FPA Autumn Trophy Kicks off at Snetterton

21 October 2004

With the main Formula Palmer Audi Championship still proving to be an excellent category from which aspiring young single-seater drivers can launch themselves into the European driver market, competition will be as hot as ever in this year's Autumn Trophy, which kicks off this weekend at Snetterton. The trophy comprises two race weekends, each with a qualifying session and three races, the second event being held at Brands Hatch on 6-7 November.

The Autumn Trophy proved once again to be the perfect stepping stone to the full championship last year, when it was won by British teenager Jonathan Kennard. The 19-year old cemented his status as a true rising star by scooping the 2004 FPA title and a prized place as a finalist for the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

The teenager hoping to follow in Kennard’s footsteps in this year’s Autumn Trophy is 16-year old Viktor Jensen. The son of ex-Formula 3000 team boss and Capital Gold radio DJ David ‘Kid’ Jensen races under the Icelandic flag and made his debut in this year's full FPA championship.

Although he started off slowly, he improved hugely as the season wore on and scored a best position of fifth at Silverstone in August, proving his mettle with some storming performances in the process.

He will be joined by Matt Harris, who finished third in last year's Autumn Trophy behind Kennard and Sam Edwards, who ditched Formula BMW this year in favour of FPA.

Harris will be eager to go one or even two better than last year and could be young Jensen's biggest rival as the pair fight to make an impact.

The youngsters certainly won't have it all their own way though, as several of the very quick FPA regulars will be back in action. These include Briton Stuart Prior, who twice came agonisingly close to winning races in 2004 and always proved to have blistering qualifying pace.

South African Chris Hyman is back too, and is another to show plenty of speed during the full championship, regularly troubling the frontrunners. Even after some bad luck with technical issues during '04, Hyman finished a fine fifth in the full series.

Several other FPA regulars will be among those who should feature in the top 10 regularly, including Brits Paul Warren, Terry White, Gary Eastwood, Tony Brewer and Derrick Collin. American Anthony Pinto, Greek John Embiricos and Italian Ludovico Manfredi were among the biggest improvers this season and will be back to continue their progress.

There will be plenty of FPA newcomers to watch out for too, especially Italian Gino Ussi, who could go for race wins having scored several FPA podiums when he last raced back in 2001.

Another Greek, Daniel Tapinos, should be used to powerful single-seaters having raced in Greek Formula 3 and with a further clutch of Englishman, a Scot, a Welshman, a Ukrainian and a Canadian in the field, FPA is still attracting a truly international field. And, with two qualifying sessions and three races packed in, the racing is sure to be fast and furious.

Related Story 04.10.2004 - Kennard Selected for 'Young Driver' Award