Falcon Motorsport's Chris Mealin has seen his progress in the Formula Ford GB championship grind to a halt after escaping a huge crash without injury during round 7 of the season at Thruxton, the fastest track on the race calendar.
Mealin had started on the fourth row of the grid for the race after qualifying 8th, and soon climbed up to 4th position after just two laps. However, contact with another driver through Brooklands meant that the Falcon Motorsport driver was simply a passenger as his car flew into the barriers on the approach to the Club chicane at approximately 130 mph, before somersaulting and eventually coming to rest on the grass verge. Despite the huge impact, Chris was lucky enough to escape without serious injury to himself, but the crash was enough to damage the car and his race helmet beyond repair.
He talked to me later on in the day after the dust had settled, and understandably was relieved that the crash was not as bad as it could have been, "I was very lucky today to walk away from that, God was certainly looking after me up there! I'm just very stiff and bruised at the moment; I'm definitely going to be very sore in the morning". Even though the relief was evident about walking away injury free, Chris was also very disappointed with what damage the car had sustained during the crash, which has resulted in him not being able to complete in the other two races at Thruxton, "There's no chance of getting her fixed before tomorrow (Sunday), the gearbox is completely ripped apart so need to fit a new one - plus the car will take 2 weeks to fix so I'm hoping to do a shakedown test at Snetterton before Oulton and to get my confidence back a little bit".
It's certainly a huge dent for Chris, who has had consistent top 10 finishes in the opening rounds of the Formula Ford championship, and taken a win in the Scholarship class which he is competing for alongside the likes of team mate Ricky Collard and Meridian's Connor Mills. No doubt he will be looking to bounce back from the crash at the picturesque Oulton Park circuit in 5 weeks time.
Photo Credit: Marc Waller
