Scott Pye continued his pursuit of British Formula Ford championship leader Scott Malvern with a pair of victories at Snetterton last weekend.
The Australian, who held off Daniel Cammish in race one before an epic battle with Antti Buri in the second, is now 25 points adrift of Malvern in the title chase, although the drop scores rule means he’s actually a slender three points clear.
Race 1:
Pye led throughout the opener even if he was forced to defend from a charging Cammish for much of the race.
Having overhauled slow-starting pole sitter Emil Bernstorff off the line, the Jamun Racing Mygale runner eased out to a 1.7sec lead by the end of lap two.
Cammish meanwhile was on the move and having dived inside Garry Findlay at the chicane at the end of the opening tour, was soon also past Bernstorff.
While the rest of the top six, which included Malvern and Josh Hill, battled for the final podium place, Cammish began to cut Pye’s advantage out front. With seven laps remaining he was within striking distance, although a half look at the chicane on the final lap was the closest he came to stealing the win.
Malvern came through in third having passed both Findlay, who was fourth, and Bernstorff who eventually dropped down to seventh behind Tio Ellinas and James Tucker.
Josh Hill’s spin into retirement on lap nine promoted Jesse Anttila to eighth after the Finn started 14th, while Dan de Zille and Zaamin Jaffer completed the top ten.
"In conditions like those it's key to get a good start but very difficult to do,” said Pye. “Over the first few laps I managed to pull away, thankfully, and had a chance to relax a little bit but during the second half of the race the pressure was really on - Dan did a great job."
Race 2:
Pye completed his weekend double in the second after a thrilling battle with Antti Buri.
This time Pye lined up one place ahead of Jamun Racing team mate Bernstorff on the front row, although the Dane again bogged down and allowed Buri through into second.
While the likes of Malvern, Findlay and Cammish initially challenged Bernstorff for the final podium place, the two frontrunners were able to build a comfortable cushion back.
In fact, Buri had the lead at the end of lap one before Pye nipped back through at Russell on the next tour. Over the remaining 14 laps the pair engaged in a wheel-to-wheel duel that saw the lead swap hands several times.
Buri looked to have sealed victory when he grabbed the advantage at the Esses on the final lap however, only to run wide and allow Pye back through for another victory.
"That's one of those wins I'll always remember as it was so close but incredibly clean as well - we didn't touch once and Antti was very fair," said Pye. "It's been an unbelievable weekend. I have family coming over to England tomorrow from back home so it's fantastic to celebrate this with them."
Malvern briefly made it a three way battle for the lead after five laps before dropping out of contention behind the hard charging Ellinas, who came through from eighth to grab the final podium place. Cammish was fifth, just ahead of Findlay.
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Tom Hornsby
International
