Getting the latest generation Swift Formula Ford onto the step of the podium hasn’t been easy, with the car quick enough to join the front runners from the outset, but never quite able to find a winning edge… at least until the 2010 season final when two commanding drives by Robert Hall delivered both the new Swift’s first win in the championship, plus victory in the celebrated FF1600 carnival.

Hall’s spectacular day started with pole position, as he got his timing right on a damp but drying track and banged in a 1m20.239s lap, giving him the top spot by 0.3s over champions Marcus Allen, with David Vivian, Thomas Barrow and Nathan Ward next up.

The Lure of the Carnival attracted some big names too, Hall kept his lead at the start of the race, on now a fully-dry track, and that put him safely ahead of a ferocious accident on the run to quarry on lap two. Unsurprisingly, the massive crash led to a long safety car period and it would be the start of lap eight before racing resumed. Hall came home to his second win of the day.

This result earned him the “Young Driver of the Year award” for the second time in recognition of the fine work of both the driver and the Swift Team during the course of 2010.