Mark Kimber produced one of the best performances of his young motorsport career during the latest round of the Rotax Euro Challenge over the weekend, 25th/26th July, after scything his way through from the back of the 34 competitor field to take a stunning top six finish.

 On the pace from the outset at the Wackersdorf track, the 13-year-old was eighth fastest in timed qualifying, within just 0.4 seconds of the top of the times, and he went on to post a strong top six finish in his opening ‘Heat’ just a couple of seconds shy of the podium.

 Having to settle for 17th place in the second of his Heats, despite running pace a match for the top three, the Veloce Sports-managed teenager then had a mountain to climb in the all-important Final on Sunday after an incident on the opening lap of the Pre-Final.

 Leading to 34th on the grid for the grand finale, the Dan Holland Racing driver faced an immense challenge but he produced a stunning performance and, given a couple more laps, he could easily have finished on the podium.

 From the back row of the heavily subscribed grid, Kimber wasn’t remotely fazed by the task which awaited him in the Final and instantly set about making progress. Delivering a remarkable showing, he sliced his way through the order like a hot knife through butter picking off places at a rapid rate.

 Ending the 15 lap encounter in sixth position at the wheel of his FA Kart, a mere 1.4 seconds outside the top three, the young British talent produced a best lap time of 52.279 seconds which was less than 0.1 seconds off the fastest of the race.

“Our pace was good all week, we topped the timing sheets in most practice sessions and everything went well”, said Kimber, “I had a good start in the Pre-Final, but I got collected early on the first lap in an incident which caused a crash – the engine cut-out and it wouldn’t re-start.

“We came back stronger in the Final, though, going from 34th on the grid to sixth and coming close to getting on the podium. That performance gives me a lot of confidence going forward into the next round at Genk where I’m sure we’ll be very competitive again.”

Veloce Sports founder Rupert Svendsen-Cook added: “This is a fantastic result for Mark. Yet again, he has shown his talent and character to come through the field like he did in the Final. The Euromax is an incredibly competitive championship, so it’s credit to both Mark and DHR for being at the front all weekend.”

Round four of the Rotax Euro Challenge will take place over the weekend 5th/6th September at Genk in Belgium.