Ed Brand became the third driver in as many races to stand on the top step of the Euro Max Challenge podium after winning last weekend’s (17/18 July) latest round at the appropriately named Speedworld circuit at Bruck, near Vienna.

Racing with the Hungarian Kalman Motorsport team, Ed began his weekend brightly by recording the 3rd fastest lap (out of 72 competitors) during timed qualifying. From there, he won two of his three preliminary heats and was 2nd in the other giving him pole position for the first of Sunday’s two finals. In a tense race, the Freem UK backed driver was able to maintain the upper hand over Holland’s Joey Van Splunteren, beating him to the chequered flag by barely two tenths of a second…

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Ed Brand made a dream start to his British Super 1 kart championship campaign by winning the first race of the season - and then followed it up with a fine runner-up spot in the second. If he was suffering from any nerves about working with an unfamiliar team - on a kart he was still learning about and having the reigning champion as his team-mate - he didn’t let them show.

In tricky, wet conditions on Saturday (20 March), ACR Birel’s new signing was fourth-fastest in timed qualifying. From this promising start, the 15-year old comfortably won his first heat and took third in the return encounter to see him in pole position for the first of Sunday’s two points-scoring finals. “To take the P1 position on my debut with my new team and having just made the step up from the junior to senior ranks was just fantastic, but it’s far from ‘job done’,” he said before the start of the first final.

With twenty nine of Britain’s fastest and most talented drivers swarming all over him, Ed was initially pushed wide and lost the advantage. Dropping down to fourth place, he staged an immediate fightback. Making short work of the drivers ahead of him, he found himself in second place and harrying the leader. Brand pounced under braking for a tight hairpin and from there was able to take a commanding victory. With little time to celebrate, he was back on the grid lining up for the second final.

A magnificent start saw him hold onto his advantage to lead the field across the start/finish line and with drama and crashes behind him, he looked to be holding all the aces. That was until his Birel team-mate, Michael Simpson finally cleared the traffic and began hunting him down. Simpson caught Ed and passed him with an incisive manoeuvre. As the pair ran in line astern, Brand probed and pressed for a way past, but ultimately had to settle for second best rather than risk a collision.

“World-class guys like Simmo rarely make mistakes,” he observed with a smile afterwards. “I tried everything I could to force one but Mike had everything covered, and I didn’t want to commit the cardinal sin of crashing into him and letting another driver win. It’s great that we’re both new leading the championship and with a long way to go (six further rounds) there’ll be plenty more chances for me to beat him!”

This weekend sees Ed back in action, in the opening round of the Euro Max Challenge at Salbris in France.

Jack Barlow and Ed Brand are considered two of the most outstanding Rotax drivers of the current generation - and after championship-winning performances in 2009, Freem UK is delighted to announce a long-term partnership with the pair.

Freem UK’s Managing Director Jonathan Walker says, “We kept a close eye on the performances and development of Jack and Ed throughout last season, and were constantly impressed by the way they conducted themselves on - and off - the track.”

“Freeminds has a history of working with carefully chosen individuals, such as Nyck De Vries, and now we’re bringing that mindset to the UK franchise. Jack and Ed will become Freem UK ambassadors, and we’re looking forward to working with them as they progress through their careers – from karts into cars.”

Last year Jack Barlow won the Formula Kart Stars and Kart Masters Mini Max titles and was a season-long front-runner in the British Super 1 series. Brand enjoyed a unique ‘one, two, three’, after winning the Super 1 Junior Max championship, was Euro Max vice-champion and finished third in the World Finals.

For 2010, Jack will graduate to the Junior category and make his first attempt on the Euro crown. Ed has stepped-up to Seniors class and on his class debut – in the Japanese Winter Cup at New Tokyo (30/31 January) – finished an impressive seventh in the main final. Both drivers will compete in bespoke Freeminds racesuits and will wear the superb Spidertouch gloves and Speed Star 2 race boots; all highly rated for their comfort, durability and feel.

Junior Max star Ed Brand completed a double at Shenington, near Banbury last weekend (26/27 September), by adding the British Open title to his Super 1 championship victory completed earlier in the month.

The event, known simply as the ‘O’ Plate - after the number plate bearing the letter O that is awarded to the winner - is one of British karting’s most prestigious and therefore hard fought for titles.

"It was a dogfight all weekend," said the HRS Motorsport driver. "I really had to work hard for the win, and I did think it would end in tears a few times - but that’s what makes it all the sweeter. To add the British Open to my Super 1 title is just fantastic”.

The weekend had begun well for Ed - who competes on the HRS-designed CRG Dark Knight - chassis when he carved his way from 21st on the grid up to 6th place at the finish, setting the fastest lap of the race. In the following encounter, he finished 2nd but suffered a small reversal of fortune in his next two races, when he crossed the finishing line in 9th and 15th positions. Albeit that he again recorded the quickest lap in the third heat and powered his way up the order from 21st place in his last encounter.

These results were good enough to give Brand fourth place on the grid for the winner-takes-all final.

A steady start saw him maintain his starting place for the first two laps, before he saw a gap and was able to move into 2nd. He trailed the leader for a further tour and briefly assumed the lead before dropping back a place. On lap 8, Ed launched his bid to put the victory beyond doubt. With a furious scrap for the remaining podium places developing behind him, Brand was able to open a gap over his nearest rival and maintain it for the rest of the race, taking the chequered flag over a second clear of the runner-up. The victory has further boosted Ed prior to his appearance at the Rotax World Finals at Sharm el-Sheik in December, where he is hoping to add the international season’s biggest victory to his domestic triumphs.

“I came second in the Euro Max championship and by doing so, earned my place at the World Finals. It will be the biggest race of my life so far but with the team I have behind me and the form I’m currently in, I’m going to Egypt with the aim of winning, not to make up the numbers.”

Second place was enough to give Ed Brand his first British karting title at the PFi circuit in Lincolnshire last Sunday (20 September). The Coles Racing driver had gone into the British Super 1 series’ Junior Max title-decider at the top of the points table, but knew that he could not afford any slip-ups at this crucial stage of the championship.

If he was calm beforehand, his nerves were jangling after timed qualifying. The circuit’s electronic timing failed to pick up the signal from the transponder on Ed’s kart and recorded no time, forcing him to start the two heats from the back of the grid. A determined and gritty performance saw him start from 22nd place on the grid and carve his way up the order to cross the finishing line in 9th place - setting the fastest lap on the way. What made this drive special was the fact that Brand had started well, passing seven karts by the time he had exited the first corner, but then found a spun kart directly in front of him. With nowhere to go, Ed had to come to a stop and wait for the kart to move out of his way. Now in last place, he got going again and began his remarkable ascendancy into the top 10.

An even more impressive drive in the following heat saw Ed power his way from the back of the field, all the way to 2nd position. Many seasoned team owners put aside their rivalry and went to congratulate Ed’s father Mark on his son’s performance. Mark explained, “John Davis [of Force] came up to me and said, ‘In 10 years of racing, that was the best drive I have ever seen’.” The MSA’s Alan Bryant also commented, “That was very, very good. He didn’t touch anyone. It was perfect driving.” Ed’s heat finishes earned him a 3rd row start for the first of Sunday’s two all-important finals - the points for which would go towards his championship score. From the start, he quickly passed two karts to assume 4th place. A lap later he was into 3rd and with 15 laps to go, moved into 2nd spot. He then caught the leader but knowing that his good friend, Lee Napolitano was not in the running for the championship, Ed maturely opted to settle for the runner-up position rather than risk a crash going for the lead and in doing so, clinched his first British Super 1 crown.

Afterwards he said, “To be honest, I’m more relieved than anything. Naturally, I’m delighted to have won and finally lose the ‘bridesmaid’ tag I seemed to have acquired [after finishing second in the Junior TKM and Rotax categories in the previous two years]. This is the result of a lot of hard work and I’m hoping that we can now go onto this weekend’s [26/27 September] British Open Championship [AKA the ‘O’ Plate] at Shenington [in Oxfordshire] and add that trophy to my collection. It would be a fantastic way to finish off what has been an amazing year.” He added, “I would like to thank Adrian and Mike at Coles Racing, Tristram and Nigel at HRS Motorsport, my sponsor, Chris at Vogel and Noot Radiators, plus of course mum, dad and my sister Libby. Oh, and John and William Priest, who got me into all this!”

In addition to becoming the 2009 British Super 1 Junior Rotax champion, Ed won the international Rotax Winter Cup in February and just two weeks ago became the Euro Junior Max vice-champion – all on the CRG Dark Knight chassis and with HRS-tuned engines.