Team principal Joe Tandy, himself the 2005 Formula Palmer Audi champion, believes Hunt has the flair to be a front runner right from the start: “We are all very excited to be involved with Freddie and very pleased that he has decided to make his Formula Ford debut with JTR. From what we have seen of Freddie in testing he has a natural talent and a very impressive attitude – I am sure that we will be seeing him at the sharp end of things once he has gained experience.”
Freddy only started his racing career in 2006, when he drove a 415-bhp V8-engined Maserati Trofeo GranSport at the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed, alongside international racing stars like Christian Klien and Troy Bayliss. He then went straight to a race school for a license and got his first glimpse of single-seater racing in the Formula Palmer Audi, finishing fourth from his first outing.
This year he has tested several single-seater cars, including Formula BMW and Formula Palmer Audi, but Freddy eventually opted to commit to a full-season in motor racing with Formula Ford. “The fact that my father and my uncle, David, both raced in Formula Ford is a bonus and I am proud to be carrying on the family tradition with Ford."
The late James Hunt is still remembered as one of the most eccentric F1 World Champions, both on track and in his private life. Freddy was born in 1986 as a result of James' five-year marriage to house designer Sarah Lomax and has an older brother, Tom. Hunt died in 1993 at the age of 45 of a heart attack in his Wimbledon residence.
Among the many illustrious names to have graduated from Formula Ford are those of Ayrton Senna, who won two British Formula Ford championships, Nigel Mansell, and the most successful driver in the history of the sport, Michael Schumacher. James Hunt and his fellow F1 Champions Emerson Fittipaldi, Jody Scheckter, Damon Hill and Mika Hakkinen all started in Formula Ford. The most recent graduate to be elevated to the rank of Grand Prix winner is the 1998 Formula Ford Champion, Jenson Button.
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