ALEX Sedgwick continues his remarkable journey in the British Touring Car Championship after scoring a top five finish in only his second UK Renault Clio Cup Championship race.
The final round of this year’s championship was held at the historic Brands Hatch GP circuit last weekend and it proved to be one of the mostly hotly contested rounds.
The Southam College student, who made his debut in the Championship at the last round at Silverstone, is no stranger to Brands Hatch where he enjoyed great success at junior level.
After a 45-minute practice session on Friday, the 16-year-old qualified for Sunday’s race in 13th and eighth for the two races.
Sedgwick started Saturday’s first race on the sixth row of the grid and a positive start saw him move up to tenth place.
But the advantage he had made was immediately reduced as the safety car was released onto the track due to a car crashing into the safety barrier.
Sedgwick battled his way through the field lap by lap and moved up to seventh as the chequered flag fell, and two time penalties for the two drivers ahead saw him claim fifth overall.
“Driving the Clio was amazing around the GP circuit, it is so fast and really challenging to get the best lap time,” said Sedgwick.
“It was typical Clio racing with very hard moves and a lot of action everywhere. I really enjoyed the race and finishing fifth is fantastic in only my second Clio race.”
The second race on Sunday was staged in front of thousands of BTCC fans and the UK TV cameras.
Starting this time on the third row of the grid, Sedgwick got caught up in the chaos at the start and dropped to 13th as a number of cars crashed out on the first lap.
Four laps were completed under the safety car before the race restarted but it only took Sedgwick one lap to start moving back through the field and a great drive through the field saw the teenager take the chequered flag in ninth place overall.
He added: “I did not get a good start and then I had to take avoiding action as a number of cars collided, this dropped me down the field.
“Then, during the race I had to avoid a car, which hit the pit wall in front of me. The hard braking I think overheated the brakes, as afterwards I hardly had any brakes.
“This made it very interesting as I could not slow the car as I needed to. Anyway, another top ten finish is a perfect end to the race weekend.
The Renault UK Clio Cup is seen as the feeder series to the British Touring Car Championship, and as such is one of the most competitive championships in the UK.
In just two race weekends, and still only 16, Sedwick has shown he can race with the best, and will now be doing everything to be back in the championship next year with one objective to go for the championship.
