On SEAT Debut

Northern Ireland saloon car racer Andrew Herron saw a fantastic start to his first ever SEAT Cupra Championship race rapidly undone at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent on Sunday, 30th March, after being forced out of proceedings on the third lap.Qualifying in sixth place for both of the weekend’s races, Andrew began round one well and moved into fifth ahead of Daniel Welch at Druids Hairpin on the opening lap. Next target Carl Breeze was soon in the 19-year-old’s sights and following a great move at Paddock Hill Bend on lap three the JHR Developments ace moved into fourth position.On the run up to Druids though, Welch moved to the inside of Breeze and braked very late into the turn, squeezing up the inside of Andrew’s car as well. Tagged sideways, the Dromore based racer recovered brilliantly and actually managed to get ahead of both experienced SEAT competitors through Graham Hill Bend with an outstanding move.Along Cooper Straight though, more contact from Welch resulted in an early exit from round one for Andrew as he slammed into the barriers hard and came to rest on the grass at Surtees.With his 300bhp SEAT bearing major damage, his team worked hard to repair the car in time for the second round and did a great job to ensure the Brian Herron Contracts backed star would line up on the third row of the grid.Slipping to seventh place off the line, Andrew tried to pressure the cars immediately ahead but his SEAT was still suffering some effects of the earlier impact. Fighting on against the odds, he eventually came home in eighth position having lost some ground when baulked by a slowing car on the racing line at Surtees and McLaren. “It’s been a disappointing weekend, especially as we felt we had a great chance of a couple of good podium results”, commented the SEAT rookie, “In the first race I felt good, the car was strong and I think we could have finished in second place or even challenged for the win.“After being tapped at Druids I thought I was in trouble but then when I got the place back at Graham Hill Bend I felt we’d be ok. I didn’t expect the contact on Cooper Straight so I’m really disappointed with how the race ended. There’s no point dwelling on it though, we need to put it behind us and look ahead to the next two rounds.“The JHR boys did a fantastic job to repair the car for the second race but it was always going to be a struggle. At least we scored some points and hopefully we’ve got all of our bad luck for the season out of the way now!” Rockingham International Super Sports Car Circuit hosts rounds three and four of the 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship just under a fortnight from now, 12th/13th April.