Double joy for Brands Ford Eurocup victor Malvern

Scott Malvern sealed his place in the history books by winning the inaugural Formula Ford Eurocup contest after a dramatic rain-afflicted final race at Brands Hatch on Sunday afternoon. Malvern mastered the treacherous conditions in his Jamun Racing Mygale to take his third win of the weekend around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix loop.Malvern's three wins put him comfortably clear in the Eurocup contest, which is awarded to the highest scoring driver across the course of the weekend. The hat-trick of victories also means that Malvern has stretched his advantage in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain title race and extends his winning streak to nine races in a row. "It's been a dream weekend for me," said Malvern. "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."Round 12: In almost a mirror image of the opening round of the weekend, rain again played a large factor during the course of the race. It started in dry conditions and featured a changed front row: although Malvern aced Saturday's qualifying session, his third fastest time was good enough only for second on the grid as his team-mate Nick McBride took his turn at the front.McBride's glory was shortlived, however, as Malvern dragged alongside on the run into Paddock Hill Bend. McBride claimed the inside line but Malvern wasn't to be denied and kept his foot in to pull off a fantastic pass around the outside of the corner and snatch the lead. McBride drove excellently in the early stages to stick on Malvern's tail while avoiding the attention of Geoff Uhrhane, who maintained his place from third on the grid to run immediately behind his countryman.Uhrhane's repeated attempts to draw alongside into Hawthorns forced McBride on to the defensive line, which allowed Malvern to edge clear. Malvern forged a gap of just over two seconds, at least until the elements came into play. After four laps, the dark clouds above the track again opened and drenched the circuit. Malvern lifted off to try to manage the grip as his slick tyres cooled and lost traction. McBride took the chance to close on to the back of the leader, but opted against trying a pass as the rain intensified. The pack tip-toed around for a further lap before the race organisers ordered the red flag when it became clear that the rain wasn't going to let up.When the field took to the track again, fitted with suitable wet Dunlop rubber, the race was reduced to a five-minute sprint, which meant two laps separated Malvern from a near-perfect weekend. The Barkingside driver again got a good getaway to head McBride. This time spray became a factor and McBride confessed to being blinded in Malvern's wake. The conditions prevented Malvern's rivals from getting too close and enabled the leader to take a relatively untroubled third win."It was one of the toughest races I've ever had," said Malvern. "I got a good gap in the dry and then saw people in the crowd putting umbrellas up, next thing I knew it was a monsoon. The car was sliding all over the place, and it was difficult to hold on to it. Luckily I learned to drive go-karts on slick tyres in the wet, so that experience served me well."McBride took second place after keeping Uhrhane at arm's length during the closing laps. "The rain was ridiculous and made any chance to pass impossible," he said. "I couldn't see anything down the straight for spray so I was forced to lift early into the corners instead of thinking of challenging Scott. It's disappointing because I've had the pace for a win this weekend, but I know I'm getting closer."Jesse Anttila produced a great drive in the wet conditions to bring the works Ray GR11 up to fourth place, having started 10th on the grid. Philippe Layac completed his strong weekend with fifth ahead of Neil Alberico, who again impressed in the Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray GR10 when the rain fell. It was a different story for former championship leader Jeroen Slaghekke: the Dutchman was running fourth before his car slowed coming up Hawthorn Hill when his engine wiring loom burned out. His second non-score of the weekend means he has fallen to third in the standings.Cavan Corcoran continued his invincible progress in the Scholarship class, racking up class win number 12 in the Getem Racing Mygale. Joey van Splunteren took his second victory in the Dutch Championship-counting class; he placed seventh overall ahead of Jesper Egebart and his class rivals Nils Vestergaard and Bas Schouten.Provisional resultsDunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great BritainRound 12 (of 24) & Formula Ford EuroCupBrands Hatch GP 19/6/112 laps / 4.87 miles1 Scott Malvern GBR/Ilford Jamun Mygale 7m 38.346 / 38.22mph2 Nick McBride AUS Jamun Mygale +1.558s3 Geoff Uhrhane AUS JTR Mygale +3.328s4 Jesse Anttila FIN Raysport Ray +4.909s5 Philippe Layac FRA RVR-Enigma Mygale +7.560s6 Neil Alberico USA Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray +10.570s7 Joey van Splunteren NED Provily Racing Mygale +13.675s8 Jesper Egebart DEN Egebart Motorsport Ray +14.132s9 Nils Vestergaard DEN Racing Team Vestergaard Mygale +16.216s10 Bas Schouten NED Provily Racing Mygale +16.804sScholarship Class: Cavan Corcoran GBR/Matlock Getem Racing Mygale +26.135sFastest lap: Malvern 1m 43.731s / 84.44mphProvisional GB championship standings1 Malvern 308 points; 2 McBride 256; 3 Jeroen Slaghekke 238; 4 Antti Buri 224; 5 Uhrhane 196; 6 Dan de Zille 192 etcScholarship class 1 Corcoran 372; 2 David Moore 135; 3 Jake Jackson 75; 4 Matt Rao 54.Next rounds 8/9 July Spa-Francorchamps & 16/17 July Zolder (Eurocup)12-14 August Zandvoort (GB championship & Eurocup)


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