MALVERN MIXES IT
UP TO HEAD TITLE CHASE
ROUNDS 10 &
11, BRANDS HATCH 18 JUNE 2011: The momentum of the chase for the 2011 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford
Championship of Great Britain title swung firmly in the favour of
Scott Malvern at Brands Hatch today. Jamun Racing Mygale driver
Malvern took two race wins on the Kent circuit's world famous
Grand Prix loop to snatch the championship lead from his
team-mate, and season-long leader, Jeroen Slaghekke.
Malvern's pair of
wins came in mixed conditions, the Barkingside driver having to
cope with a very wet opening race and then soak up intense
pressure from rapid Australians Geoff Uhrhane and Nick McBride in
the second outing. In contrast Slaghekke, who held a four-point
lead coming into the weekend, could manage only a single sixth
place finish in race two after falling foul of the difficult
conditions of the first outing. As a result Malvern has opened up
a 39-point lead in the title race.
The races at Brands
Hatch also made history by being the first event of the inaugural
Formula Ford Eurocup. The 26-car grid boasted 10 of the best
drivers from the Dutch, Benelux and Scandinavian Ford series. The
Dutch Championship-counting races brought wins for Steijn
Schothorst and Joey van Splunteren.
Round 10: Malvern
was the class of the field during qualifying, taking his Jamun
Racing Mygale to a double pole position during the dry qualifying
session. Malvern headed much of the session by over a second until
a late flurry of laps from Nick McBride and Geoff Uhrhane kept him
honest.
Malvern eventually
sealed pole by 0.3s from McBride. "You have to be so
committed around here because half of the corners have a blind
apex," he said, "you really have to trust the car. Jamun
has more data around here than anyone and that's allowed us to set
the car up exactly how I like."
Malvern's
confidence in the car showed when the lights went out for race one
as he bolted off the line to lead Uhrhane, who squeezed up the
inside of McBride into Paddock Hill for second. Uhrhane got the
most heat into his Dunlops on the green flag lap and used the grip
advantage to latch on to Malvern's gearbox as the pair ran into
Hawthorn, but Malvern covered the inside line to keep the
Australian behind.
The momentum of the
race swung on lap three when a sudden heavy rain shower soaked the
track while all of the cars were still slick-shod. Malvern saw the
danger and lifted off into Clearways. Uhrhane, who was struggling
for vision after his bonnet dislodged, wasn't as quick to react
and skated into the gravel on the gripless surface. Erstwhile
championship leader Slaghekke, who was running a solid fourth, was
another casualty of the conditions, slewing into the barriers and
out of the race. The two cars off was enough to bring out the red
flag as conditions worsened.
The race was
reduced to a 10-minute sprint on the restart. Malvern again led
off the line and benefited from a dreadful start from
second-placed McBride. The Australian got too much wheelspin in
the sodden conditions and was demoted to seventh into Paddock.
Antti Buri on the
other hand revelled in the conditions. The Finn spent much of the
dry race in seventh but was promoted to fifth for the restart
after the attrition. Buri judged his restart perfectly and vaulted
into second. "I struggled with the balance of the car in the
dry but it felt great in the wet," said Buri. "I
controlled the wheelspin at the restart and that was the
key."
Buri chased hard
but was unable to match Malvern's pace. The Jamun team had
softened the Mygale's roll bars to provide more grip in the wet
and Malvern thrived, taking the flag four seconds clear. "I
saw the rain come down early so I made sure I lifted off and just
saw carnage behind me when Geoff fell off," recounted
Malvern. "At the restart it was tough to go from a full dry
to a full wet driving style because I had no reference
points."
Tristan Mingay
initially held sway for third until he skated off the track at
Surtees on lap one. That left Dan de Zille to complete the podium
ahead of the flying Neil Alberico, who drove superbly from 13th on
the grid to fall just short of a maiden podium. Steijn Schothorst
was the first European charger home, in fifth ahead of Philippe
Layac and the recovering McBride. Cavan Corcoran was once again
the Scholarship class victor, the Getem Racing driver finishing
well clear of his new class rival, Matt Rao, who drove well on his
debut for the Fluid Van Diemen team to claim 12th place overall.
Round 11: Malvern
was made to work even harder for his second win of the day, as
there was no repeat of his earlier dominance and he was pushed all
the way to the flag by Uhrhane. Malvern's second fastest time was
enough to hand him pole for the dry second event on the Brands
Hatch Grand Prix circuit. But as the lights went out it was
second-placed Uhrhane who got the better traction to spring into
the lead as the pack raced into Paddock Hill.
Malvern attempted
to fight back into Druids but Uhrhane covered the inside line into
the hairpin to consolidate his advantage.
Contact between the
Juno of David Ellesley and the visiting Mygales of Bas Schouten
and Nils Vestergaard as they ran together through Graham Hill Bend
sent Ellesley into the barriers and left Vestergaard's car
marooned in the middle of the track. The safety car was dispatched
while the mess was cleared up and the interruption gave Malvern
the chance to close on to Uhrhane's tail.
The race resumed on
lap three and, although Uhrhane judged the restart well, Malvern
matched him and clung to the JTR car's gearbox along the pit
straight. Uhrhane held him off through the Indy section of the
track, but a mistake at Westfield meant he ran wide on the exit of
the corner and gave Malvern a glimpse of a gap.
Malvern pulled
alongside as the two ran together through Dingle Dell before
claiming the inside line into Sheene and claiming the lead. The
battle wasn't over though, and the squabble for the lead allowed
Nick McBride to close in and soon the top three ran nose-to-tail.
Uhrhane used a
strong slipstream to challenge Malvern's lead repeatedly into
Paddock Hill but Malvern planted his car firmly in the middle of
the track to shut the door. Uhrhane piled on the pressure until
eventually he ran too deep into Sheene and gave Malvern a slender
gap. Uhrhane ended the race second, narrowly edging McBride.
"I had the
pace everywhere for the race win but made just one mistake and
Scott was through," said Uhrhane. "I thought I had him a
few times into Paddock but I couldn't find a way past. It's
disappointing not to win after the start I had."
Malvern's win was
his eighth on the trot and consolidated his points lead. He said:
"Geoff and Nick made the race really hard work. I didn't get
the best start but I was determined to put the pressure on Geoff
and he eventually made a mistake at Westfield, which I managed to
capitalise on. He kept me honest though and I had to have all of
my lines perfect to keep him behind me."
The battle for
fourth provided as much excitement as the fight for the win. Buri,
Tristan Mingay, de Zille, Layac and Slaghekke fought doggedly for
the place, with the lead of the five-car train changing on almost
every lap. Buri eventually made the decisive move, after some
spectacular driving from all involved, to steal the place. He was
followed to the finish by Mingay and Slaghekke after Layac
produced a stunning save having pushing too hard and drifted
sideways at Sheene Curve.
Joey van Splunteren
put in a consistent drive for ninth and the Dutch honours and race
one hero Neil Alberico was 10th. Corcoran's clean sweep of the
Scholarship class continued, the Derbyshire driver placing 14th
overall and his 11th consecutive class victory.
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