Australian Scott Pye took the lead in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain title chase (Sunday) by scoring his 11th win of the season at Brands Hatch. Pye led a dominant Jamun Racing Mygale 1-2-3 to move four points ahead of Cliff Dempsey Ray ace Scott Malvern, who had led the standings since the opening meeting at Oulton Park in April.
Pye made a good start from pole to lead the pack into Paddock, but it was less clear cut behind. Enigma Motorsport’s Antti Buri got away well from fourth to pass Josh Hill off the line, and he then attacked Emil Bernstorff for second. The duo ran side by side into Druids and Buri emerged ahead.
As Pye held off Buri, Hill started challenging Bernstorff. On lap four he dived down the inside at Druids, forcing his team-mate wide enough to allow Dan de Zille to slip by as well in his Minister International Mygale.
While Hill set off to chase Pye and Buri, Bernstorff started trying to repass de Zille, as the pair pulled away from a Malvern-Dan Cammish fight for sixth.
Lap 10 proved crucial. Buri ran wide at Paddock and Hill was following so closely his left front wheel was flicked over Buri’s right rear. But Hill kept his foot in and started to draw alongside as they approached Druids. More contact was made when they got there, forcing Buri wide and allowing Hill into second. It also handed Pye a lead of almost a second for the first time in the race.
Just behind, de Zille got sideways at Graham Hill Bend, allowing Bernstorff finally to take fourth. He was by now a couple of seconds behind Buri, but the Dane was about to get another chance at fighting for the podium.
A couple of laps after James Tucker’s JTR Mygale got stranded at Clearways, the safety car was scrambled for him to be retrieved. Pye lost a lead of around 1.5 seconds as the pack closed up behind him.
There were just four laps to go when the race restarted. Pye timed his run well, but Hill went with him and tried to go around the outside of his team-mate at Paddock. He couldn’t make it through and instead left the door open for Buri to slot back into second.
That lasted only a few corners, however, as Buri ran slightly wide coming out of Clearways. Hill closed in and dived past under braking for Paddock, forcing Buri wide again. That allowed the impressive Bernstorff, who set the race’s fastest lap, to slip through into third.
Ahead of all the fighting, Pye held his nerve to take win number 11, moving him within three victories of Callum MacLeod’s 2007 record for the most wins in a season. Hill and Bernstorff completed a Jamun red-wash of the podium, the three Mygales being covered by just two-thirds of a second at the flag.
The flying Buri took fourth, ahead of de Zille, while a disappointed Malvern was sixth. The Ray driver had spent much of the race under pressure from either Cammish or Tom Bradshaw’s well-driven Juno. “We tried a massively different set-up to race two, but the car’s not responded to it,” said Malvern. “It was unpredictable and Jamun has found something.”
After swapping places a number of times, Cammish and Bradshaw’s fight was finally resolved at the last corner when a clash sent Bradshaw spinning into retirement. That left Cammish to take seventh, just ahead of JTR team-mate Tio Ellinas.
There was some consolation for Juno as Luke Williams moved into the lead of the Scholarship Class title race. With Ray rival Tristan Mingay unable to start due to his Saturday crash, Williams brought the JA09 home in 13th overall and is now 15 points ahead in the table.
In the chase for the overall crown, Pye knows he now has the sort of form he needs. “When I saw the safety car I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “But Jamun has done a great job and the championship looks promising at the moment.”
Provisional resultsDunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great BritainRound 20 (of 25) Brands Hatch 5/9/201021 laps / 25.20 milesPos Driver Nat/Home Team/Chassis Time1 Scott Pye AUS/Mount Gambier Jamun/Mygale 18m 02.454s / 83.71mph2 Josh Hill GBR/Farnham Jamun/Mygale +0.487s3 Emil Bernstorff DEN/Cascais Jamun/Mygale +0.656s4 Antti Buri FIN/Masku Enigma/Mygale +1.717s5 Dan de Zille JEY/St John JTR/Mygale +2.093s6 Scott Malvern GBR/Ilford Dempsey/Ray +3.061sScholarship class: Luke Williams GBR/Sowerby Luke Williams/Juno +5.705sFastest lap: Bernstorff 46.605s / 92.59 mph
Provisional championship placings1 Pye 479 points; 2 Malvern 475; 3 Cammish 377; 4 Buri 368; 5 Hill 351; 6 Tio Ellinas (CYP/JTR Mygale) 346; 7 Bernstorff 276; 8 Jake Cook (GBR/Getem Mygale) 247; 9 de Zille 213; 10 James Tucker (GBR/JTR Mygale) 190 etcScholarship class1 Williams 391; 2 Tristan Mingay (GBR/Raysport Ray) 376 etc
Next rounds: Donington Park 18/19 September
