Scott Malvern wrote his name into the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain history books at Brands Hatch when he took his fourteenth and fifteenth wins of the 2011 season, beating the previous record for the number of wins in a season. There was slight disappointment for the Jamun Racing driver though when his thirteen-race winning streak was brought to a close after a drive through penalty.
Round 16
It was Malvern's Jamun team-mate Jeroen Slaghekke who qualified on pole for the opening race, but a slow start from the poleman allowed Malvern to nip past into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Tristan Mingay ran third for JTR ahead of Jamun's Spike Goddard and fellow JTR runner Geoff Uhrhane, however contact between the two Australians caused a damage suspension to Uhrhane's car and a puncture to Goddards, with Uhrhane retiring, though Goddard was able to rejoin two laps down.
At the front, Malvern fended off a spirited Slaghekke, while Mingay slipped into a fight with Nick McBride and Antti Buri. He held the podium position until lap fourteen, when an incident at Clark Curve between series returnee Chrissy Palmer and Neil Alberico affected the race order. With the cars in the gravel, the yellow flags were out, though when entering the green flag zone, Mingay was slower on the power than his rivals, resulting in McBride hitting the back of him and becoming arborne, with Buri nipping past both for third while McBride fell away.
Ahead, Slaghekke tried everything he could to try and pass Malvern but couldn't get past, despite a run out the last corner that saw him finish the race just 0.088s behind Malvern, the winner describing it as his 'hardest win of the year so far.' Buri took third, with Mingay fourth and McBride just holding off Phillipe Layac for fifth. Matthew Parry took seventh but was later excluded from the results for a warning flag infringement, bumping Lington Stuteley, Dan de Zille and Scholarship winner Cavan Corcoran up a place each.
Round 17
Slaghekke once again started from pole in the second race and despite a better start, was still beaten into the first corner by Malvern. However this time Malvern's start was judged to have been too good and he was awarded a drive through penalty, though Slaghekke wasn't aware of this and fought his way into the lead at Druids on lap four.
Soon after Malvern took his penalty, dropping him to last place and ending his chances of continuing his winning streak. This allowed Slaghekke to break off at the front, with Uhrhane second and de Zille running an impressive third. Behind Jamun's McBride and Geva Racing's Buri were once again having a good battle, with a strong move at Druids on lap eight seeing Buri get through.
McBride, suffering from a mysterious electrical problem causing his car to cut out, then got caught by Enigma Motorsport's Stuteley and when exiting Clearways, McBride's car cut out and he got hit in the rear by Stuteley, who ploughed into the Clark Curve gravel trap, while McBride retired with a dead engine and a puncture.
Slaghekke was having no such worries as he cruised home to victory, while there was a late change for second as Uhrhane spun out the race with two laps to go, gifting the position to team-mate de Zille, with Buri taking third. Luke Williams drove an excellent race on his return to the series after a sizeable accident at Oulton Park at Easter to take fourth, with Goddard fifth ahead of Parry, Palmer , Mingay and Layac, with Malvern recovering to complete the top ten, setting the race's fastest lap in the process.
Round 18
Race three saw déjà vu at the start as Slaghekke once again made a poor start and allowed Malvern into the lead, with the Dutchman dropping to fourth behind Uhrhane and Buri. Uhrhane began to attack the leader, while Finn Buri defended hard from a frustrated Slaghekke, before beginning to pressure Uhrhane himself.
As Malvern broke off in the distance, the attention turned to Uhrhane as the Australian had a four car train queued up behind him. He defended hard from Buri, which left him under pressure from Slaghekke, who made a move around the outside at the Hairpin before making it stick at Graham Hill bend to take third, before challenging Uhrhane.
Ahead, Malvern was cruising home for his record breaking fifteenth win, the Essex racer commenting: “That's the record I was hoping for. I'm running out of space for all the trophies now!” Behind, Uhrhane held on to a richly deserved second, with Slaghekke third from Buri and McBride. Williams took sixth ahead of Parry, de Zille and Mingay, with Palmer completing the top ten.
Provisional championship standings
1 Malvern 472 points; 2= Slaghekke & Buri 376; 4 McBride 364; 5 de Zille 285; 6 Uhrhane 261 etc
Scholarship class 1 Corcoran 434; 2 David Moore 135; 3 Matt Rao 108 etc.
