Scott Malvern's blog

Our chosen sport is often thought of as glamorous and its competitors’ sometimes described as brave. I have even had that term used to describe some of my race manoeuvres and exploits and I am very flattered. Of course it is acknowledged that motorsport can be dangerous and sometimes we do very sadly see and encounter the most severe consequences of that danger but thankfully in the modern era these instances are very rare.

In other professions routine danger are a common occurrence and unhappily loss of life or severe injury can be the result and I think that starts to put what we do, which is essentially a lifestyle choice into context. Nobody encounters danger more than those who serve in the armed forces and without wishing to get into any political debate or commentary about whether we agree or not that our armed forces should be currently engaged in the kind of operations in which they are, to me what is not in doubt is the bravery of those who serve. Sadly we see all too many losing their lives and a lot more having to cope with and live the rest of their lives with debilitating injuries. Any help that can be given to those who have been injured to assist in rebuilding their lives has to be the most worthy of causes. That is why this weekend (12^th May)I feel privileged to have been invited by my friends at Hydraquip to participate in the Help for Heroes Karting event at Buckmore Park kart circuit in Kent. http://www.kartingforheroes.com/

Of course I won’t pretend that I won’t have enormous fun taking part in this event. I of course love Buckmore Park, it is where I made my karting debut back in 1998 and I went on to enjoy some wonderful success there winning many races and championships. It is always great to be able to return there. But I also think it is highly appropriate that we can have fun and support a very cause all at the same time. A big part of the ethos of Help For Heroes is to enable servicemen and women who have been injured to be able to return to leading active and enjoyable lives and we have seen many of them going on to participate in incredible activities and challenges; some of which would be a great achievement even for those of us who are able bodied!

The event at Buckmore Park takes place this Saturday (starting around mid-day) so please feel free to come down and show your support if you are in the area or alternatively you can support the Help For Heroes Charity by offering whatever you can on the donation page http://www.bmycharity.com/KartingforHeroes2012 – whatever  you can give no matter how small will be very gratefully received either before or after the event itself.

So I’m getting ready for a great day at Buckmore Park and then next week I shall be preparing for the next round of the Pro-Tyre Formula Renault BARC Championship at Rockingham. In closing I’d just like to say how pleased I am that Peter Dempsey has secured a drive at the Indy 500 in the Indy Lights support race. Well done Peter and best of luck to you. And to everyone competing or taking part in motorsport this weekend have a safe and enjoyable time.

Bye for now

Scott

DSB Photographic

Photo Courtesy of Bryant Photography

It’s amazing how quickly things can change in motorsport. Just a couple of weeks ago it looked as though I wouldn’t be racing, at least not at the start of the season. Then literally a week later, thanks to Cullen Motorsport and Cliff Dempsey Racing, a deal came about for me to compete in the Pro-Tyre Formula Renault BARC Championship but we didn’t even have a car and weren’t sure if we could get hold of one in time!

But a car was found at the 11^th hour and I literally sat in it for the first time at Snetterton last Friday and we were racing Saturday and Sunday. Our shakedown would be the first rounds of the championship! With some very good professional teams such as Fortec, Antel, MGR & MTECH Lite in this championship and us coming in as a new team we knew this wouldn’t be easy.

We really had to go with the car more as less as it was. The team had no time to do any serious and meaningful preparation and there was no time for a pre-event shakedown even and most of the drivers and teams had done quite a lot of pre-season testing so this was really in at the deep end.

Qualifying which was wet went very well and I was very happy with a front row start on grid two, out of 25 cars, for all three races. Not having done a start in one of these cars I didn’t make the best of starts for race one dropping back behind 2011 Championship runner up Josh Webster at the beginning. But that soon became 2^nd again when pole man Seb Morris made an error and then six laps in I was able to overtake Josh at the Esses for the lead. Josh like me is a seasoned driver and sensibly gave me the racing room needed which is the mark of a good driver. Part of being a successful racing driver is knowing when to give up a corner.

I quite quickly gapped Josh and was comfortably pulling out two or three tenths per lap without having to push too hard at all. I also set fastest lap of the race. Then four laps from home disaster struck. The gear linkage broke and stuck in top gear which made the car very difficult to drive. I was a sitting duck and frustratingly could do no better than nurse the car home for a disappointing 13^th place finish. Still we always knew that this weekend was really a test and our biggest fear that mechanical woes would scupper our chances of success had sadly been realised.

However Sunday was another day and we had two more races to look forward to. I made a slightly better start in race two and was holding a comfortable 2^nd place behind leader Seb Morris when the safety car was deployed. After 3 safety car laps Seb to his credit made a good restart but I began to eat into his lead visibly over the next 2 or 3 laps and thought I had a real chance to make a challenge when the car began to lose power as the engine spluttered badly. I lost a lot of time and was powerless to stop Josh Webster, who had been quite a long way back, overtake me effortlessly on the start finish straight. In the end I had to really fight to hang onto 3^rd place and the end of the race couldn’t come fast enough. After the race we discovered that we had a fuel starvation problem which had caused the sudden power drop. Still the positives at least I had made it to the end of the race and at least I had a podium under my belt.

One more chance to see what I could do late on Sunday afternoon and this time it was proper wet. Would the car, which we had now affectionately Christened “The Shed” make it to the end of the race without any issues this time?

I made my best start of the weekend while pole man Seb Morris bogged down and didn’t get away which meant I was in the best place you can be in a wet race; in the lead! From then on I have to say that I was pretty much able to control the race. I felt comfortable throughout and my only concern was the car itself. Every little sound or noise seems to be magnified and you think to yourself please don’t break! But thankfully it didn’t and with the track drying I pushed quite hard on the last couple of laps to make sure I bagged the bonus points for the fastest lap of the race which I could add to the fastest lap from Saturday which had established a new lap record.

In the circumstances it was a pretty good weekend but we cannot afford to be complacent in this company and the team and I will now have to work very hard to ensure that we are far better prepared for the next event at Rockingham in a few weeks.

There was no real time for celebration as straight from Snetterton we headed up to Oulton Park where Cliff and I were helping Cullen Motorsport driver Ryan Cullen in his Formula Ford ECOboost championship races on Eater Monday. Ryan had some very difficult conditions to cope with and it is a very steep learning curve for him but he  acquitted himself well and I’m sure will progress from here. Congratulations to Antti Buri for finally breaking your duck in a British Formula Ford Championship race and to my old team Jamun Racing who won two races with Jake Cook & Luke Williams. Let me know if you need a 4^th driver – I’m sure I could squeeze in an extra race or two!

Well so all in a good weekend but we all know that we can do better! Thanks to Cliff Dempsey Racing for their hard work and to Cullen Motorsport for the opportunity. Busy couple of weeks ahead now working with the Project One Kart Team and with Cullen Motorsport so I best get on but will be blogging again soon.

All the best

Scott

Well I finally have some positive news to report as I write on this lovely warm sunny spring day after what seems to have been a long cold winter.

Those of you who know me will know what a great record breaking year I had in 2011 in British & European Formula Ford and winning the BRDC Top Rising star “Henry Surtees” Award and then being selected for the 2^nd consecutive season as a finalist in the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award. Following on from all this I had promising tests in Barcelona in GP3 and the FIA Formula Two and we looked set to seal a deal to compete in F2 in 2012. Unfortunately circumstances meant that we lost that deal and had to begin the search of looking elsewhere to continue my racing career. This has been extremely difficult in the current economic climate with trying to find partners to invest an onerous task indeed.

I was happy to consider all sorts of options. Although I’ve made my name in Formula Ford and was looking to climb the single seater ladder my goal remains to become a professional racing driver which means that I actually earn my living from the sport. Many drivers call themselves professional but I think this is a little misleading when they have to fund their racing themselves! Therefore we did look seriously at the GT option which seems to be increasingly popular at the moment as drivers migrate from expensive single seaters to look for a cheaper route. But unfortunately even that option required me to raise more budget than I was able to so my choices and options were becoming very limited indeed and for a while the prospect of not racing at all in 2012 looked as though it could be on the cards.

Then we had a breakthrough a couple of weeks back. Super Car Company BAC MONO announced me as their driver for The Cholmondeley Pageant of Power http://www.bac-mono.com/news.php an event I am looking forward to very much. The event in June, similar to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, will see me compete for overall honours against other super cars such as The Radical and KTM Crossbow in a 1.2 mile point to point sprint course. This is the first time I have taken part in this type of event, only having competed in circuit racing up until now, so I am really looking forward to a new challenge and would like to thank BAC MONO for entrusting me with their fantastic car! I’m sure it’s going to be a very hard job to hand it back at the end of the three days!! Maybe I could talk them into hiring me full time and providing a company car

As great as the BAC Mono deal is I naturally want to continue circuit racing and I am now happy to report that thanks to a last minute deal put together by Cullen Motorsport and my former team Cliff Dempsey Racing I will be competing this season in the Pro-Tyre BARC Formula Renault Championship. As I say this is a last minute deal and at time of writing we don’t even have a car for me to compete in yet and it’s only a week to the first round at Snetterton! Therefore we are going to have to work extremely hard this week to get everything ready and unfortunately the first time I will sit in the car will be at the event itself as we take to the track for the first championship round. But rest assured I will be giving it my all as always and as long as I have a reasonable car under me then I will look to put in a sensible and solid performance that we can build on at the next round.

In the current climate BARC Formula Renault is bucking the trend and will have a full and competitive grid this year and when you have big teams such as Fortec willing to compete in the category then you know that you have to take it very seriously.  While I had obviously hoped to be competing in F2, F3 or GP3 this year make no mistake I don’t think this will be easy and the main thing is that it will keep me active and race sharp and should the opportunity come along to jump into anything else through the year then at least I will be ready. 

It will be great to be working with Cliff Dempsey Racing again. Of course we enjoyed great success together in my first two seasons of car racing in 2009 & 2010 and I did say last year when I left them to join my former employer Jamun Racing for a highly successful 2011 that I hoped that they would welcome me back if the opportunity should arise which I am happy to say it has. I will also be working for new team Cullen Motorsport in partnership with Cliff Dempsey Racing as a driver coach and data engineer for their driver Ryan Cullen in their ECO boost car in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain.

As well as this I will be continuing in my role as mechanic, data engineer, kart builder, driver coach, test driver and rubbish bin emptier at Project One Racing Kart team so all in all I am going to be kept rather busy but I am completely used to it!

So that’s it for now; it’s all bit last minute.com but better late than never as they say. I know that we have a challenge and a lot of hard work ahead of us but this is nothing new for me and as I’ve proved before it’s an environment I am more than happy to operate in.

So let’s get revved up for the start of the 2012 season. If you are a competitor then best of luck to you. If you are a race official or a Marshall then have a safe and enjoyable year. If you are a spectator then enjoy and don’t forget to come and say hello if you see me.

Will be back blogging soon!

Scott

Photo Jacob Ebrey Motorsport Photography

Well I know it’s been over a month since my last blog which is quite a long time for me. The reason I’ve been hanging on is in the hope that I would have something positive to report on in terms of my plans for the 2012 season but regrettably that is not yet the case. With the current shortfall in budget that we are faced with it is impossible to tie up a race deal anywhere and as you will appreciate after the record breaking season that I had in 2011 this is incredibly frustrating

I can assure you that this situation has not been brought about by lack of effort on my part. We have been trying for several months now to put a budget together for a 2012 race programme but it is just incredibly difficult. New opportunities are few and far between and existing partners are all feeling the pinch of the current economic downturn so despite my incredible 2011 season I am now facing the very real prospect of not racing in 2012. It’s not even that I am setting my sites too high. Naturally on the back of 2011 we were hoping to move into either GP3 or Formula 2 for 2012 and I was fortunate enough to participate in test sessions for both those cars in Barcelona late last year. I’m sure I could have been very competitive in either category but without the budget it’s impossible to contemplate.

I then considered a switch to GT racing especially after my strong performance in the McLaren GT car at the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the year competition but again we just cannot find the funding. Recently I have looked more at club based championships such as MSV F3 Cup and the Pro-Tyre BARC Formula Renault championship but even at this level I am struggling for finance.

While the opportunity to race may not be so good I am thankfully still demand as a test driver and to perform other duties such as driver coaching so at least I am maintaining a daily involvement with motorsport. I have done quite a lot of testing for the Project One kart team recently, mainly at the PFI circuit in Lincolnshire which is always good fun. I have been called upon to do further development work in the Formula Ford ECOboost car and last week I had the pleasure of re-joining my former team Cliff Dempsey Racing for the day at Silverstone to help them shake down their new BARC Formula Renault car in preparation for American driver Trent Hindman who begins his test programme this week.   This was actually my first ever run in a Formula Renault and I really enjoyed it, and despite the fact that it was only a shake down and we didn’t tinker with set up too much and ran on three year old tyres, I was pleased to set benchmark times in all 4 sessions only slightly bettered late in the day by another runner who fitted brand new tyres.

But obviously racing is where I want and need to be and I just remain hopeful that all our hard work pays off somewhere down the line very soon so that my next blog talks about my race plans for the fast approaching season!

Scott

About to shake down the CDR BARC Formula Renault

Well I was hoping that my first blog of 2012 would bring more positive news but unfortunately this is not the case. Things seemed to have turned full circle and I am now back to square one or virtually exactly the same position I was in this time last year. But I have to remain optimistic that something good will happen.

A year ago things looked pretty bleak. Funding was not forthcoming despite a very successful 2010 and it looked as though I may not be racing. But then I had the opportunity to return to British Formula Ford with the Jamun Racing Services Team  and as you know we enjoyed unprecedented success together, breaking many records and culminating with me receiving a 2^nd consecutive nomination for the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award. Things were looking pretty good just before Christmas. I performed well at the FIA Formula Two test at Barcelona and to be honest we looked set to secure a deal to run in that championship this year. But nothing is ever certain in motorsport and unfortunately we lost that deal through circumstances entirely beyond our control. We did everything in our power to save the deal but in the end we just weren’t able to.

So as you can imagine it is incredibly frustrating to find myself in this position once again after what I achieved last year and after all of the success I have had in my relatively short motor racing career. I suppose what makes it worse is when I see drivers that have achieved far less than me able to progress without having to put any effort in because they come from far more fortunate circumstances. Please don’t get me wrong, I really don’t begrudge anyone else their chance but surely it is wrong when proven talent (& I know I am sadly not the only one in this position) cannot progress and I plead with the motorsport governing bodies, manufacturers, teams and championship co-ordinators to do everything in their power to redress this situation.

Derek Warwick, the President of the BRDC, made the point on stage at the Autosport International show, when all six McLaren Autosport BRDC finalists were called up, that all six of us were winners and I applaud him very much for saying so. He rightly stated that being selected as a finalist for the award, in my case two years in a row, should be capitalised on when seeking partners and investors and believe you me I do but we are going through such austere times at the moment that even with this to back you up its very difficult to convert it into tangible help.

However difficult times or not I’m certainly not sitting around feeling sorry for myself. In fact since the turn of the year I’ve barely had a day off. There is lots to do with the kart team, as I’ve said before karting doesn’t really have an off season, and of course I had four very busy but enjoyable days at the Autosport Show in Birmingham where I was part of the show in the All Action Arena, appearing on the main stage with the other five McLaren AUTOPSORT BRDC Award finalists and took part in the charity kart race and of course did lots of networking.

I have some good friends and partners who are working hard on my behalf at the moment to try and create opportunities for me and I can’t thank them enough for their faith in me and their efforts. I sincerely hope I have some better news to report next time around.

All the best

Scott

Photo by Sarah Jane Berry. I'm 3rd from the left!

F2 Test Barcelona, James Bearne Photography

Well this is going to be my final blog of the year and what a year! Firstly I cannot believe how quickly it has passed by; but that is just a sign of being incredibly busy I guess. It really doesn’t seem that long ago that I was at the Autosport Show in a cold dark January and here we are again just a couple of days to go to Christmas. I have to admit that when I was at the show I was incredibly uncertain about what my plans were going to be for the year. Due to the economic climate it had been very difficult to secure any funding and the prospect of doing not very much at all loomed large!

But then Jamun Racing offered me a lifeline and the return to Formula Ford proved to be a very good move as we swept the board and more than achieved our targets for the season. And although nothing is definitely in place yet for 2012 I am feeling a lot more positive about the following season than I was this time last year. I have been able to test GP3 and Formula 2 machinery in Barcelona which is not something that I was doing last year and we are making good progress with sorting out our plans for next season.

Last week I took part in the two day FIA Formula 2 test at Circuit De Catalunya Barcelona and was very pleased with how the test went and my progress in the car. Of course the car wasn’t completely new to me. I had already driven it in the 2010 and 2011 McLaren AUTOPSPORT BRDC Young driver competitions and had a brief run in the car at a promo day for MSV & Comma Oils on May Bank Holiday Monday. But believe it or not this was the first time I was really able to drive the car for any length of time in dry conditions so it was almost like beginning again. But I thoroughly enjoyed it and was pleased that I was able to set competitive times on both days against several championship regulars running as high as third in the overall order of over 20 drivers and down to a quickest time of just three tenths off of the pace. The only disappointment was, just due to circumstances such as red flags at the wrong time, that I was not able to make the most of my turbo boost runs at the end of the day on new rubber. But this wasn’t my fault or indeed anybody else’s. It was just plain bad luck. But I know that I had already done enough to show that the times were there.

Since returning I have been busy with the Project One Kart Team. As those of you who are involved in karting will know there isn’t really any sort of winter break; it just carries on right the way through weather permitting. So the day after returning from a mild & sunny Barcelona I found myself putting up an awning in the snow at Buckmore Park!

We now of course have Christmas to look forward to and then the New Year and the Autosport Show again in January which is where I came in! Once again I will be on the main stage at regular intervals with the other five McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC finalists and taking part in the show in the Live Action Arena. It’s actually quite hard work but a lot of fun as well.

The only remaining thing I would like to do now is say a very big thank you to everyone that has supported me in anyway at all this year. It’s actually a very long list but I think it’s very important to acknowledge everyone, because without your help I wouldn’t have been able to have had the absolutely incredible and fantastic year that I have. So a massive thank you in no particular order to: Allied Finance, Allied Tanks & Fabrications, SCANDOC Document Management (now Fortrus Ltd.), ncpi solutions, HW Baines Industrial Units, Harriott Plumbing Services, Johal Regan Property Services, Noel Scholey, Stratos Marcom, Paul Spensley, Essex Gas Utilities, The Selby family, The Baker Family, The Craig’s, Vanquish Developments, Lamberhurst Corporation, Adam Dennehey, Motors TV, Jacob Ebrey, Driver Database, BRSCC, BRDC, Jamun Racing Services, Scholar Engines, Racing Line, Ford Motorsport, Stephen Colbert, my brother Jon & everyone else that has wished me good luck through the year. I really hope that I haven’t missed anyone!

In closing I would just like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a safe Happy & Prosperous New Year. See you all in 2012!

Scott

So it’s been more than a month since I last blogged and you could be forgiven for thinking the reason for this is because now that the race season is over for 2011 I don’t have very much to say; but nothing could be further from the truth!

It really has been a rollercoaster ride for the past few weeks and I haven’t yet found the time to get off. After returning from Barcelona where I took part in the official GP3 test I took part in a couple of charity karting events and more testing and development work on behalf of Ford with their new ECOboost car. I was also invited to be a guest in a radio chat show which Scott Stringfellow hosts for Radio Silverstone and once getting over my initial nerves I really enjoyed this. Finally I had the little matter of the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC competition to take part in where I was selected as one of the six finalists for the 2^nd year in succession. This took place over a number of different days in November firstly with time on a race simulator (at Banbury) then a day at the Porsche Fitness Centre at Silverstone, followed of course by the two driving assessment days on the Silverstone circuit where we all drove our Formula 2 car as well as the new McLaren GT car and a Mercedes DTM. Finally a couple of weeks later we were all interviewed at the McLaren Technology Centre at Woking.

As you will no doubt all now know unfortunately for the 2^nd year running I missed out on the big prize of the young driver of the year on what will almost certainly be my final opportunity to win it. Naturally I am very disappointed but then as with last year so are 4 other drivers. There can only be one winner and its winner takes all so congratulations and well done to Oliver Rowland who I am sure will go on to have a great career as nearly all of the previous award winners have done especially with the help of the Racing Steps Organisation behind him.

However let me say I wouldn’t have missed it all for the world and 2^nd time around I enjoyed it even more than last year. It’s a great honour to be selected twice and I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say that I couldn’t have done any more in my efforts to claim the big prize. Obviously coming from a non-aero class of racing I was still something of an underdog but it didn’t feel like that at all and I was very satisfied with my performance in all aspects of the competition. I had a great time throughout the whole event and then again at the Autosport Awards Dinner in London last Sunday. In fact I didn’t really have time to dwell on the disappointment of missing out on the Award too long as I was straight into a couple of meetings after the dinner and then following a very late night had to head back into London for mid-day the following day to attend the BRDC Awards lunch. It’s tough at the top!

The BRDC lunch was a great occasion, far more intimate then the Autosport Awards dinner the night before but no less prestigious for that. In fact the whole event had a really nice relaxed feel about it. A lot of people that I’d not previously spoken to came up to say hello, including Tiff Needell, and of course the highlight for me was being presented with the Henry Surtees Award for outstanding achievement by a BRDC Rising Star. What made it very special was that John Surtees presented the award to me which was created to honour the memory of his son who tragically lost his life in a race accident in 2009. I knew Henry reasonably well as he and I started out in cadet karting around the same time and competed against each other so the award was particularly poignant for me especially in a year where we have been reminded that motorsport can be so cruel. Also as regular readers of this blog will know I am a big fan of John Surtees and what he achieved and the fact that he is still working tirelessly today, not just for motorsport but for many good causes. Let’s hope the Queen remembers that when she dishes out the New Year’s knighthoods!  

As well as all of this I have found the time to do a bit of coaching for prospective new drivers in Formula Ford including kart star Laura Tillet and my younger brother Jon. Jon got to drive a Formula Ford car for the first time at Silverstone last week at the regular end of season category sampler day and I have to say once he got the hang of it he was pretty impressive. Thanks to Gavin Ray & Raysport for entrusting him with their excellent GR11 charger for the morning and then in the afternoon he was in my championship winning Jamun Mygale SJ10. It was strange seeing him in this especially as he was wearing my spare helmet so it almost felt like I was watching myself in the car! Many observers were pretty impressed with what they saw so I may have to start looking over my shoulder! But it would be great if he can get a chance to show what he can do next year although of course as always this depends on budget.

So with Christmas just around the corner will I be putting my feet up? Not likely! I’m doing some development work in the kart on behalf of Project One Racing and then next week I’m delighted to say I’m off to Barcelona (again) to drive in the two day FIA Formula Two test.  I’ll let you know how that goes and how things are progressing towards the next exciting phase of my career in my next blog. But before signing off today I have so many people to thank for this year. In fact it’s a really long list and I will run through everybody that’s been part of our adventure next time out but just for now I’d like to say thank you to Sam & Penny at Racing Line & Noel at Stratos Marcomms  for arranging the F2 test which I’m really excited about. I really enjoyed driving the car for the last two years in the McLaren Autosport BRDC competition but the nature of that means you tend to run short bursts. I’m really looking to getting in some extended seat time in the car and seeing what I can do.

Onward! (KBO)

All the best for now

Scott

Jacob Ebrey Motorsport Photography

Drew Gibson /GP3 Series Media Service

Well the season may be over for me as far as racing goes but that doesn’t mean that I have been any less busy.

The week after the Formula Ford Festival I was pretty flat out with having a couple of seat fittings, taking part in the Henry Surtees Foundation Karting event at Buckmore Park, doing some more testing and development work at Silverstone with Ford on the new ECO boost FF car and then having dinner at the BRDC on Friday evening with Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner! Then barely a couple of days to recover before flying off first thing Monday to take part in the two day FIA GP3 test at Barcelona. It’s all go, go, go as Murray Walker would say!

I love driving karts and don’t need too much encouragement to get my backside into one so when I was invited to take part in the Henry Surtees Foundation Fundraising event I was delighted to accept especially as it was raising funds for such a worthy cause and the fact that it was taking place at Buckmore Park was a real bonus as it is a circuit that I have a great affection for and one that I had considerable success at during my karting career. I’ve probably told you all before that I had my very first race there as a young cadet back in January 1998 and have loved the place ever since and I still return there regularly in my role assisting the Project One Racing team.

The event itself was bit of a who’s who of young UK motor racing talent and although everyone of course wants to win the emphasis for me anyway was particularly on having some no pressure fun especially after such a successful season. All was going very well though. I qualified 2^nd in my group of 20 drivers just behind my old Buckmore adversary Paul Janes and this put on grid 4 for the pre-A-Final. Unfortunately this was as good as it got as I think due to some naughty  person loading further back on the grid I, along with Paul, was binned at the first corner! Welcome back to karting! By the time I got going again I was well back but did manage to pick a couple off giving me a grid 22 slot for the main A-final.

I made an excellent start and ran as high as 7^th in the early stages of the race but the kart didn’t seem to be handling particularly well as the race progressed and I slipped back to 11^th. Still that was good enough for the judges to bestow the Hard Luck Award on me which I was proud to receive and my prize? Well someone must have a sense of humour! I won a week’s unpaid work experience at the offices of Haymarket Publishers who produce many top motoring titles including Autosport, Motorsport News and F1 magazine. But they are going to let me write an article….hmmm…now let me see.

Joking apart it was a great event and a privilege to participate in it and I very much hope that it becomes an annual fixture and as always it’s great to see John Surtees who is a true legend. Congratulations to Alex Sims on winning the event.

From Buckmore it was back up to Silverstone for a day of development testing with the Ford ECOboost car which some of you may have seen me demonstrating between races at the Formula Ford Festival. I’m really enjoying this and it’s very satisfying when you are part of the process that resolves some of the inevitable problems that you have when launching a new car. But I believe that overall Ford and Mygale, who manufactured the car that I have been driving, are to be commended for their vision and hard work in trying to ensure that Formula Ford continues to develop as a place for aspiring young drivers to learn their trade.

Later the same day my 2011 race mechanic Tom Huxtable and I attended a dinner at the BRDC at Silverstone with Red Bull F1 Chief Christian Horner and this was a fascinating insight into the most successful F1 team around at the moment and their winning philosophy. It was a highly enjoyable evening and I’d like to thank the BRDC very much for arranging such events for the members of their young driver programmes.

Hardly time to catch my breath and we were flying off to Barcelona to participate in the FIA GP3 test with the Status Grand Prix Team. This came about fairly eleventh hour but it was great to be called up to do it and I’d very much like to thank Allied Commercial Finance, PL Finance & Investment & CANNONBALLTOUR.COM for making it possible.

There was certainly a lot to learn during the two day’s and I was the only one of the 26 drivers taking part that hadn’t been racing in a winged Formula. But the team and I agreed a programme to work through and I set myself some clear objectives for the test which were aimed solely at learning the circuit and gaining a greater understanding of how the car and the aero package worked and how any changes could affect the handling characteristics and I’m pleased to say that in that respect the two days were highly successful and I’d like to thank the Status Grand Prix Team and all of the mechanics and engineers for making us feel very welcome.

I very much enjoyed my GP3 experience and would like to do more if given the opportunity but at this stage it isn’t the only option that we are considering for next year. But there will be no quick decisions, a lot has to be considered and of course I have the little matter of the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Young Driver Award competition to participate in this month and I am really looking forward to it especially now that I know the great cars that I will be driving.

But before all that though I shall be getting out in another fund raising kart event tonight at Sandown Park, in aid of 21 & Co, where I will be joining the Motorsport News Team entered by Rob Ladbrook and let’s hope we are not black flagged this year eh Rob!  Actually it was certain Indy Lights driver that caused our downfall last year. You know who you are if you are reading this!  

So until next time

All the best

Scott

photo by AE Photography

Last weekend was definitely a roller coaster of emotions. I counted myself lucky to be at the Formula Ford Festival at all and it was only the fact that some of my great supporters were able to rally round at the last minute that I was able to take up the free entry I already had for winning the overall Euro-Cup honours in the summer.

Then on Friday my younger brother Jon was hospitalised with a really nasty bug that had seen him going downhill all week and this was very worrying. Although we naturally have our share of good natured sibling rivalry he is among my loyalist supporters and has worked as my kart racing mechanic and has sometimes been my no.2 Formula Ford mechanic this year giving Tom a hand. As a massive fitness fanatic and gym goer himself he is also acts as my personal fitness trainer and loves giving me a hard time! Thankfully he now seems to be slowly getting better so I suppose he will be back to giving me some grief sometime soon!

The Festival itself couldn’t have gone much better for me. I qualified on pole in my group and led all four of my races of heat, quarter final, semi- final & final from lights to flag; sounds easy doesn’t it? Well sounding easy and actually being easy are two very different things. The tight Brands Hatch Indy circuit doesn’t allow anyone to build up any significant advantage and it was extremely tight amongst the front runners. Antti Buri & Steijn Schothorst in particular enjoyed putting me under pressure but I soaked it up when I had to, stood firm and took advantage of any errors they made to give myself breathing space when I could. We had fresh tyres for the final and I have to say they didn’t seem to work as well as the set we took off that had done qualifying and the three previous races and while I out there I found myself wishing we hadn’t changed! But never mind I prevailed and made it to the chequered flag in first place and what a great feeling that was. When I worked at the Festival as a mechanic for Jamun driver Tim Blanchard in 2008 I dreamt of coming back and winning the event and now I had done it and I was very proud to receive the Neil Shanahan Trophy for my victory as well as the John Nichol and Roger Pedrick Trophies for taking the top British & English driver places. In fact I retained these last two from 2010.

My supporters, my family and I of course were elated with what we had achieved which was the icing on the cake of an absolutely fantastic year which has at times tested our resilience but it has all been worth it. A massive thank you to everyone and of course not least to Jamun racing for giving me a great car all year.

I haven’t quite finished working with Jamun Racing yet though. We have another project that we are now working on together which is quite exciting and I am looking forward to the next instalment of that at the end of this week and I’ll definitely be updating you about it in my next blog. My next event will be the Henry Surtees Foundation Karting event at Buckmore Park on Thursday this week. This is an extremely worthy cause and one that I am proud to take part in. I have a tremendous admiration and respect for John Surtees who I shall be seeing at the event. Why the powers that be haven’t honoured John with a knighthood is beyond me and I’d like to see this situation rectified soon.

Very sadly the joy and elation that I experienced when going to bed on Sunday evening soon disappeared early on Monday morning when I awoke to the shocking news that Dan Wheldon had lost his life in Las Vegas. Dan was somebody who was a real inspiration to me and no mean Formula Ford racer himself  having finished as runner up to Jenson Button in the 1998 Formula Ford Festival. I always found it frustrating that Dan’s great achievements were hardly reported on in the UK except in the motorsport press. To compete in the Indy 500, arguably the most famous motor race in the world is no mean achievement. To win it is amazing. To win it more than once places you among the all-time greats especially when combined with the IRL Championship title that Dan claimed in 2005. How cruel that just as Dan’s career was getting back on track after a lean period that he should lose his life in such tragic circumstances. He will be sorely missed and my deepest condolences and heartfelt sympathy go to all of Dan’s family and friends.

The season may be more or less over for 2011 but I have a very busy time ahead in the coming weeks and I will be back blogging about all of that quite soon.

All the best

Scott

Some were surprised to see me taking part in the final championship rounds at Silverstone last weekend. With the championship already wrapped up there was no need to be there except for the fact that it was a very welcome opportunity to race on the Arena Grand Prix layout and to add to my tally of victories for the season. To be honest I want to race at every possible opportunity so championship or no championship I wasn’t going to pass up the chance.

Before the weekend had even begun though I had another reason to celebrate when I learned that for the 2^nd year running I had been picked as a finalist for the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award. This is a great honour and vindicates my decision to return to the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain for a 2^nd season. I had to put in a dominant performance with my level of experience and I think it’s fair to say that I did with the help of a great team behind me of course. But I wasn’t taking anything for granted and knew that I was taking a big risk especially after coming very close to winning the championship in 2010. I very much put my reputation on the line and if things hadn’t gone my way this year then that reputation could now be in tatters.

I am really looking forward to the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award competition. Of course there will be pressure but also a lot of enjoyment as well. I know from last year what a great experience this was for me personally and how much I gained from it and whilst I will draw on this experience I am not complacent enough to think that I know exactly what’s coming because I am sure that the organisers will rightly have one or two surprises for us up their sleeves.

So Silverstone at the weekend very much had an end of term feel about it. With the championship won I could certainly relax a little but not too much as I still wanted to win and if possible help my Jamun team mates Nick McBride & Jeroen Slaghekke to secure 2^nd & 3^rd places in the championship for the team.

I’m sure by now you have read the race reports already published so I won’t rewrite those, but race one on Saturday produced my third DNF of the season, ironically at the same venue (but different circuit) where I had the previous two non-finishes at the start of the season. But I’m not going to get a complex about it. I love coming to Silverstone and have to accept it was one of those things.

This time my non finish occurred when my engine decided to expire on lap six which was a shame as I was in the thick of a highly enjoyable six car battle for the lead. To be honest though I can’t grumble at all. The Duratec engine is usually fantastically reliable and if I was to have some more bad luck this season then this was definitely the time to have it with the championship already won. It made for an interesting talking point for the commentary team though as the engine actually caught fire and I quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher from a marshal’s post to put out the flames.

Massive credit has to go to the Jamun Team and especially my mechanic and friend Tom Huxtable who worked late into the evening on Saturday and to Scholar engines for all their efforts to get me out for Sundays two races the first of which allowed me to record my 18^th British Championship victory of the season and my 22^nd in total. I was very pleased to rack that one up as it gives me a 75% victory ratio in the championship. Not bad by anyone’s standards. Although I led from lights to flag it was far from easy. A downpour shortly before the start of our race made it a close call between wets and slicks. I went for slicks although a couple of my team mates were on wets. Conditions were very tricky at first and my team mate Jeroen was certainly keeping me honest in his bid to secure the runner up position in the championship so it was a hard earned win.

With the meeting running behind schedule race three late on Sunday afternoon was staged in twilight. We should have fitted headlights! This was a typical last race of the season with everyone just going for it which was great. I found myself shuffled back to sixth with a lot of ground to make up early in the race but make it up I did as I set fastest lap in my bid to get on terms with Geoff & Jeroen at the front. It was a great final lap and I almost stole it as the three of us were almost inseparable at the chequered flag but in the end I had to settle for third. Great drive by Jeroen to take the win and well done on securing the runner up spot in the championship and also really well done to Nick McBride for taking third place to make it a fantastic 1-2-3 in the title race for the Jamun Team.

After Silverstone we now head straight to Brands Hatch for the Formula Ford Festival and it’s very special one this year being the 40^th anniversary and one that I would definitely love to win. Whilst I would give myself a great chance I realise you also need a bit of good luck to win this type of event so I’m hoping that mine doesn’t desert me this time out. Either way I expect it to be very close and very competitive on the tight Brands Hatch Indy circuit amongst all the front runners. Bring it on!

All the best

Scott