FFord: Pye targeting Castle Combe fightback

Australian Scott Pye is hoping for improved fortunes as the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain visits Castle Combe this weekend.

Pye has won four of the eight races to have taken place so far this season in his Jamun Racing Mygale, but dropped to third in the standings, 43 points behind leader Scott Malvern, after a troubled weekend at Zandvoort last time out.

The 20-year-old missed qualifying at the Dutch circuit due to a mechanical problem, leaving him 32nd on the joint British / Dutch Formula Ford grid for both races, and could only fight back to finish tenth and 14th.

"The ignition switch, which costs around £3, failed on my first flying lap," Pye explained after seeing his championship lead disintegrate.

Testing at Castle Combe this week hasn’t gone according to plan either, leaving him short of laps at the Wiltshire circuit.

“We've just finished testing there; we were going really well but unfortunately on my new-tyre run I tangled with another car - someone wasn't checking their mirrors and turned in on me and took me out - so I missed the last three sessions of the day,” he said. “It was going really well up to that point, though, and I'm feeling quite confident for next weekend and we're looking to get a couple of poles and race wins.

"The big problem for me at the moment is the points deficit; we have the pace but our hopes have taken a bit of a whack. All we can do is to try our best and continue along the lines we have been and try to win some more races. I hope our luck turns around a little bit."

Cliff Dempsey Racing’s Malvern has shown remarkable consistency this season with seven podium finishes, and is the only driver in the field to have scored points in every race. He leads the standings from Daniel Cammish, who scored his maiden win in Zandvoort after switching from Kevin Mills Racing (KMR) to JRT.

KMR didn’t make the grid in Holland but will return this weekend fielding one of its Spectrum chassis for local racer and Castle Combe FF1600 Championship front runner Marcus Allen. The races will mark the karting graduate’s debut in the national Formula Ford Championship and his first in one of the latest Duratec-powered chassis.

Watch Formula Ford highlights from Castle Combe on Saturday 3 July at 8:10pm (BST) on Motors TV.


Andy Wilkinson

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