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(EMAILWIRE.COM, April 30, 2011 ) United Kingdom -- The 17-year-old from St Saviour celebrated a new sponsorship deal with his bucket and spade on St OuenÂ’s beach.
And in May last yearÂ’s adult class one runner-up will step out of his sandy sculpture and into his Adrian Flux Insurance Toyota Corolla for a full practice session.
For more than 60 years, the vast sandy beaches of Jersey have played host to the spectacular sight of dozens of cars and motorcycles racing each other, and the tides.
And Andrew, who started racing at the age of 15 in the junior class, is looking to follow in the tyre-tracks tyre-tracks of his uncle, Dave Price, a former sand racing champion.
The family connection, and good old teenage boredom, spurred the then schoolboy into action.
“I knew my uncle had done it and it all started a couple of years ago when I was complaining that I was bored at weekends and wanted something to do,” said Andrew, whose former mechanic dad helped him prepare a Vauxhall Astra.
“I did all the work on the car myself, and dad just checked it all over to make sure I’d done it right.”
Andrew is on the Advance to Work programme and is looking for a position as a trainee mechanic.
The Astra was swapped for a Nissan Sunny for last season, but this didnÂ’t survive for the coming season, thanks to one of unique hazards of racing on sand.
“I ran out of screen wash so couldn’t see through the sand on the windscreen,” explained Andrew. “A car had spun and I simply couldn’t see it and ran into it. Luckily it was the last race of the season.”
Richard Buchanan, vice president of the Jersey Motorcycle and Light Car Club, said racing on the sands had taken place every year since just after the second world war.
“We’ve got some lovely beaches here which dry out a long way when the tide’s low, and they obviously thought it would be a lot of fun to race on the beach,” he added.
“It’s certainly a spectacle and it’s a great sport to watch from the sea wall when the sun’s shining.”
Gerry Bucke, general manager of specialist broker Adrian Flux Insurance Services, said he was delighted to add Andrew to the companyÂ’s sponsorship programme.
“It looks a lot of fun and we were very impressed that Andrew does all the work on the car himself,” he added.
JerseyÂ’s sand racing season gets underway with the first race on May 7, with 12 rounds up to the final race on September 17.
Children as young as six can take part on small motorbikes, with each round started by the Jersey flag and comprising five races of 10 laps.
As for Andrew, heÂ’s hoping to ultimately graduate from the beach to sprints and hillclimbing and, maybe one day, the Jersey Rally itself.
Adrian Flux Insurance Company
Charles Whitworth
01244305082
googledocs@insideonline.co.uk 
Source: EmailWire.com
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