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SDD star Branson takes first British National Victory (19/05/2008)

By:: Laurant
Linked to:: Serpent 720 08 1/10th scale 200mm, Serpent 720 -09 1/10th scale 200mm

Serpent Driver Development programme member Kyle Branson broke into the big time over the weekend when he took his first ever British National Championship win. Racing in the third round of the 1:10 200mm championship at Mendip the 14-year-old ace took his Serpent 720 to a 2-lap winning margin.

While the practice day was overcast, Sunday's race day was greeted with clear skies and Kyle was there early to prepare for the day ahead. In the first round of qualifying Kyle's car was ok but the track wasn't so good and he also clipped a kerb which meant he could only post the 3rd fastest time.

Round 2 of qualifying was much better with both his the car and track working better together allowing the SDD driver to post the TQ time for the event just half a second in front of his senior team-mate and mentor Mark Green. With the track slower in the third and fourth rounds the pair held their top two placings for an all Serpent 720 front row in the A Final.

A great start to the 30-minute encounter saw Kyle lead the quality field from Green for the opening five minutes. Then the the former double European Junior Champion let his team mate through before coming in for his first fuel stop.

As Green then came in for his first stop, Kyle once again led the way holding station for the remainder of the race with a very steady and mature drive to claim his first and a very popular National Championship round victory.

Also a member of the Sirio factory team, Kyle's next outing is Round 4 of the British Nationals at Snetterton on June 8th.

BRCA British National Championships
Round 3, Mendip

1.(1) Kyle Branson - 102 laps in 1808.43
2.(6) Robin Hammett - 100 laps in 1807.32
3.(9) Gareth Bell - 99 laps in 1810.25
4.(8) Simon Wood - 98 laps in 1812.37
5.(4) Chris Slater - 97 laps in 1802.58
6.(5) Mark Gilliland - 78 laps in 1734.84
7.(2) Mark Green - 71 laps in 1360.94
8.(3) Stephen Brown - 56 laps in 1160.00
9.(10)Johnathan Dobney - 49 laps in 906.42
10.(7)Darren Johnson - 22 laps in 923.87

BRCA Round 3 winner Kyle Branson (right) and C Final winner Alex Thurston

The winning Serpent of SDD star Kyle Branson

Kyle's race winning Serpent 720 '08