Ed Brand is European Junior Max vice-Champion! Brand showed genuine star quality with a brilliant performance in the final round of the Euro Max kart championship in France last weekend (12/13 September). The HRS Motorsport driver had headed to Salbris fifteen points off the championship lead, knowing that he needed to produce something special if he was to stand a chance of lifting the European Junior Max title.
The first glimpse he gave of what would be a dominant performance throughout the weekend, was his fastest lap in timed qualifying, when he was comfortably the quickest of the thirty-strong field. And a glimpse was all that most of his rivals would see of him for much of the event. Ed won all three of the heats to secure pole position for Sunday’s pre-final.
Shortly after the start of the first race, he was leading - but suddenly found a wasp had flown up the underside of his helmet and was now trapped. Unaware of what was happening, Ed’s team looked on, baffled by his desperate attempts to free the increasingly angry insect by “fiddling with his visor”, as his father Mark, somewhat prosaically put it. After three nerve-wracking laps, he managed to release it and suffered no further dramas as he recovered his composure, drove to the chequered flag and take his fourth win of the weekend.
Having successfully completed this first objective, the CRG driver had it all to do again in the following race. Another faultless drive saw Ed comfortably win by over two seconds - but it was just not enough for him to pip fellow Englishman Josh Webster to the title.
“I knew beforehand that I needed something of a miracle and had to win both finals, if I was to stand any chance of beating Josh in the points. I did everything that was asked of me, but it just wasn’t enough,” he said phlegmatically before adding, “But I’m very happy. We showed what we can do today and my other main objective was to qualify for the Rotax World Finals [at Sharm el-Sheik in December]. I’ve now done that, so we have a happy team, mechanic and driver.”
Before he can pack for the superb Ghibli Race, located near the Red Sea, Ed is bidding for victory in the final round of the British Super 1 series at PFi in Lincolnshire, this weekend [19/20 September].
“I’m leading the championship, but it will be a very close thing. The nature of the circuit [two very tight hairpins in succession] means that you have to stay out of trouble during the opening lap. My job will be to keep the kart on the tarmac and shiny side up. But after Salbris, I feel like I’m in great form, so we’ll just have to see.”
Keep up to speed with Ed’s career and fortunes on the track, visit www.edbrandracing.net |
