Scott Malvern 2012

[Peter Cammish]

Deemun, I have followed your posts for 3 years and while I couldnt agree with everything I think its clear you have a genuine passion, maybe like me 30 years ago, the reality of motorsport is cruel in the extreme but at the end of the day I consider the 10 years I spent sponsoring my Son in the sport as probably the best part of my life and I am sure others in same situation feel same, dont be disillusioned, to spend your young years racing cars is a privelege most dont get and as parent to be part of that is a great way to spend a life. For me my enthusiasm was punctured on the 30th of May 2009, Dan in his second every car race put his novice cross fitted Spectrum on pole at Rockingham for Brit FF, in front of some pretty quick guys, Newgarden etc. For 1 Week my phone was hot with some serious motorsport people, first question what do you do how much have you got, once I answered the questions i never got another call except for guy in Germany who ran Dan in ADAC for free, it was possible we could have moved on into German F3 in 2010 but the teams sponsor pulled out and that was that. When I look back it was great to be part of that time, and i am sure that drivers who wont be racing in 2012 should look back with happiness, as I said the sport is not meritocratic so in effect for most its a hobby and thats how I have looked at it since that day at Rockingham, its the best way.

[strider]

Originally Posted by bella

i think it's a crying shame that scott may be left out of racing this year, don't get me wrong. but sadly it's how motorsport works. like everything else, it's driven by money, and spare money is a relatively rare commodity at the moment. the biggest incentive to spend cash on someone is if you know them personally. maybe it's time to buy a new suit and get socially mobile. that helps more in my opinion than going around with a commercial proposal. sad in a way, but true.

Well said. I'm very disappointed for Scott as well, but it's no good saying something should be done about it. These are difficult times and there's very little spare cash around unless it's in the family already.

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by Peter Cammish

Deemun, I have followed your posts for 3 years and while I couldnt agree with everything I think its clear you have a genuine passion, maybe like me 30 years ago, the reality of motorsport is cruel in the extreme but at the end of the day I consider the 10 years I spent sponsoring my Son in the sport as probably the best part of my life and I am sure others in same situation feel same, dont be disillusioned, to spend your young years racing cars is a privelege most dont get and as parent to be part of that is a great way to spend a life. For me my enthusiasm was punctured on the 30th of May 2009, Dan in his second every car race put his novice cross fitted Spectrum on pole at Rockingham for Brit FF, in front of some pretty quick guys, Newgarden etc. For 1 Week my phone was hot with some serious motorsport people, first question what do you do how much have you got, once I answered the questions i never got another call except for guy in Germany who ran Dan in ADAC for free, it was possible we could have moved on into German F3 in 2010 but the teams sponsor pulled out and that was that. When I look back it was great to be part of that time, and i am sure that drivers who wont be racing in 2012 should look back with happiness, as I said the sport is not meritocratic so in effect for most its a hobby and thats how I have looked at it since that day at Rockingham, its the best way.

The bit in bold is true, and that's how we should all regard the sport.
We all have our hobbies, and when we cannot afford to do them we don't do them. I didn't even have enough money to start my favourite sport, so I now do other, less expensive, hobbies. But only when I have the money to do them. Simple really.

[FFfan]

Firstly I'm flattered that Scott should merit so much discussion on here. If you read the comments of Autosport journalist Kevin Turner in the McLaren Autosport Award thread he states why Scott has so much support amongst genuine motor racing fans. Mainly because he is very hard working and has managed to get as far as has without coming from a well off background.

Peter Cammish I know exactly where you are coming from I have had many similar telephone conversations with Team managers and owners who have contacted me who I feel really don't understand the position we are in.

Don't get me wrong, if it all stops here and now we have still had a wonderful time and no one can take away from Scott what he has achieved against all the odds. In fact the easiest thing to do now would be to give up and get on with our lives. Afterall no one is forcing us to do this but while there is a chance for Scott to continue and perhaps earn a living from motor racing one day then we are happy to keep trying.

Easton Neston I am sure I have commented earlier in this thread about RSF. I have no problem with them at all; in fact quite the opposite. They did consider assisting Scott in 2010 but he was over the age of the drivers that they traditionally help (he was 21 at the time) and for that reason they decided not to assist him. That is their privilege of course and as both Scott & I have commented since it is far better that they support the racing drivers and motor cycle riders that they do rather than do nothing at all. Obviously they cannot help everybody. The biggest shame is that there are not more companies/schemes etc out there following their lead.

I do agree with many of the comments made here and on other websites that motor racing should have more structure to it and there should be more championship prizes, scholarships etc not only for the drivers sake but also for the championships themselves. It's not a great advert for British FF if a driver like Scott dominates one season and then has no drive the next while others who finished below him in the championship and didn't enjoy anything like his success move up to F3 etc.

But if is to change it's not going to happen overnight and likely not be in time to help Scott's situation. I'd really like to see the FIA do a top down revue of the sport looking at costs and class structures but I suspect for commercial reasons it will never happen.

I'd love to see Scott get somewhere because he really does work incredibly hard. Of course if driving doesn't happen for him he has other skills in the sport that he can fall back on having studied motorsport engineering and worked as a mechanic. We know that the sport doesn't owe him or anyone else a living.

Dominic Malvern - Scott's Dad

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by FFfan

Don't get me wrong, if it all stops here and now we have still had a wonderful time and no one can take away from Scott what he has achieved against all the odds. In fact the easiest thing to do now would be to give up and get on with our lives. Afterall no one is forcing us to do this

I pretty much agree with what most of the others have said in this thread. Scott's turned in a fantastic performance in Formula Ford this year, a performance that will be remembered for many years to come.

But I think you've cut to the quick in this extract here. Much as all of us would love to see Scott progress, and possibly get a chance at F1 one day, driving talent alone has never been enough to mount a motor racing campaign... and this has never been truer than right now. In the 30 odd years I've been racing, I've seen so many 'ordinary people' financially devastated in their '...at all costs' quest to follow their dream. Nothing's worth that. If Scott hasn't been born into millions, or lucked into a sugar daddy, then best to follow your head and not your heart.

[ptclaus98]

Hey FFfan, might Scott still be active in karting?

[Bowser]

Scotts story is scarily similar to the 2006 fford champion Nathan Freke

[barnettracing]

At least Nathan had the ability to (eventually) set up his own team and has been able to run himself in the Ginetta G55 Supercup (and the previous G50 Cup).

Dominic, has Scott even got the money to be able to race just for fun? As, at the end of the day, that is the one thing we all do this for, the enjoyment.

This would be the real sad situation, if Scott is unable to race at all. Have you tried and SPEED teams (previously VdeV)? Darren Burke managed to get a works Juno drive on the back of his HSCC Historic FF1600 domination. I'd imagine one of those cars would be a good step up for Scott and would get him into sportscars. I don't know what sort of budgets they are looking for though.

[FFfan]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately Scott is very bereft of funds as things stand but we haven't quite given up yet and we are hopeful that he will do some racing this year even if it isn't a full season. Last year he turned down two offers to drive in the end of season WHT because of the clash with the McLaren award competition so I'd like to think that things like that will still be offered to him.

Yes we have spoken to teams in the EURO SPEED series but they still need quite a lot of funding. It's just the way things are at the moment. Where previously some teams in GT's & sports cars etc had some team backing now that is gone and all of the funding has to come from the drivers.

Scott is being kept very busy at the moment working with the kart team (He is at Buckmore Park this weekend, Kimbolton last) and is still being called upon to do some further development work on the Ford ECOboost car & has one or two other track days that he has been asked to do so he is still very much involved in motorsport. But of course he'd much rather be able to prove his ability further in another professional racing series and is naturally disappointed that the planned move to F2 which looked to be progressing extremely well late last year unfortunately didn't happen through circumstances entirely beyond his control.

Dominic Malvern

[davyboy]

Dominic, there's actually quite a lot more money swilling around top line kart racing, particularly in Europe, when compared to cars. I don't know whether Scott's had any connections with any of the major Italian organizations, but they do run works drivers and they do pay them. Many professional kart drivers such as Terry Fullerton, Mike Wilson, Davide Fore, Marco Ardigo etc..., who whipped the asses of just about every F1 driver over the last 30 years, have made very comfortable livings out of professional kart racing... and that's led on to driver coaching etc... in later life. It might be something worth considering.

[barnettracing]

Originally Posted by davyboy

Dominic, there's actually quite a lot more money swilling around top line kart racing, particularly in Europe, when compared to cars. I don't know whether Scott's had any connections with any of the major Italian organizations, but they do run works drivers and they do pay them. Many professional kart drivers such as Terry Fullerton, Mike Wilson, Davide Fore, Marco Ardigo etc..., who whipped the asses of just about every F1 driver over the last 30 years, have made very comfortable livings out of professional kart racing... and that's led on to driver coaching etc... in later life. It might be something worth considering.

I know that Davide Forè is earning a hefty wage racing for CRG!

[chunterer]

There was a really good Italian in the late 90's as well, can't recall the name but I think he only did a few cars races and stayed in karting instead?

He was up against Johnny Misjlevic, and a few other guys?

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by chunterer

There was a really good Italian in the late 90's as well, can't recall the name but I think he only did a few cars races and stayed in karting instead?

He was up against Johnny Misjlevic, and a few other guys?

Most of the greatest drivers of all time never left kart racing for all the reasons we discussed above.

[Alex K]

@chunterer I think you are on about Mislijevic, he has "a break" for German F3.

[META4]

Originally Posted by chunterer

There was a really good Italian in the late 90's as well, can't recall the name but I think he only did a few cars races and stayed in karting instead?

He was up against Johnny Misjlevic, and a few other guys?

Danillo Rossi or Alessandro Manetti

[chunterer]

Yes Manetti could be the one. I know about Rossi and Misjilevic who did F3 in 97 I think.

[Deemun]

Good to see Scott giving the Cliff Dempsey Racing BARC spec Formula Renault car a shakedown at Silverstone yesterday. He was very quick as well on three year old rubber.

[Jarjarbinks]

rumours say daniel roos was running a barc renault aswell at silverstone????

last i heard here in sweden he was going to enter the new tta championship in sweden??

confirmations?

sorry about ot but couldnt find any barc 2012 thread and found thsi saying scott malvern testing barc at silverstone aswell.

[Deemun]

I find this amazing! Ford have awarded the "scholarship" champion a prize worth over £30k for his achivements in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain in 2011 while the overall Champion and record breaker receives nothing! How can this be right?

http://www.britishformulaford.co.uk/...012/120312.htm

Really have no axe to grind with Cavan Corcoran who seems like a decent young man and it's great that he is getting a leg up but what about the career of the driver who broke all the previous known records in 2011 and completely dominated the Formula Ford scene in the UK & Europe!

It currently looks as though his career has stalled despite all his success and hard work. Why can Ford not do anything for Scott Malvern???

[ivanalesi]

It's because if he's going to progress, he's not going to drive a Ford powered car. Little selfish, but you can't expect them to fund Malvern for Formula Renault, especially when it's their main competitor.

[davyboy]

That doesn't make sense at all. Wherever the winner of the FF championship 'progresses' to in single seaters they will not be driving a Ford powered car. Furthermore if the best rookie stays another year in FF, they won't be 'progressing'. They'll be staying put.

As has been said above, the difference in prize between champion and rookie of the year is bizarre.

[tristancliffe]

Originally Posted by Deemun

I find this amazing! Ford have awarded the "scholarship" champion a prize worth over £30k for his achivements in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain in 2011 while the overall Champion and record breaker receives nothing! How can this be right?

http://www.britishformulaford.co.uk/...012/120312.htm

Really have no axe to grind with Cavan Corcoran who seems like a decent young man and it's great that he is getting a leg up but what about the career of the driver who broke all the previous known records in 2011 and completely dominated the Formula Ford scene in the UK & Europe!

It currently looks as though his career has stalled despite all his success and hard work. Why can Ford not do anything for Scott Malvern???

Maybe Scott should have entered the scholarship championship instead.

Had to turn running Scott down a few weeks ago (although we never spoke to him directly, so I assumed he wasn't that keen anyway) because it wouldn't make sense for us to run him in F3 Cup.

[FFfan]

Originally Posted by tristancliffe

Maybe Scott should have entered the scholarship championship instead.

Had to turn running Scott down a few weeks ago (although we never spoke to him directly, so I assumed he wasn't that keen anyway) because it wouldn't make sense for us to run him in F3 Cup.

Hi Tristran,

Thanks for your remarks about my son. To set the record straight Scott is interested in anything that will keep him active and keep his name out there, so to respond to your point MSV F3 cup would be a viable option. In fact my personal opionion is that it will be a very good championship this year.

The reason he hasn't contacted you is that as things stand his financial plight is so dire that he wouldn't want to waste your time! Until he can bring some sensible funding to the table then there is little point in entering into serious discussion with anybody.

In the meantime we keep working hard to get ourselves into a position to put something together! (KBO)

Dominic Malvern (Scott's Dad) - please feel free to send me a private message if you wish to speak more

[Frosty11]

It would be a real shame if Scott isn't racing this year.

[50-SIX]

To be fair, the Scholarship prize is nothing new. The scholarship cup winner for a fair few seasons has received the 'loan' of a Van Diemen chassis and scholar engine for the following season in the C'ship class (or at least that was the case back in my day - which is approaching 8 years ago deprssingly enough!). The fact is that, depsite all the spin, this is worth pretty much naff all. It may have slightly more worth this year due to Eco boost coming in, but really, how much of an annual budget is allocated to car depreciation? Because that is all you are saving on a budget. A team would prob knock off £5k, £10K max, for having your own car. The cost comes in running the damn thing, tyres, test fees, hotel bills, entry fees, crash damage, small profit for the team, etc.

So in summary, a nice gesture by Ford, but its worth sweet FA in reality.

Ps Scott should be racing this year. He definately deserves to be. Lets hope he can find drive.