ANOTHER EUROCUP
WIN FOR JAMUN'S SCOTT MALVERN
ZOLDER 17 JULY
2011: Scott Malvern underlined once again his status as the
top Formula Ford driver of the moment with a dominant victory in
the second EuroCup race at Zolder in Belgium. Added to his
Saturday race win, it earned the Jamun Racing driver the overall
Zolder EuroCup Champion's trophy to add to those he won in the
previous rounds of the mini-series, at Brands Hatch and Spa-Francorchamps.
Heavy rain showers
during the night and dry conditions at the start made for some
tactical tyre choices. In the end, the results mirrored those of
yesterday's first race, with Jamun drivers again taking all three
places on the podium.
Malvern made a
clean getaway from pole position and built a small lead at the
start of the race from his team-mate Nick McBride. "I had to
try to build up a gap at the start, while the others were getting
their markers on the track. It was quite difficult to get the heat
into the slick tyres in these conditions," said Scott.
Behind, McBride was
fending off several others who gambled on tyres. Belgian Van
Diemen driver John Svensson tried to make most of his rain-tyre
choice, with Danish championship leader Jesper Egebart in his Ray
in tow. Both dropped back in the field by mid race as the track
dried. They were easy meat for Dutchman Jeroen Slaghekke, who
started cautiously on his slick Dunlops. "I took an easy
start in these tricky conditions and generally started to build up
speed," said Slaghekke. "By mid race I was up to third
and when Nick McBride made a mistake at the last corner I was able
to slip by."
Australia's McBride
was happy to take away a podium finish from this race: "I'm
not used to these conditions and driving in the damp on slicks
took some time to adjust to. I made a small mistake when entering
the final corner and had to go through the gravel trap; that gave
Jeroen the chance to pass me. After that I cruised to third."
The first non-Jamun
driver at the finish was JTR's Australian Geoff Uhrhane. He was
happy to leave Belgium's former Grand Prix track after a difficult
weekend: "I'm happy to finish but I would have liked a podium
today. We had the speed in the car but these conditions proved
very tricky." Another strong performance today came from
17-year-old Fluid Motorsport driver Matt Parry; he was first non-Mygale
driver, fifth in the new Van Diemen, ahead of Swede Milton
Lundstrom.
Geva Racing's
Steijn Schothorst proved fastest of the Dutch Championship
runners. He fended off a strong challenge from series leader Joey
van Splunteren in the Provily Racing Mygale to cross the line
seventh overall. Danish Championship driver Frank Mortensen was
happy to take home the 'Spirit of Formula Ford' trophy.
The fourth and
final EuroCup event supports the Zandvoort F3 Masters in the
Netherlands in mid-August, with the three Dutch races also
counting towards the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great
Britain.
|
