Mason Takes Maiden National Win

press release

Matt Mason was ecstatic this weekend after taking his maiden national wins in the prestigious BRDC Stars of Tomorrow championship. The 16- year-old, who races in Junior Max, was competing in a double-header meeting at the Shenington season finale so there was a full programme on both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday didn’t have the best of starts as Matt started 24th in the first heat, and after losing time following a crash he only managed to come through to 12th. But in the second qualifying heat, Matt started 10th but managed to win by a sizeable distance. Clearly on a roll now, he won the final heat after starting sixth, posting the fastest lap along the way.

So when the Final came around, Matt lined up on pole for the first time in his career.

“I made a really good start,” he said. “I pulled away from second straight away, and I led all the way from there. Joe McKeand caught up with me halfway through but I stayed ahead of him, finishing a second ahead.”

On Sunday, Matt again had a difficult time in the morning. In the first heat he was among the fastest but got caught up in a big crash at the start so finished 13th. Next time out he was taken out, and was facing the wrong way at one point, but recovered to ninth. He was back on form in heat three though, taking second at the first corner then the lead on the third lap.

But this meant Matt was to start tenth on the grid for the final with some work to do. The first lap was fraught but after that he was able to get his head down and start overtaking people. By lap seven he was behind the leading pack.

“They were faster than me on the straights because of the tow,” he said. “I took second on the last lap, and then took McKeand at the Café bend for the lead. People don’t usually overtake there, so he didn’t think he needed to defend, but I had been making moves there all weekend.”

This gave Matt two podiums in one double-header weekend - the only driver to achieve that this season, and although the championship positions are not yet confirmed Matt estimates he will be somewhere from second to fourth.

At the previous championship round at Genk, Belgium, Matt also visited the podium on Saturday, and would have done so again on Sunday if he hadn’t been taken out.

Matt would like to thank Tim Parrott Motorsport for managing the team so successfully, and in particular his mechanic Lewis Turner. Neil Berryman on the data acquisition system and JSR preparing the carburettors also had vital roles in the weekend’s success.

Preparations are under way for the 2009 season already, with Matt hoping to combine a move into senior karting with some testing in single-seater racing cars, but the search for sponsorship will, as usual, be a high priority.

The next race is the final round of the other national championship, the Super One Series at Three Sisters near Wigan in mid-October.

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