FORMULA FORD EUROCUP BELGIUM BOUND

Drivers from nine different nations and Formula Ford championships across Europe and Scandinavia are set to descend on Belgium for the latest races in the new Formula Ford EuroCup series.

The EuroCup, successfully inaugurated last month at Brands Hatch, visits the Belgian Grand Prix venue of Spa-Francorchamps this coming Friday and Saturday (8/9 July) for a trio of 20-minute races alongside the British GT and European GT4 championships. The following weekend (16/17 July), the focus switches to Zolder, where the Eurocup joins the exciting Superleague Formula event.

A field of 20 Duratec-powered cars – plus one Zetec-engined machine – is expected in Belgium, half of that number made up of runners from the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain and the rest drawn from the Benelux and Scandinavian series.

British Championship leader and Brands Hatch EuroCup victor Scott Malvern heads the entry and leads the Jamun Racing squad into battle alongside his Mygale-driving team-mates Jeroen Slaghekke, Nick McBride and Spike Goddard. Heading the Dutch challenge are the Provily Racing Team and their Mygale men Michel Florie and Bas Schouten, both of whom showed well at Brands Hatch.

Jamun’s perennial UK rivals JTR will have its usual trio of Mygales in action for Geoff Uhrhane, Tristan Mingay and Dan de Zille. Mygale dominance will be threatened by several Van Diemen runners, including Fluid Motorsport’s Wales-based driver Matthew Parry and JRT Racing’s Belgian representatives Laurent Poncin and John Svensson. Cliff Dempsey Racing’s young American Neil Alberico will head the Ray-driving challengers, along with Danish Championship front-runner Jesper Egebart.

The Spa event will see the fulfilment of a long-held dream for Getem Racing boss Jason Down, who has wanted to race on the legendary circuit for years and who will slip behind the wheel of the class-winning Mygale chassis his team prepares for British championship regular Cavan Corcoran.

“I haven’t done a full season of racing myself since 2007, and my last Formula Ford race was at Brands Hatch in 2009,” said Jason. “Since then the team has been too busy running other drivers for me to find the time. I remember walking the track at Spa in 2008 the last time the British championship raced there and thinking ‘I wish I was driving.’ Now this opportunity has come up and I’m really excited to be making my Spa debut.

“Cavan is concentrating on winning the Scholarship Class in Britain this year and so I am hoping to get a good run in his car and to be close enough to the youngsters not to embarrass myself. I think that drivers need to take any opportunity to race on a Grand Prix circuit when it comes along.”

For more information about Eurocup & the MSA Dunlop Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain CLICK HERE