Round-Garrido wraps up Star of Anglesey title at Winter meeting

Matt Round-Garrido wrapped up the Star of Anglesey title in last weekend’s Winter Formula Ford meeting, including a victory in the second race.

Jake Byrne scooped pole position for the morning race, two tenths faster than both Luciano Carvalho and Round-Garrido respectively.

The trio drove away from the large complement of guest drivers behind, finishing within two seconds of each other while Byrne controlled the pace out front.

Round-Garrido elected to sit behind the duo, bringing his Medina Sport home to collect the required points to guarantee the Star of Anglesey crown.

“[It] was a matter of finishing, so I didn’t challenge the top two that much, as I didn’t want to risk a crash,” said Round-Garrido.

“Once the championship was wrapped up I went for it in the second race.”

Round-Garrido unleashed his true pace in the afternoon race, passing Byrne on the opening lap and picking off Carvalho shortly thereafter from third on the grid.

Carvalho struggled to keep pace with the leading duo in the second race, being passed by Byrne shortly after Round-Garrido, and losing close to a second a lap in the closing stages on his way to third place.

Despite losing out to Round-Garrido in the second race, his earlier win was a welcome pick-me-up after a difficult pair of weekends at the Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy.

“I’d crashed in the Festival, and got crashed into in the Walter Hayes Trophy, so it was a much better weekend for me,” said Byrne.

Guest entrant Nigel Thompson was best of the rest in both races, winning the Pre90 class on both occasions in a Van Diemen RF88 and finishing fourth overall.

He passed fellow Pre90 guest rival John Farrell in a Reynard FF89 on the first lap of the opening race and picked off James Oldfied’s modern Van Diemen around the halfway point.

His class win in the second race was made easier by a race-long duel between Farrell and Post89 runner Neil Hunt, coming home fifth and sixth respectively.

Race one results

Pos	Class	Driver	Car	Gap
1		Jake Byrne	Ray	10 laps
2		Luciano Carvalho	Van Diemen	+1.026
3		Matt Round-Garrido	Medina Sport	+1.527
4	P89	Nigel Thompson [G]	Van Diemen	+22.572
5	P89	John Farrell [G]	Reynard	+22.808
6		James Oldfield [G]	Van Diemen	+23.730
7		Neil Hunt [G]	Van Diemen	+30.885
8		Paul Walsh	Ray	+43.690
9	P89	Juicy Bruceie	Reynard	+45.135
10	P89	Oliver Champan [G]	PRS	+45.473
11	INV	Andrew Crighton [G]	Scarab	+1:16.617
12	INV	Stuart Brine [G]	Scarab	+1:17.349
DNF	P89	Edwin Hannah	Reynard	+6 laps

Race two results

Pos	Class	Driver	Car	Gap
1		Matt Round-Garrido	Medina Sport	13 laps
2		Jake Byrne	Ray	+2.353
3		Luciano Carvalho	Van Diemen	+7.127
4	P89	Nigel Thompson [G]	Van Diemen	+29.798
5	P89	John Farrell [G]	Reynard	+40.020
6		Neil Hunt [G]	Van Diemen	+40.574
7	P89	Oliver Champan [G]	PRS	+1:00.475
8	P89	Juicy Bruceie	Reynard	+1:07.353
9	INV	Andrew Crighton [G]	Scarab	+1 lap
DNF		Paul Walsh	Ray	+2 laps
DNF		James Oldfield [G]	Van Diemen	+4 laps
EX	INV	Stuart Brine [G]	Scarab