Scott Malvern has placed his name in the history books by winning the inaugural Formula Ford Eurocup meeting at Brands Hatch, the Brit mastering the tricky conditions to take all three wins over the weekend, giving him the championship lead in the 2011 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain as he extends his winning streak in the series to nine races.
The Eurocup meeting saw ten of the drivers from the Dutch, Benelux and Scandinavian Formula Ford championship head to Kent to take on the best the British series has to offer, with the three races also counting as points scoring rounds of the Dutch championship.
Round 10
Malvern dominated qualifying in his Jamun Racing Mygale around the historic Grand Prix circuit, taking a double pole position during the dry session. He continued this pace at the start of the weekends opening race, taking the lead off the start, followed by Geoff Uhrhane who nipped past Nick McBride at Paddock Hill for second.
The dynamic of the race changed on lap three when a sudden heavy rain shower soaked the circuit, with all the cars on slick tyres. Malvern got round clearways safely, but Uhrhane wasn't as lucky, sliding off into the gravel. Jeroen Slaghekke, championship leader coming into the meeting, was also a casualty, crashing into the barriers out of fourth place.
As conditions worsened, the race was red-flagged and later restarted with a new 10 minute duration. Malvern led off the line, while a poor start for fellow front row starter McBride saw the Australian drop to seventh at Paddock. Finnish racer Antti Buri was loving the conditions, leaping into second at the restart from fifth.
He chased Malvern hard but was unable to catch him, allowing Malvern to drive home for a four second win. Dan De Zille took a superb third ahead of American Neil Alberico, who drove well to climb from thirteenth on the grid. The first European racer home and the winner of the Dutch race was Steijn Schothorst, beating Frenchman Phillipe Layac and the recovering McBride. Cavan Corcoran once again took the Scholarship class win for Getem Racing.
Round 11
The beginning of the second race saw JTR's Uhrhane get the best start to spring into the lead ahead of Malvern at Paddock Hill. Behind, contact between the Juno of David Ellesley and the Mygales of visiting drivers Bas Schouten and Nils Vestergaard at Graham Hill Bend led to the introduction of the safety car, with Ellesley's car in the barriers and Vestergaard's left stranded in the middle of the track.
The race resumed on lap three with Malvern right on Uhrhane's gearbox. He held him off around the Indy section, but a mistake at Westfield allow Malvern alongside through Dingle Dell, before he made the move stick at Sheene to take the lead. The battling allowed McBride to catch up to the duo and make it a three way fight for the lead.
Uhrhane kept pressuring Malvern but couldn't find a way past, allowing Malvern to take a slender gap from Uhrhane and McBride. In fourth place, after a superb five car race long battle was Buri, just beating Tristan Mingay and Slaghekke in a battle that also included de Zille and Layac. Ninth overall and the Dutch race winner was Joey van Splunteren, while Corcoran took his eleventh consecutive Scholarship class win in fourteenth overall.
Jamun's Nick McBride Enjoyed Double Podium Success
Round 12
The drivers third best times from Saturday qualifying formed the grid for the weekends final race and saw McBride on pole, with Malvern having to settle for second. His joy was short lived though, with Malvern producing a superb move around the outside of Paddock Hill to snatch the lead.
Australian McBride did a superb job in the opening laps to stick on Malvern's tail, while also keeping compatriot Uhrhane behind. After four laps the heavens opened, drenching the track, with a red flag inevitable. With the cars fitted with wet tyres, the race restarted with just a five minute, two lap sprint remaining.
With spray affecting those behind, Malvern was able to cruise home to complete his sensational weekend, with team-mate McBride and Uhrhane completing the podium, their second rostrum finishes of the day. A great drive by Jesse Anttila in the works Ray GR11 saw him finish fourth from tenth in the grid, with Layac and Alberico completing the top six to cap off their strong weekends.
Van Spunteren took his second Dutch Championship victory in seventh overall, while Corcoran took the Scholarship win once again. Losing out was Slaghekke, whose engine wiring loom burned out when he was sitting fourth, meaning the Dutchman's two retirements sees him slip to third in the points.
Malvern, who took a clear victory in the Eurocup contest, which is awarded to the highest scoring driver across the weekend, commented: “It's been a dream weekend for me. I came here with the aim of overturning the deficit in the domestic championship, but to land the Eurocup as well makes it even more special.”
