by Russell Macdonald.
Brands Hatch 1 April 2012
Westbourne Motorsport newcomer Ant Whorton-Eales made a strong start to his 2012 season, securing the Rookie Trophy and proving his worth among the more experienced drivers.
‘It went really good today! From thirteenth to fifth, we passed quite a few cars, but obviously a lot of it was to do with the crash at the start. Overall, it was a great race and massive thanks to Westbourne,’ said the 17 year-old.
Driving the number 10 car in his first weekend of racing for the Westbourne team, Whorton-Eales luckily avoided the carnage at the third corner of the first lap – which took five cars out of the race and resulted in the safety car being deployed – maintaining his position behind team-mate James Colburn to finish the race fifth overall.
The 2011 Mini Challenge Club Class champion’s drive also earns him fifth place in the drivers’ championship with 34 points.
Meanwhile, Westbourne veteran Colburn got off to a fighting start from P5 on the grid, narrowly avoiding being pushed into the barrier from the off and tussling briefly with Jack Goff’s number 33 Team Pyro car. The 2011 championship runner-up also kept up with the race leaders, avoiding the pile-up at Cooper’s and fending off the challenge from Josh Files to preserve fourth place.
Unfortunately, exceeding the track limits once too often sustained a 5-second penalty for the Worthing driver, resulting in an overall seventh place finish.
William earned a fixed penalty from the marshals for his off track parking ! Ha !!
William Davidson’s race came to a premature end when he sustained contact from Team Pyro’s Kim Andersson, collecting a couple of Brands Hatch advertising hoardings in the process. Davidson’s car sustained damage to its steering, resulting in his retirement from the race but otherwise the 16-year-old was unscathed.
An eventful start to the season for Team Westbourne, and the drivers are looking forward to the next round at Donington Park in two weeks’ time.