announced just a few days ago, both Holihan and Mawer discussed the possibilities of what they could do for the event.
Holihan commented, “I’m excited for this event, it’s been on my bucket list since I was a kid. Formula Ford always creates exciting racing. Having all the Formula Ford classes seperate will be awesome to witness for the fans. I discussed with my team and sponsors at the possibility of trying to run all three formula ford classes which, includes the formula ford duratec category. In hindsight it would’ve been a really cool idea to run all three classes, I did that during my karting days way back in the day when I was a lot younger and had a lot more energy. It gets exhausting on the body and mentally confusing on the brain changing from each different car to the next as they’re all different speeds and g-forces. So, we are going to do the next best thing and run both my newly built Spectrum 011 and my beloved Swift DB1 that’s owned by my step father Geoff. I really can’t wait to do double duty like they do in NASCAR it’ll feel like running the Xfinity and Truck Series over in America all on the same weekend.”
Whilst, the historic formula ford has been “moth balled” for some time now since the 2020 lockdown, the team have decided that more seat time is better than no seat time and will most likely race in kent modern and historic formula ford at the festival event. However, this is dependent on how many entries come through the gates, meaning each class will have separated formula ford fields.
The last time the Australian Formula Ford festival was run was back in 1988/89, the year Dan was born! Famous names that have come out of these special events, include motorsport and formula ford legends, such as Mark Larkham (Supercar commentator), John Blanchard, Russell Ingall, Troy Dunstan, Tomas Mezera, Russell Becker & Dave Roberts, just to name a few.
Team manager and coach, Barton Mawer commented, “I think this is great that Formula Ford is doing this for everyone involved. It gets all the Formula Ford’s out of the sheds and gets everyone racing again. No matter how old or young you are Formula Ford is a fun category. You can compete against some of the best racing talent across Australia. I think Dan and myself will just go out and have fun with it all. No championship points on offer and no pressure is on the line to win a championship here.”
The racing program is set to feature Formula 3, Formula Vee, Formula Ford Duratec, Formula Ford Kent1600 Modern and the surprisingly competitive Formula Ford Historic racing, which attracts up to 50 car fields on big weekends. All the other classes are hoping to have grids around the 20-30 car mark, depending on Australian borders at the time during COVID-19.
Details regarding the event are now up on the Formula Ford website!
Daniel Holihan and team boss Barton Mawer pictured bumping fists after qualifying on pole position at Wakefield Park on his first weekend back racing.