Brands Hatch - Car Mats UK Race Car
Car Mats UK Race Car Season Summary - Part 1
The middle of summer at Brands Hatch was very hot! Track temperature at race time was 54 degrees and trying to keep cool was the order of the day.
After a horror crash at this very circuit 2 years earlier which almost ended Andrews racing career, this was the first time back at the track and the first time in the Carmats-UK.com Honda Civic Type R.
After a tentative qualifying session, Andrew put the car 6th on the grid. The early laps were spent fighting with the nibble little Clio of Robert Jarman, who eventually pulled a gap on Andrew during the first half of the race. Back markers came into play quite early in the race as Brands Hatch Indy is such a short lap!
The pit stop was well timed as it came at the end of a safety car period where Andrew held the field from the front and then used the re-start to shoot into the pits and gain an advantage over the rest of the field.
As the second half of the race wore on, the quick cars were gaining on Andrew and managed to get past with only a few laps to spare. 3rd in class was looking to be the result until into sight came the Honda Integra of Danny Cassar. Andrew used a couple of laps to decide on the best passing place and then managed to squeeze past Cassar going into Paddock Hill Bend. Andrew held the position to the end of the race and finished 2nd in a closely fought Class A and 5th overall.
See the in car action here: