Mighty Maloney makes history as win run continues
British Formula 4
In 2017, Carlin driver Jamie Caroline blitzed to a dominant British Formula 4 championship title, not only becoming the first driver to win all three races at a single round, but also adding another race win to the trio, making it a recordbreaking four wins in a row.
Fast forward to 2019, Carlin had left the championship, returned, and is back to breaking records. With a hat-trick of wins at Oulton Park, Barbadian Zane Maloney became the first driver to collect a new £10,000 prize for winning all races at a meeting. On top of that, adding to a brace at Thruxton and Croft, Maloney smashed his driver coach Caroline’s record of consecutive race wins making it seven on the bounce and heads into the summer with a significant points lead.
“I can’t sum it up really, all I can say is that it’s unbelievable,” Maloney said. “We definitely came into the weekend knowing we could be fast but we didn’t think we would end up with three wins.
“Hopefully it [the record] can stay in Barbados’ hands!”
It was two relatively straightforward pole-to-win drives for Maloney in races one and three, holding off JHR’S Josh Skelton in both, despite a race three safety car, which Maloney admitted “knocked his rhythm”.
But it was the part reversed-grid race two where Maloney truly earned his prize money. A disappointing race one gifted former points leader Louis Foster pole and, while the Double R Racing driver took a significant 3s advantage, gearshift problems that had blighted his entire weekend returned.
Heading into the Island hairpin, Foster got stuck in sixth and found Maloney, Joe Turney and Carter Williams bearing down on him.
Williams was the first and opted to go around the outside while the two Carlin drivers behind went the opposite way, passing both Williams and the struggling Foster on the quicker line.
“I just picked the wrong side and those guys had a better run,” Williams admitted.
With Maloney ahead, it was a comfortable drive to the flag, heading a dominant Carlin one-two, described by the now seven-time race winner as “the hardest race of the year and definitely the most satisfying”.