Two-day trip to Alabama in the offing for 17-year-old Essex racer, as well as Airwaves BTCC test alongside champion Dan Cammish

Courtesy Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain

BRANDS HATCH, England - Juan Rosso may have claimed victory in the final Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship race of the British season, but Harrison Scott was the big winner of the day, with the 17-year-old Essex racer confirmed as the Mazda Road To Indy Formula Ford Driver of the Year.

The news was revealed to a stunned Scott live on ITV4 by Louise Goodman, immediately after the 30th round of the championship at Brands Hatch this afternoon. He was selected from the championship nominees by a panel of UK and US racing experts as not only the driver with the most promise but also the one who would gain the most from the scholarship award, which will see him travel to Alabama in December to take a free full-day test in a USF2000 single-seater, as well as a further full day’s testing in a Pro Mazda car.

“It’s brilliant news,” said the Althorne-based Falcon Motorsport driver. “I can’t wait. It will be a great experience to take a two-day test in the States; I hope that I can do the championship proud. There will be teams out there looking for drivers, and I’m hoping to make a good impression.”

Championship manager Sam Roach said of Scott’s selection for the Mazda Road To Indy prize: “To go from karts to cars is a big step, and Harrison has impressed everybody with his very positive approach to the transition. We think he’s going to go far with that attitude.”

Scott, whose debut season in car racing this was, has enjoyed a remarkably successful year. He won the Scholarship Class for rookie racers and with it free entry to the 2014 championship; he was also second overall in the championship behind the unstoppable Cammish, and will join Cammish for an end-of-season test session in one of the Airwaves Racing team’s Ford Focus BTCC cars. Scott was one of only two drivers this season to out-qualify Cammish, and he claimed his maiden car-racing victory at Silverstone late last month.

“The USA test and the touring car test will be two great experiences for me,” added . “I’m really pleased for the whole team because we have all worked hard this year. To win the Scholarship and second overall in the championship makes me really happy.”

Another award to go Scott’s way today was the Joe Tandy Memorial Trophy, awarded to the best rookie of the season by the JTR team and Joe’s parents.

In today’s 30th and final round of the championship Argentina’s Juan Rosso claimed a Brands Hatch hat-trick, taking another victory for Jamun Racing to follow his twin Saturday wins. Andy Richardson ran Rosso a close second to equal his best result of the season, with James Abbott third to claim another podium finish for Radical Motorsport.

This time around, Rosso’s challenge was made all the more difficult by a track made slippery by heavy rain before the race. Rosso started from pole - his first in Formula Ford - and made a perfect getaway to open a lead of 3.4s over impressive championship newcomer Simon Rudd (Falcon Motorsport) on the opening lap.

Alas for Rosso, all his hard work was negated by the arrival on track of the Safety Car. It was required because JTR man Max Marshall had tipped his team-mate Sam Brabham into a spin at Clark Curve and both had rotated into the gravel. Rosso made no mistake at the restart, however, and quickly rebuilt his advantage.

Another clash, this time at Paddock Hill Bend between Camren Kaminsky (JTR) and Jayde Kruger (Jamun), split Rosso’s pursuers and allowed Richardson and Abbott to move ahead of Rudd. After disputing second between themselves for a lap, Richardson established the upper hand and set about whittling back Rosso’s lead at the rate of two seconds a lap. Rosso was just under three seconds ahead of Andy at the finish line.

“It’s a good end to a difficult year,” said Richardson. “It’s been such a hard year, the team has done so much and we haven’t really scored the results to reward them. It’s a fantastic car; it’s felt great because it has been brilliantly prepared all year. It was great to have such a fun last race. Maybe if there had been a couple more laps I might have got up to Juan.” His result equals his previous best, set at Thruxton in May behind Cammish.

Rosso was ecstatic with his third win of the weekend: “The car was great the whole race, but it was very slippery on the track. In the end I made a mistake in the first corner and after that I decided there is no sense to keep going fast, so I slow down and enjoy it.”

Abbott’s third place was his and the Radical team’s second podium of the weekend, and was achieved under pressure from Kruger, who survived the fifth-lap accident which ended Kaminsky’s race. Kruger finished fourth, ahead of Scott, who battled back from an opening-lap spin, Rudd, Connor Mills in the Meridian Mygale and Luke Reade’s Falcon car.