Strawberry boosted by early success 
31st March 2010


Tony Kart team scores 1-2 at Euro Max opener after shaky start
Strawberry’s team manager, Warwick Ringham is confident that his talented squad can build upon the foundations laid down at Salbris and launch a full-on bid to retain their Euro Max titles this year.


Senior 1 and 2

Fresh from a superb 1-2 in the Senior Max class in France last weekend (27/28 March) and narrowly failing to win the Junior final, Warwick believes the drivers are poised for an exciting season in Europe. "It’s too early to be talking about titles, but of course that’s our sole focus,” he said after seeing Mats van den Brand lead home his team-mate, Tom Fawcett in Salbris.

"It’s great to score the first win because it means we start the championship with the best points score and that gives you that important early confidence boost. What made Mats’ win all the sweeter was that it was his first time out with us and we had to work hard for it. He hadn’t raced since [the Rotax Winter Cup in February at] Campillos and to begin with, wasn’t as fast as the others but he just got better and better. He didn’t put a foot wrong.”


Joel Affolter, Henry Hunter, Mats van den Brand, Tom Fawcett

Other bright moments were Barrie Pullinger’s 4th-fastest time during qualifying and subsequent performances in the heats, which earned him 10th place for the pre-final. An opening lap crash put him out of that race, but a storming drive in the main final saw the Essex youngster fight his way into the top twenty. “Barrie did really, really well. He was absolutely storming and is improving all the time,” Warwick commented.

Winner of the Winter Cup, James Greenway found himself battling a virus and lost nearly 4 kilos in weight, but a gritty performance saw him take creditable 10th and 16th places in the two finals.

Like van den Brand, Tom Fawcett is quickly adjusting to life with Strawberry and was a key player throughout. A string of fine performances in the heats, in which he finished 2nd on each occasion, saw him qualify appropriately on the 2nd row of the grid for the pre-final. A strong 3rd place in that encounter ensured that he would start directly behind his Dutch team-mate for the main race. Shadowing Mats throughout, Tom once again crossed the line in 2nd position to complete a dream start to the championship.

The team’s other new Dutch signing, Joel Affolter, along with his English counterpart Henry Hunter was in sparkling form. The pair set the pace in qualifying and were formidable in the respective heats. Henry emerged with pole position for the pre-final, with just Joel a row behind. Affolter made the two finals his own, scoring a brace of excellent victories, whilst Hunter took 5th and 3rd. “It’s a great start to our campaign, but we can’t be complacent. The next races will be far from easy though as the opposition has shown itself to be very tough and far from easy to beat” said Warwick.

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