Herron Teams With Fellow Stars

TO RAISE ALMOST £50,000BP Ultimate Celebrity Kart Challenge regular Andrew Herron joined a host of fellow motorsport stars at the NEC in Birmingham on Friday, 9th January, to help raise tens of thousands of pounds for the Richard Burns Foundation during the 2009 Autosport International Show.Competing as part of the ‘Thundercats’ team, which also included fellow saloon car racer Robert Lawson, Formula 3 driver Dean Smith and MINI Challenge competitor Ollie Mortimer, 20-year-old Andrew aimed to secure his second podium finish in the event in as many years but a series of kart troubles ruined the squad’s hopes.Nonetheless, the Co.Down racer thoroughly enjoyed participating in the endurance kart race once again which, overall, raised almost £50,000 for the Richard Burns Foundation – a charity established in memory of the former World Rally Champion who very sadly succumbed to brain cancer several years ago.“It’s fantastic we’re able to all join together at the start of each year to raise money for charity and it was a pleasure to be involved again this year”, he said, “I really wanted to finish on the podium again but it wasn’t to be unfortunately due to the many problems we had with the kart. The main thing was to raise as much as possible though – nearly £50,000 is an amazing total.”Prior to the two-hour endurance race itself, the team had problems with its kart during the short practice session when the brake pedal became stuck. After switching karts, the second machine developed issues so the team had to revert to the original kart.Starting fifth on the grid, hopes remained high for a good result but just two corners into the race Dean Smith had to pull out due to the re-emergence of the brake problem which was thought to have been rectified. After losing around half an hour while the kart was repaired again, the team did eventually finish in 12th position with Andrew driving the final stint.Although Andrew is yet to confirm his plans for the 2009 motorsport season, the Dromore based youngster is eyeing a graduation to Porsche Carrera Cup GB as he aims to remain on the British Touring Car Championship support package. However, he is also considering several other offers in alternative categories which have also been tabled.

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