HSCC HISTORIC FORMULA FORD, DECEMBER 2025
Well, that turned out to be a great year for the Barnett Historic Formula Ford Championship.
Our grids were well up on 2024. Our average qualifying number was 25, making us the most popular FF championship in the UK. Moreover, the biggest grid of 31 was at the last round, the Silverstone Finals. This is a very good omen for 2026 – so let’s celebrate our success, reports Chris Sharples.
The racing was tremendous. Brilliant battles up front- and throughout the grid. Just ask Ian Fernihough and he will tell you he had good dices in every race. AND. A big round of applause for driving standards. Despite the intensity of competition, the driving was good and clean and race control handed out zero, zilch, nil penalties all season (apart from the odd race limits excursion). AND. Our Chief Scrute, Nigel Jones, awards us a gold star for eligibility and compliance. AND. Our grids were well up on 2024. Our average qualifying number was 25, making us the most popular FF championship in the UK. Moreover, the biggest grid of 31 was at the last round, the Silverstone Finals. This is a very good omen for 2026. It is difficult to believe we could have had a better season- so let’s celebrate our success.
All praise to our champions. Having been building towards a commanding lead all season. Sam Mitchell gave Mallory a miss, then suffered a race ending throttle cable failure in the first Finals race. Then, in a scenario that could have been scripted in Hollywood, starting the second race from the back row, he did just enough to take the championship by just 6 points. Benn Simms, was second having suffered some unfortunate DNFs earlier in the season. Christian Goller strung together a good set of result to come third.
1 Sam Mitchell 193
2 Benn Simms 187
3 Christian Goller 136
4 Ben Powney 125
5 Danny Stanzl 120
6 Oliver Chapman 107
The over 50 championship was tightly competed between Gislain Genecand and Mark Wilkes, with Mark taking first at the Finals meeting.
1 Mark Wilkes 206
2 Gislain Genecand 160
3 Kevin Stanzl 156
4 Ross Drybrough 122
5 Ian Fernihough 98
6 David Squire 96
Top Novice went to George Townsend. In mid-season we invented a new ‘class’ which we called ‘Legends’, really for over 65s! Tracking back through results, if we had put this in the regs, this would have been won by Ian Fernihough.
Looking back over the calendar this seemed to have worked well. The only question mark was Mallory Park which attracted a poor grid. Possibly it is a Marmite track. Those that raced there loved it and the racing was brilliant, but a lot of people stayed away. An end of season straw poll suggested that the drivers’ favourite was Silverstone Finals. The quality of the entry was great; the slipstreaming compression kept the packs tight so for spectators the racing was awesome’. There was some comment on the benefit of taking in ‘new’ circuits. This we will do in 2026 by taking in Castle Combe and Oulton Park.
Now there is a lot to look forward to. In total 56 drivers competed this year, we hope the vast majority will be out next season. In the last 12 months 16 cars have changed hands, Most have yet to join our grids. Currently there are 5 drivers looking to acquire a car. We can expect our new Lotus 51 class to bring new cars to the grid. We anticipate that a handful of drivers who sat out 2025 will be back next year. Finally, as we approach the FF 60th anniversary in 2027 it is quite possible that people may buy cars to join in the fun.
So, it was a great 2025, next year could be even better.
Our deepest thanks go to Josh Barnett of Barnett Racing Engines, John Pearson of Nova/HPT, Les Weller of Weller-for-Wheels and artist Alan Fernihough for their support through 2025.
HSCC Historic Formula Ford 2026 Calendar
25-25 APRIL: HSCC SNETTERTON AUTOSPORT SPRING TROPHY
30-31 MAY: HSCC DONINGTON PARK RACE WEEKEND
13-14 JUNE: HSCC CADWELL PARK WOLDS TROPHY
11-12 JULY: HSCC LEGENDS OF BRANDS HATCH SUPER PRIX
08-09 AUGUST: HSCC 60TH ANNIVERSARY CASTLE COMBE
29-31 AUGUST: HSCC OULTON PARK GOLD CUP
10-11 OCTOBER: HSCC SILVERSTONE FINALS
Images: Motorsport Classics Media