EUROCUP KING MALVERN

Scott Malvern underlined once again his status as the top Formula Ford driver of the moment yesterday with a dominant victory in the second EuroCup race at Zolder in Belgium. Added to his Saturday race win, it earned the Jamun Racing driver the overall Zolder EuroCup Champion’s trophy to add to those he won in the previous rounds of the mini-series, at Brands Hatch and Spa-Francorchamps.

Heavy rain showers during the night and dry conditions at the start made for some tactical tyre choices. In the end, the results mirrored those of Saturday’s first race, with Jamun drivers again taking all three places on the podium.

Malvern made a clean getaway from pole position and built a small lead at the start of the race from his team-mate Nick McBride. “I had to try to build up a gap at the start, while the others were getting their markers on the track. It was quite difficult to get the heat into the slick tyres in these conditions,” said Scott.

Behind, McBride was fending off several others who gambled on tyres. Belgian Van Diemen driver John Svensson tried to make most of his rain-tyre choice, with Danish championship leader Jesper Egebart in his Ray in tow. Both dropped back in the field by mid race as the track dried. They were easy meat for Dutchman Jeroen Slaghekke, who started cautiously on his slick Dunlops. “I took an easy start in these tricky conditions and generally started to build up speed,” said Slaghekke. “By mid race I was up to third and when Nick McBride made a mistake at the last corner I was able to slip by.”

Australia’s McBride was happy to take away a podium finish from this race: “I’m not used to these conditions and driving in the damp on slicks took some time to adjust to. I made a small mistake when entering the final corner and had to go through the gravel trap; that gave Jeroen the chance to pass me. After that I cruised to third.”

The first non-Jamun driver at the finish was JTR’s Australian Geoff Uhrhane. He was happy to leave Belgium’s former Grand Prix track after a difficult weekend: “I’m happy to finish but I would have liked a podium. We had the speed in the car but the conditions proved very tricky.” Another strong performance came from 17-year-old Fluid Motorsport driver Matt Parry; he was first non-Mygale driver, fifth in the new Van Diemen, ahead of Swede Milton Lundstrom.

Geva Racing’s Steijn Schothorst proved fastest of the Dutch Championship runners. He fended off a strong challenge from series leader Joey van Splunteren in the Provily Racing Mygale to cross the line seventh overall. Danish Championship driver Frank Mortensen was happy to take home the ‘Spirit of Formula Ford’ trophy.

The fourth and final EuroCup event supports the Zandvoort F3 Masters in the Netherlands in mid-August, with the three Dutch races also counting towards the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain.

For the full report on both Zolder rounds visit CLICK HERE