Mon Oct 19th 2020 – Logan Hannah, racing with Graham Brunton Racing, became the first female winner of a Scottish Formula Ford 1600 race, beating Jordan Gronkowski in an epic David Leslie Trophy at Knockhill on Sunday 18th October.

Follow Logan on Facebook

This year’s Scottish Formula Ford season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with a substitute Scottish Renegades Cup organised that included a race meeting for the annually-held David Leslie Trophy.

Logan had tough competition with reigning Scottish Formula Ford Champion Jordan Gronkowski at the front in both qualifying and the opening 10-lap race. With the circuit wet, Hannah finished second to Gronkowski, and therefore started race two from the front row.

GBR opted for a hybrid part-dry, part-wet set-up for Hannah’s car for race two, with the track still not fully dry, while Gronkowski went for a full-wet set-up. Their different approaches proved critical in Hannah being the one who won.

The Saturday testing was as good as it could have been, Jordan just a tenth up the road in the first session and then the opposite way around for the second session. It was the perfect way to start the weekend and push me in the right direction for the Sunday.

Logan Hannah – ‘Qualifying didn’t go the way that I had hoped, so with the wet and slippery conditions I ended up qualifying P3 and about 1.5 seconds down the road from pole.  After qualifying I opted for a new set of tyres as it was looking like the rain wasn’t going to go away.

For Race 1, I was originally starting P3 but was promoted to P2 after a driver failed to make the start. This race was uneventful, I didn’t warm my tyres up properly during the out lap and I definitely felt the effects of it when Jordan was able to pull a 12 second lead by the end of the race.

I decided to go and have a nap to try and recuperate and reset before heading out for Race 2 – it did the trick! Starting P2, I opted for a soft dry setup as there was a drying line and it would give a better set up for getting out of the corners.

Off the start I was right under Jordan’s gearbox but chose to hold back and not make any silly moves that might not come off. Three laps in, I got a mega run out of the hairpin and went around the outside of Jordan into Duffus and took the lead, all good until I had a big moment coming out of Clark’s and dropped back behind Jordan. A third attempt around the outside of Duffus meant I was able to take back the lead and push for the win.

The emotions didn’t fully set in until I drove past my mum and dad on the in-lap and I saw them at the side of the track.

Overall the weekend was amazing and even though I made a few mistakes throughout the day, I was able to learn from them and really get the most that I possibly could out of myself and the car.

Logan with the David Leslie Trophy at Knockhill

report and pics by Graham Brunton Racing