JAMES MARTIN IS THE CHAMPION OF MINI FESTIVAL 2013!
James Martin took his first ever race win at the Brands Hatch Mini Festival and is the 2013 Champion of Mini Festival!
The 13 lap handicap race pitted MINI against Mini with a staggered start and one lap handicaps and it all came together in the last few corners for a brilliant finale. Martin was one of those with a one lap head-start and he made it pay to ensure he tasted the winner's champagne for the first time.
He couldn't have been happier to take the win just a year after lining up on his first ever grid.
Speaking after the race, James said: "I had no idea I was in the lead to be honest! All I could see was this pink Mini swarmed over me and all over the place but somehow I managed to pull away. I thought 'I'm going as fast as I possibly can' but the faster cars were coming past me and I had no clue where I was!"
"I got through early but then I didn't know who was going past so I just tried to keep ahead. They had me on the corners and I couldn't have done it any quicker around Paddock Hill, that's a scary place. But it was so much fun, though I'm absolutely exhausted!"
The win after so few races has done nothing but add fuel to his passion for cars and racing, and it won't be long until he's back at Brands Hatch racing again.
"It's my seventh race I think or something like that, and driving these is amazing as you're just slipping and sliding everywhere."
Last year's Mini Festival at Brands Hatch was the scene of James Martin's racing debut but this weekend he took part in no fewer than five races in his immaculate Morris Cooper S.
Speaking earlier in the day Martin was already happy with the weekend's racing: "The weekend's been good. We had a good run out as soon as I'd got here after the show and it went pretty well. It's the second time the car has been out so we've had a few teething problems; it's a new engine and things like that. Plus, last year we had Andy's car, whereas this is my car and we only bought it recently. Everything's bedded in now though and on the whole it's been a successful weekend."
