Nov
2
Scott Malvern Blog: Lots Going On!
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 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. 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 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 2nd in my group of 20 drivers just behind my old Buckmore adversary Paul Janes and this put me 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 7th 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 11th. 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 Racing 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 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
* All photos provided by Drew Gibson /GP3 Series Media Service