Ed Brand maintained his perfect start to the new national karting season with a hard-fought victory and a new lap record in Oxfordshire yesterday.
Two wins from two events and domination of the weekend’s preliminaries. The Ed Brand Show continued in fine style at the fast Shenington circuit where Strawberry Racing’s 16-year old star kept his cool to claim his second successive victory in the British Super One Rotax championship.
The large entry needed to be split into two groups for timed qualifying, with Brand topping the timesheets in his session to give himself front-row starting positions for the two preliminary heats. “I went out and won them,” was how Ed casually described taking back-to-back triumphs and duly earning pole position for the first of Sunday’s two points-scoring finals.
“The first final was the interesting one,” he added with an impish grin. “I was leading and at the head of a stream of eight karts. In one of the corners I was pushed wide and in those circumstances was pushed back to 7th. The train (of karts) simply comes past and you can’t push back in.”
A breakaway formed leaving two karts clear of the chasing pack and Ed aware that he needed to make rapid progress up the order. “The lead pair had broken away and the driver in front was then able to extend a gap over the driver in 2nd. Things were getting a bit hairy and at one point, I went past the grandstand on two wheels. The front of my kart had become hooked on the rear bumper of the one ahead. I managed to free it and when my team-mates Jack Marshall and John Stewart had a coming together moved up two more places.”
Finding himself a distant 3rd, Ed chased down the driver ahead but knowing that his finishing position in the pre-final would determine his grid position for the main final, he cannily opted to hold station.
Sitting right behind the driver on pole position and having the vital inside line for the high speed run down to the first, left-hand corner Ed survived the opening moments and briefly snatched the lead. Once again, the lead pair edged away from their pursuers. Having overcome the challenges from behind, he was able to concentrate on catching the leaders. It took him just two laps – in which he established a new lap record of 41.49s - and a further tour of the fast north Oxfordshire track to seize the advantage.
“From there I got my head down, broke the tow and got away. On paper it was a comfortable win and the spectators saw me cross the line four to five kart-lengths clear but I hard to work hard for that one. It was a tough race to win and I couldn’t afford to relax one iota.”
