MOTOR SPORT: CROWTON car racer Nick Beaumont threw away his crutches last weekend to claim an astounding maiden win in the Volkswagen Racing Cup.
The 26-year old's drive to victory in the first race of the day at Croft in North Yorkshire was a commendable feat of bravery.
Unable to walk without the aid of crutches after suffering a serious ankle injury, Beaumont ignored intense pain to beat championship leader Ian Carvell to the chequered flag.
With only eight laps of qualifying under his belt, Beaumont went into the race not knowing whether his ankle would take the strain of the 25-mile sprint, but his Golf VR6 set off in game pursuit of Carvell's pole-sitting Lupo GTI.
Carvell tried to shake off Beaumont, but the Cheshire man drove through the pain barrier to cling on for six laps. Next time around he made his move, slingshotting past the Lupo into the bend. For the remaining five laps, Carvell tried everything he knew to find a way back into the lead, but Beaumont held on, crossing the line less than half a second ahead.
'I was in a lot of pain,' admitted Beaumont. 'But once I got past Ian, that didn't seem to bother me.'
Carvell added: 'When Nick got past I pulled alongside him again into the Jim Clarke Esses, but I saw a yellow warning flag and had to back off.
'It was a great battle.' Carvell got his revenge in race two, beating Beaumont into second place by little more than a second. Beaumont, who has been forced to miss four races this year through his injury, holds fifth place overall in the championship.
