ONE IN THE EYE FROM PYE AT OULTON PARK
3 April 2010: Australia's Scott Pye made a superb start to his Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain campaign with victory from pole position on his debut at Oulton Park, Saturday.
The 20-year-old, who finished third in his native Formula Ford series last year, had tasted the category on these shores before thanks to an outing in last season's Festival, but was thrilled to get his first championship campaign in the UK off to a perfect start for the Jamun Racing team.
He'd come good late on in qualifying to clinch pole position for the opening race of the year, and his Mygale really hit its stride as soon as the lights went out in the race. He beat fellow front row starter, JTR's Tio Ellinas, to the first corner and was never seriously threatened at any time in the race.
Pye was able to pull clear up front as a battle for second raged between Ellinas and the fast starting Scott Malvern, in the quickest of the Rays, behind.
Malvern heaped the pressure on racing rookie Ellinas until the Cypriot finally surrendered the spot. Ellinas was in danger of losing third place too, to Jamun driver Josh Hill, but he held his nerve on the inside at Cascades while Hill tried to brave it around the outside with two wheels on the grass. Hill lost control of his Mygale and spun back across the circuit, quickly rejoining in sixth.
With Pye and Malvern safe in first and second, Daniel Cammish closed up to Ellinas in his Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum and slipped ahead with two laps remaining to complete the podium. Ellinas came home fourth in his first Formula Ford outing, ahead of Kieran Vernon, who climbed from ninth to fifth in the first of the Fluid Van Diemens.
Hill recovered from his spin to complete the top six, pulling clear of Jake Cook and Jake Green's Juno.
Luke Williams took a dominant Scholarship Class victory in his Juno, well ahead of JTR's Mexican charger Dani Domit, who lost time with a trip across the grass late in the race.
The Fluid Motorsport Van Diemens of Jesse Anttila and James Tucker ran well, particularly in the early stages, but both retired at the same spot with suspected suspension failures.
Pye will line up on pole position for the remaining two races of the weekend on Easter Monday. Malvern will start alongside the Jamun driver each time, with Josh Hill and Daniel Cammish behind.
Said a victorious Pye: "The plan all weekend was to get out front, get away and control things from there. We knew the pace was in the car so it was just down to me to do it. I knew I had to get a gap early on and the guys behind me were having a bit of a battle, so that helped me to get away. The car came on really early but it stayed pretty perfect all the way through. I hope the weather holds off for Monday, but either way I've just got to try to get away and do my own races."
Provisional resultsDunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great BritainRound 1 (of 25) Oulton Park 3/4/201010 laps / 26.92 milesPos Driver Nat/Home Team/Chassis Time1 Scott Pye AUS/Mount Gambier Jamun/Mygale 16m 54.974s2 Scott Malvern GBR/Ilford Dempsey/Ray +5.434s3 Dan Cammish GBR/Leeds KMR/Spectrum +8.809s4 Tio Ellinas CYP/Larnaca JTR/Mygale +10.170s5 Kieran Vernon GBR/West Chiltington Fluid/Van Diemen +13.432s6 Josh Hill GBR/Farnham Jamun/Mygale +16.548s etcScholarship class: Luke Williams GBR/Sowerby Williams/JunoFastest lap: Pye 1m 40.069s REC
Provisional championship placings1 Pye 31 points; 2 Malvern 27; 3 Cammish 24; 4 Ellinas 22; 5 Vernon 20; 6 Hill 18 etc.Scholarship class 1 Williams 31; 2 Dani Domit (MEX/JTR/Mygale) 27; 3 David Ellesley (GBR/Spirit) 24 etc.
