The 2012 Corsa Car Care presents Pacific Formula F Super Series opened its season with a doubleheader race weekend at Willow Springs Raceway north of Los Angeles, with series newcomer Conner Ford and veteran West Coast FF racer Ed Erlandson each claiming a victory.
The five-car Formula F field was an encouraging start for the 10-race 2012 season, and included two Honda-powered entries, the Mygale Honda for Ford, fielded by PR1 Racing, and the Piper Honda entered and driven by Mike Simpson.
In Saturday’s opening round, Ford’s near-record lap was more than enough to claim the pole, with Erlandson starting on the outside of the front row. Simpson qualified third, as the oval-track Midget veteran adapted himself to his just-acquired, Honda-powered Piper DF5.
Ford was unchallenged in Race 1, as he steadily pulled away from the field to a six-second victory over Erlandson’s Swift DB-6 Ford. Simpson followed in third.
As often happens in the California high desert, the weather changed overnight, and the Formula F field was greeted by much cooler temperatures and higher winds, gusting up to 30-40 mph, for Sunday morning’s qualifying session. However, the top three were unchanged from the previous day, with Ford claiming his second pole of the weekend, followed by Erlandson and Simpson.
The winds calmed down substantially for the race, leading to an action-filled event. Once again, Ford took the lead at the start, while Simpson jumped ahead of Erlandson, giving Honda the top two positions early. But on Goodyear tires, Erlandson was not to be denied, as the veteran hauled in the Hoosier-shod cars of both Simpson and Ford to claim his first victory of 2012. Ford held on for second, with Simpson rounding out the top three for the second time during the weekend.
Next up for the Corsa Car Care presents Pacific Formula F Super Series is the April 26-29 doubleheader weekend at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. More information on this series is available at www.pacificF2000.com.
Meanwhile, the eastern U.S.-based F1600 Formula F Championship Series starts its own 10-race season April 12-15 at VIRginia International Raceway.
