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Ed
Brand sealed the Trent Valley Kart Club Winter Series yesterday (2 March) with
a canny drive to 3rd place in the Junior Rotax final.
Having
won the previous round at the PFI circuit in Lincolnshire on 3
February, 13-year old Ed returned to the circuit very much the man to beat.
Ed survived the preliminary heats to finish 9th (after
starting 22nd on the grid) and 2nd, giving him 4th
on the grid for the Final. If Ed’s nerves weren’t already jangling at the
prospect that a good finish would seal the title, they were when his motor
refused to fire. He explains: “An
electrical cable had come loose, so when I went to start the engine – nothing!
We frantically looked over the kart and the officials kindly delayed the start,
so that I could work my way through the pack to my correct grid position once
we’d found the problem.”
He describes the action: “The
first heat was a bit bumper car-ish. I should’ve finished higher than 9th
but I didn’t put in a particularly good drive. The second race was crazy
though. We had three attempts at starts and I think I only did about two laps
of actual racing because we were slowed down by the full-course yellows.
Eventually a red flag brought an end to the race while I was in 2nd
place.
For the Final,
I was on the outside for the first corner and as we piled into it, I couldn’t
get across and dropped down the order. I got back up to 4th place
and sat behind the third-placed man. With two laps to go, the lead pair had
started fighting and I was thinking, ‘I could win this’. I moved into 3rd
just as they were beginning to look like they could knock each other off the
circuit. At that point, I decided, ‘They could take each other out - or me’.
With 3rd good enough for the Championship, I opted to play it safe.”
Having beaten some of his British Super 1 championship rivals to
the TVKC Winter Series title, does the Paul Carr driver think he can do it
again? He chuckles: “Well… This is my
first year in the class and I’m very much the baby of the bunch – I’m racing
older and more experienced drivers but when we started the year, my dad said if
we end the year in the top ten up, that will be a good result. Then that became
a top five and now, I think I’ll be really cheesed-off if I don’t finish in the
top three. I think we’re in it to win it now.”
He
added: “I know Paul (Carr) wouldn’t want me to get carried away but this
first title says a lot about the team, the Kosmic chassis and his engines. The
whole package is great. I’d also like to thank my mechanic, Dean and my dad
Mark, who got the best out of me and the set-up”.
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