GREAT SCOTT!
MALVERN BEATS PADDOCK DRAMA TO LEAD TO KNOCKHILL
26 April 2010:
Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship leader Scott Malvern says he
will be fighting fit for the Knockhill rounds of the series over
the weekend of 8/9 May, despite injuring his ankle in a freak
paddock accident.
Twenty-one-year-old
Malvern was literally swept away with an awning by a mini-tornado
at the Whilton Mill kart track last week. The gust swept him and
the awning clear over a van and about 20ft in the air; fortunately
Scott landed on his feet.
"We had
finished putting up the awning and I was standing inside it,
finishing off, and suddenly there was what my brother describes as
a mini cyclone," said Scott. "It picked the awning up
and me with it. It went up and over the van and took me about 50ft
down the road. I hit someone else's van as I came down, which
slowed me down a bit, and I landed on my feet. I am unbelievably
lucky to be honest because I dropped from quite a height."
Scott was taken to
hospital for checks and advised that had he landed on any part of
his body other than his feet he could have been seriously injured.
He suffered a bruised ankle and feet but is recuperating quickly.
It's the first time
since 2006 that a driver from a team other than Jamun Racing has
led the Formula Ford points table. Then as now it was a Cliff
Dempsey Racing driver who made the best start to the season, but
four years ago Peter Dempsey's tenure as championship leader
lasted only as far as the third meeting.
Malvern will be
hoping at Knockhill to maintain the stellar form which has
propelled him to the top. The Essex-based Ray driver won only one
of Easter's Oulton Park races but finished a close second to the
Mygale of Jamun's Aussie ace Scott Pye in the other two to build a
handy 23-point advantage.
The two Scotts will
doubtless be head to head again in Scotland, but both men will
need to keep an eye on several rivals coming up on the rails. Last
year at Knockhill the works Fluid Motorsport Van Diemens showed
great pace to claim two out of three race wins. The team has a new
crop of drivers for 2010 - much-fancied Brits Kieran Vernon and
James Tucker and fast Finn Jesse Anttila - and will doubtless
provide a strong challenge.
The other top 10
men include Enigma Motorsport's Finnish Mygale pilot Antti Buri
and Kevin Mills Racing driver Daniel Cammish, in the Spectrum.
Both have a season of experience under their belts and are chasing
their maiden outright win. Sixteen-year-old Jake Cook, nephew of
ex-BTCC racer Paula, impressed on his debut in the Getem Racing
Mygale to move into championship fifth.
Malvern has a
strong Knockhill pedigree: "I won the Jackie Stewart Golden
Helmet there last year, so it's a track that's been kind to
me," says Scott. "As for who will be strong there,
obviously Scott Pye and I have been at the front already but as
the year goes on there will be others up there too. I wouldn't be
surprised to see Dan Cammish doing well, and Antti Buri as well;
they are all going to get stronger as the year goes on."
In the Scholarship
class, Luke Williams was the class of the field at Oulton, taking
two wins from three starts in his Juno, but it was the consistent
Spirit driver David Ellesley who claimed the championship lead.
A sizeable field of
challengers is expected to make the trek north for the Knockhill
rounds. Round four of the championship is scheduled for Saturday 8
May, with rounds five and six taking place the following day. |
