am Brabham showed improved pace in only his second Formula Kart Stars event competing at national level despite a challenging double-header race weekend at Three Sisters, near Wigan, competing in the Junior Max class.
Demonstrating steady progress throughout rounds three and four of the premier junior karting series, the 16 year-old from Henley tackled the Three Sisters circuit for only the second time in his karting career, having raced just one club meeting there a few weeks prior.
Despite missing out on Friday practice due to sitting his GCSE exams, he impressed with improved pace by qualifying just 0.5 seconds off pole position for round three. However, with the Junior Max class one of the most fiercely fought categories and under one second covering the entire field, that time placed him 23rd.
The closeness of qualifying gave some fore-warning of how tight the racing would be. Sam’s progression saw him inevitably embroiled on the cusp of the midfield melee but his improving form unfortunately was not rewarded with reflective results.
Sam recovered from a torrid time in Saturday’s heats to record his best race finish of the weekend with 17th place in the round three final. His character-building weekend continued on Sunday when he suffered from a lack of straight-line speed which affected his performance in the heats. Although changes to the kart gearing helped the situation it remained an issue and Sam did well in the round four final to battle from the back of the grid to finish 18th.
“It was a challenging second Formula Kart Stars event but I have learned some very valuable things this weekend and my qualifying performance showed how I am achieving my goal of getting quicker at every event,” said Sam.
“Of course, at this level the competition is tough and we unfortunately didn’t get the results we were hoping for. But I am learning so much about myself, as well as my race craft, at every round. I am trying to take everything onboard and my confidence is gradually growing. Most importantly, I’m enjoying my racing so I’d like to thank everyone for their support in helping me get on-track.”
