Mealin makes fantastic start to Formula Ford campaign

Chris Mealin had a strong start to his debut season in the Formula Ford championship at Brands Hatch, with the 20 year old taking his first Scholarship class win in round 3.

Saturday proved to be an action packed day for Chris, after he qualified in 10th place for the opening round of the season. Retirements for Connor Mills and Sam Brabham in the first round of the season meant that Chris finished 7th overall and 2nd in class behind team mate Ricky Collard, son of BTCC driver Rob Collard. Chris maintained good pace in round 2, being on the podium once more to claim the third place trophy in the scholarship class after rounding out the top 10 in the overall standings.

The action kicked off once again on Sunday, with Chris starting on the fifth row once again on a bright morning. Once again, he maintained a strong, clean drive throughout the duration of the race, although his team mate Collard was unable to do the same, after a clash with Max Marshall forced the fellow Falcon Motorsport driver into an early retirement on lap 13. Chris managed to avoid further incidents after a brief safety car period, and held off Meridian Racing duo Connor Mills and Ashley Sutton to finish 8th in the main standings, but more importantly claimed his first ever win in the Scholarship class.

With three consistent top 10 finishes and three Scholarship podiums, Chris was evidently delighted with the opening rounds of what will prove to be a tough contested season. "I am very, very pleased. The car was great and I have to say a huge thank you to the team" said Chris at the end of proceedings at Brands Hatch. He added "As it was my first race weekend in Formula Ford it was all about learning; how the tyres degrade over time, how I look after them for the following day’s race, maintaining consistency and trying to score two Scholarship podiums - which I couldn't have been happier on accomplishing on my first day!" 

Chris also reflected on events in the final race of the day, saying "I had to give it my all in race three. It was eventful out there and the last five minutes seemed to take forever, but I just had to keep calm and carry on. I was losing grip rapidly, but in the end we had another great result and I scored my first Scholarship class win to cap the weekend with a 1-2-3. It has been an incredibly productive and exciting opening round for me, and I cannot wait to go over everything with the team and head for round two at Donington.” 

After such a strong performance, Chris and the Falcon Motorsport team will be knuckling down looking at ways to improve ahead of next weekend's racing at Donington Park