Russ Danzey endured a real rollercoaster ride of things in the Western region qualification round for the prestigious CIK-FIA European Championship Final at PF International – but by successfully making it through the various stages of elimination, the highly-rated young Sheffield star made sure that later this summer, he will go up against the world’s best for one of the most coveted prizes in international karting.

With 57 drivers – 22 of them Brits and the remaining 35 composed of the very crème de la crème of KF2 class talent from France, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, America and the Republic of Ireland – bidding for just 26 passages through to Europe, the calibre was always going to be high and the competition fierce.

What’s more, to compound matters, the event marked only Russ’ third-ever meeting at senior level – having boldly graduated from juniors this year to pit himself against drivers as much as twice his age – meaning he was still lacking somewhat in the experience stakes in comparison with most of his adversaries.

“We were looking to finish inside the top 26 – that was the main thing,” he revealed. “PF is my home circuit and the team’s home circuit too, and I enjoy racing there – I’ve probably driven more round there than anywhere else. I never really get tired of it, because it has a wide variety of corners and the conditions are always changing, which means the track is never the same twice. That makes it challenging – and really keeps you on your toes!”

Lapping consistently inside the top three in the wet in practice was an excellent start, and whilst he was a little further from the pace in the dry, the Dore-based ace was closing all the time. Unfortunately, after qualifying a solid 17th – just under eight tenths of a second shy of the outright benchmark as he admitted to having got the tyre pressures slightly wrong – and entering the heat races confident that he had more pace than the timesheets suggested, Saturday did not go according to plan.

“It was wet and we knew we were quick in those conditions, but the kart came on very quickly and then dropped off very quickly too,” Russ explained of qualifying. “We were the fastest by a tenth for the first five laps, and then the pace just fell away. Heat one was a disaster; on the first warming-up lap the engine was coughing and spluttering, so we came in and the team replaced the spark plug. I went out again and it all felt fine, but by then I was half a lap down. I was one of the quickest on the track after that, but then I picked up a puncture so the team decided to call me back into the pits to save the tyres for the rest of the heats.

“Then in the second heat, as I tried to heat up the brakes on the warming-up laps, I instantly knew there was a problem with the fronts – they were all spongy, which was causing the kart to pull horrendously to the right. I was struggling to keep it on the track – every time I pushed I came close to spinning. I could only use the rear brakes, which cost me a lot of time, and I ended up 13th.”

A good start in heat three paved the way for a strong run to seventh at the chequered flag, having impressively closed the gap separating him from the leaders in terms of lap time to less than a tenth of a second – and a brilliant fifth place in heat four secured Russ 27th in the intermediate rankings, and assured the 15-year-old of progressing through to the finals the following day.

“I got a good start and was as quick as the leaders if not a tiny bit quicker,” he recounted of the fourth heat, “but they had been able to build up such a huge early gap that it was virtually impossible to catch them. I was lapping half a tenth faster, but that wasn’t enough to close on them in the time we had. After the third heat I had thought I needed a top three to go through, so I was really worried when I came in fifth – but the way it worked out I got through comfortably.

“Of course I would have loved to have been higher up – and I felt we should have been – but there were a lot of good drivers out there who were left down the order or failed to qualify at all due to mechanical issues or the general lack of driving standards. Some of the European drivers were going into the first hairpin kamikaze-style. A lot of that was down to lack of circuit knowledge compared to the Brits, and that led to quite a few crashes – and some of the drivers further back who were struggling to get up there on pace were resorting to pretty desperate measures to try to get through.

“In the first final I got driven into and forced onto the grass at the first corner; my rear bumper got wedged between one of the wheels and the chain guard, and as I tried to get back onto the track it spat me round and I struggled to get going again. I had to get out of the kart and managed to pull it back onto the circuit to re-start, but by that time we were a long way behind and we didn’t have great pace after that because the bumper was rubbing against the wheel.”

His troubles an indictment of the driving standards to which he earlier alluded, 30th place left Russ with it all to do later on in the second final and meant the pressure was on. Despite the best efforts of the reigning World Cup winner to spoil his day, it was a situation that the JM Racing speed demon handled maturely and with admirable aplomb.

“At the first start David Da Luz pushed me off into turn one, which ripped my bumper to bits and left me worrying that I would never get through,” he recalled, “but luckily for me the race was red-flagged. The team did an absolutely unbelievable job to replace the back brakes with only 15 minutes before the re-start – it really was all hands to the pumps! They did brilliantly, and I want to thank them all for that.

“I also had a word with Da Luz during that time, but at the re-start he did exactly the same again. He pushed me wide into the first corner, which left me fuming – but then there was quite a big crash at the second hairpin which blocked the track, so I had to take to the grass and I gained quite a few places there. After that I was catching people ahead of me quite quickly and got back up to 15th, but then as the kart began to drop off again I fell down to 17th.

“I still thought that would be enough and I was ecstatic when I came in, but my team manager Tom told me I was the first driver to have missed out. I was distraught, but then Da Luz got called up before the stewards and after an hour-and-a-half we found out he had been given a ten-second penalty, which moved me up to 26th.”

From elation to agony and back to elation once more, Russ experienced the whole gamut of emotions that Sunday afternoon in Lincolnshire – joking that it was ‘certainly one of the more eventful weekends I’ve had’ – but his determination was justifiably rewarded at the end by making it through to the European Final, which will take place at Genk in Belgium a day after he turns 16 in July. Though testing ahead of the event might be tricky due to his forthcoming GCSEs, the Westbourne School pupil is hopeful of giving himself a very timely birthday present.

“I love the circuit,” he enthused. “It’s good for overtaking, I’ve always really enjoyed driving there and I got a podium in the KF3 class in Formula Kart Stars last year. I know the track quite well, so I’m feeling confident. It’s a real drivers’ circuit and I’m definitely aiming to be right up there – and hopefully we can get a top finish!”

Russ is still seeking sponsorship for 2010, and if you are interested in backing South Yorkshire’s brightest budding F1 hope, please contact his father Rob on 07779 995555 or at: robert.danzey@mac.com