Buri overcomes tough battles in Belgium

After making his mark on the British scene for much of the year, Finnish racing driver Antti Buri made the switch to the Formula Ford Eurocup recently with some interesting results.

The weekend of 8-9^th July saw Antti head to Spa Francorchamps, Belgium for the second round of the Eurocup, and after a strong first round at Brands a few weeks before, he was optimistic of a good performance.

Antti’s optimism was rewarded after testing at the beginning of the weekend. “We were right on the pace during testing,” said Antti. “We were hoping for a good showing at Spa, so it was a great way to kick off the experience.”

Sadly qualifying didn’t go as smoothly for the Finnish racer. After encountering a great deal of traffic during the session he was unable to challenge for pole position, leaving him in fourth place.

With the front of the grid easily in sight for the first race Antti lined up on the grid. As the race got underway he soon found himself locked in a furious battle, which lasted the majority of the chase.

As the six leading cars made their way onto their final tour, Antti had slotted into second place. However as the back straight of the circuit beckoned, Antti was demoted down the order, before crossing the line in fifth place.

The second race swiftly arrived, however it soon became a difficult affair for the LMS Racing crusader. The first corner would see Antti’s race end abruptly, after a problem with the front tyre of his Formula Ford. As others collided, he was caught up in the melee, leaving him out of the race.

As the final encounter arrived another enthralling battle came with it. As in race one, Antti found himself involved in a close knit crusade for race honours. However he was again struck by misfortune when his car encountered an electrical fault on lap six, whilst he was running in fourth place.

Eager to leave the woes of Spa behind him, Antti focused on the next round at Zolder, also in Belgium. Over the weekend of 16-17^th July he would again demonstrate his pace behind the wheel, with mixed results.

Armed with used tyres, Antti weaved his way around the Zolder circuit during testing, setting a strong pace along the way. A bout of hard work during qualifying left Antti fourth quickest as race one loomed.

As the opening race progressed Antti held his ground towards the front of the field. His pace kept him in good stead for a strong finish, and after losing time due to catching the curbs, he managed to claw his way back. As the last lap delivered itself Antti recovered to sweep passed the chequered flag in fourth place, right on the tail of third.

An early morning rain shower left the track somewhat damp in places for the second encounter. A drying track called for Antti to start the race on slick tyres, which armed with a good start left him third on lap one. Shortly afterwards a struggle to heat up his tyres saw him slip away slightly, however still in a strong fifth place.

To echo the car issues from race three at Spa, again Antti’s car suffered problems that saw him forced to pull off the track. After a brief stoppage, the car soon started again, however Antti was faced with a mountain to climb having dropped towards the rear of the field. With a challenge in front of him he swiftly rejoined the race, with a fighting drive to 15^th place by the end.

Despite the woes he was faced with at both Spa and Zolder, Antti was comforted by securing a fastest lap time at each circuit. Looking back he said: “We had good pace at both circuits but we were just unlucky at times.”

Antti’s next Formula Ford Eurocup outing will be at Zandvoort, in the Netherlands, over the weekend of 13-14^th August. However he may be returning to the Finnish Formula Ford Championship the previous weekend.