Karting now ‘a distant memory’ for Danzey as car racing career revs up a gear
Russ Danzey might have competed in only two car racing meetings to-date, but his five years of karting already seem like ‘a distant memory’ as he eagerly anticipates his third outing around the fastest and most fearsome circuit of all.
Having made his debut in the inaugural Autosport Young Guns single-seater series at Castle Combe in Wiltshire, four weeks later Russ headed to Brands Hatch in Kent to continue his apprenticeship, and after testing there beforehand to get an initial feel for the Indy layout and its demands, the 16-year-old Dore-based ace soon developed an appreciation for one of the most iconic tracks in the country.
“I got accustomed to the circuit quite quickly and found it very enjoyable,” he acknowledged. “It’s a very technical track and a hard one to drive, but fantastic fun at the same time. It’s very easy to go wrong, and if you do it can bite you quite severely, but that’s part of what makes it such a great circuit – you have to drive so close to the edge and go right to the limit to keep up with the field, but if you stray just one per cent over your limit you’ll be off.”
Swift during practice behind the wheel of his 135bhp, 130mph John Surtees Scholarship car that is being run by Falcon Motorsport, the Westbourne School pupil was just getting into the groove in qualifying when the heavens unfortunately opened, leaving him fifth on the grid for both races.
In the first of them, he found himself leapfrogged when the starting lights went out by the driver alongside him on the favourable outside line, but thereafter proceeded to match the two rivals ahead of him for lap time, which did his confidence a world of good. Subsequently buoyed up for race two, this time around Russ made a better getaway and – in front of new sponsors Steve Jacques and Hazel Starmer of Integrity HR – went on to take the chequered flag a competitive fifth.
Better yet, a fastest lap just a few tenths of a second off that of the best of the race was a huge source of encouragement, confirming the considerable step forward that the South Yorkshire hotshot has clearly made in the short period of time since Castle Combe. As he prepares next to head to the ultra-quick Thruxton in Hampshire – a real balls-out track if ever there was one – the karting career that concluded only a matter of months ago already seems like a previous life.
“I’m continuing to get better all the time and feeling increasingly comfortable, and karting is almost a distant memory now,” Russ concluded of his flawlessly impressive transition into cars, barely able to conceal his excitement about what lies ahead as he builds himself up towards a season-long assault in 2011. “It’s still baby steps at the moment as I learn and get used to everything, though we did take a big leap forward I felt at Brands.
“There are some very good drivers in the field and it’s nice to be pitching myself against people like that, and I just can’t wait for Thruxton now! That will be another new challenge, and one I’m really looking forward to. I’ve never been there before, but I’ve heard it has only one big braking zone and a lot of fast, flowing corners – and as far as I’m concerned, the faster the better!”
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
