Scott Malvern won the second round of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain today at Oulton Park to accelerate into the championship lead, with Scott Pye stealing the show in round three to clinch his second win of the weekend.
Pye and his Jamun Racing Mygale had won Saturday's first race while Malvern was held up behind Tio Ellinas in the early stages, but in race two Cliff Dempsey Racing driver Malvern took advantage of a first corner incident involving Pye to claim a victory of his own.
Pye didn't make a great getaway and came under threat at Old Hall from his Jamun team-mate Josh Hill. With Pye on the outside, Hill appeared to make contact with another car and spun into Pye, eliminating both. That left Malvern needing only to keep his head to lead a three-car, race-long battle to the flag.
Malvern's Ray, the Spectrum of Daniel Cammish and Antti Buri's Enigma-run Mygale broke away at the front and enjoyed a fabulous and clean contest. The trio was separated by little more than inches for much of the 11 laps. Cammish almost found a way round the outside of Malvern with four laps to go, but the leader's defence remained solid.
"In the first race, I'd have loved to have been up there," said Malvern, "but it took a while to pass Tio and I was never going to catch Scott after that. The second was a dream for me, and definitely something we've been working hard for in the last few weeks - especially after the big accident last week that wasn't my fault."
The unfortunate Cammish developed a fuel pick-up problem and was denied a podium finish. First Buri slipped by and then Kieran Vernon took advantage on the run up to Lodge for the final time. Cammish reached the line in fourth, just a fraction ahead of James Tucker, who made it two Fluid Motorsport cars in the top five. This was some recompense for the team's first-race dramas, which saw two of the Van Diemens clipping a tyre wall and retiring.
Ellinas, Jesse Anttila and Emil Bernstorff were all delayed on the hectic first lap and fell down the order, with JTR's Ellinas recovering best, to eighth place, despite a spin at exiting the Hislop's chicane on the opening lap.
He recovered to join another tremendous race-long, multi-car dice. Jake Cook came out on top of it in sixth in his Mygale after trading places with Bernstorff. Luke Williams battled his way to seventh and was again the clear winner in the Scholarship Class in his Juno. Philippe Layac and Jesper Egebart hung on to the back of the train to complete the top 10.
Another early incident, on the approach to the Shell hairpin on the third lap, dropped Zaamin Jaffer's Ray down the order and eliminated Ville Kivinen's Van Diemen.
With Pye and Malvern still to duel directly, the third and final race of the weekend lined them up alongside each other on the front row - and that was about as far apart as they got.
Pye made a frantic, wheel-spinning start, but was able to move to the outside in time to block off Malvern and lead into the first corner. But Malvern was determined and began to challenge for the lead as early as the first lap. There was nothing to choose between them for the duration and Malvern tried time and again to put his car in a position to attack. But Pye's defence was excellent; he made his Mygale as wide as possible and claimed the optimum line at each and every turn.
Malvern kept the pressure on to the final lap, but there was nothing he could do and Pye scored his second win of the weekend by just 0.120s. "The car was perfect and my times were consistent," said Pye. "But Scott was right on my gearbox so I had to make the car as wide as possible. I was confident that I could keep a gap in the high speed stuff, so it was just about defending the rest of the lap. I'm ecstatic. Obviously it was a goal to win all three races, and you're never happy with a DNF, but to come back like this is sending me home on a high."
Behind the leaders, an even bigger fight for third erupted. Hill resisted the advances of Buri for several laps but slipped down the order mid-way through the race and left the Finn in third, but at the mercy of all three Fluid Motorsport Van Diemens. Anttila and Vernon took their turns at hounding the back of the Enigma Motorsport Mygale, with Tucker in close attendance too.
Buri held his nerve to earn his second podium of the weekend, ahead of Anttila and Tucker, with Hill completing the top six. David Ellesley's Spirit took the Scholarship Class honours in the final race, in 14th place overall, after early class leader Williams retired three laps in.
Provisional resultsDunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great BritainRound 2 (of 25) Oulton Park 5/4/201011 laps / 29.61 milesPos Driver Nat/Home Team/Chassis Time1 Scott Malvern GBR/Ilford Dempsey/Ray 18m 55.557s2 Antti Buri FIN/Masku Enigma/Mygale +0.082s3 Kieran Vernon GBR/West Chiltington Fluid/Van Diemen +2.430s4 Daniel Cammish GBR/Leeds KMR/Spectrum +4.024s5 James Tucker GBR/Burntwood Fluid/Van Diemen +4.076s6 Jake Cook GBR/Rotherham Getem/Mygale +20.271s etcScholarship class: Luke Williams GBR/Sowerby Williams/Juno +20.483sFastest lap: Tio Ellinas CYP/Larnaca JTR/Mygale 1m 40.941s
Round 3 Oulton Park 5/4/2010Pos Driver Nat/Home Team/Chassis Time1 Scott Pye AUS/Mount Gambier Jamun/Mygale 18m 40.084s2 Scott Malvern GBR/Ilford Dempsey/Ray +0.120s3 Antti Buri FIN/Masku Enigma/Mygale +10.651s4 Jesse Anttila FIN/Kempele Fluid/Van Diemen +10.718s5 James Tucker GBR/Burntwood Fluid/Van Diemen +12.315s6 Josh Hill GBR/Farnham Jamun/Mygale +21.367sScholarship class: David Ellesley GBR/Ipswich Spirit +1m 01.382sFastest lap: Pye & Malvern 1m 40.525s
