Born in London on December 6th 1986, Sean shares his nationality with Ireland, Wales and England. His love for cars, no doubt stemming from his father, former Formula 1 driver Guy Edwards, has always been apparent and still remains a permanent fixture of his fascination. His first notable break into the world of racing was when he, at the age of eleven, joined a local team to drive in the French Karting Championships. He was placed 5th out of a field of 30 drivers, and the following year he moved up to Cadet Class to finish 3rd in the South of France National Championship with four podiums. It became clear to everyone around him that his natural speed, ambition and determination would work to his benefit. In 2000 Sean made a leap into the Italian International Junior Championship with Tony Kart, famous for hosting the toughest, most competitive Karting races in the world. One of Sean’s first races was held at Parma, more famously known as Ayrton Senna’s track. It is said by Italian Teams that if you are quick there; you’ll be quick at any race track in the world. Sean qualified 2nd.
When Sean moved back to England in 2001 he continued to race under the management of five times World Karting Champion, Danilo Rossi, but eager to advance in the world of racing he entered the B.R.D.C (British Racing Drivers Club) National Championship Scholarship at the end of the year. His intention behind this was to try and obtain a sponsored drive in the Formula Ford Series for the upcoming season. The selection process is a significantly difficult and competitive one: one in ten drivers are chosen from a selection of seventy to then compete against each other in a final day of assessment at Silverstone. Sean was the youngest of the drivers and much to his dismay, but also incredibly, he lost only by a few points. Despite this, his performance did not go unnoticed. An impressed sponsor who inevitably saw a lot of talent in the sixteen year old Sean approached him to offer him the opportunity to race in the 2003 B.R.D.C series. The competitors in the series were minimum two years his senior, and had many seasons of racing under their belt including one driver who had raced for Formula 3 in Japan. None-the-less Sean proved himself as a competent and talented driver. In the races he had 1 Firsts, 1 Second and 3 Thirds, and never finished below 6th place, ending the championship in 4th place.
In 2004 Sean moved up to Formula Renault Series with Team JVA (John Village Automotive). The Formula Renault cars are a very competitive category, and shaving a tenth of a second here and there to try and make it to the front for qualifying was almost the status quo seeing as the top twenty drivers were all split by no more than one second. He managed to get a number of podium finishes in the Graduate Cup Class.
In 2005 Sean took a break for eight months to finish his A Level exams, which he passed with A’s and B’s. He tested a Porsche at Silverstone in July and it was immediately apparent that the power of a GT car suited him and worked with his natural tenacity for speed far greater than the Formula cars. He entered selected rounds in the British GT Championship in a Porsche 996, GT3 Cup. Despite it being his first year and a mere eighteen years of age, Sean won the Silverstone GP 2 hour British GT event in August. He also took the fastest lap and remains one of the youngest debut drivers to have gotten pole position, fastest lap, and a win on an International GT debut. He followed up his performance at the Tag Heur 250 which he was leading most of, before unfortunately being hit off by another driver, but still clinched a 2nd place finish in race one. He also finished 2nd at the following race, the Silverstone International 1 hour event. It was a fantastic year for Sean, and a greater year was to follow.
In 2006 Sean was racing in the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in the FIA European GT3 Championship. A move to the already successful Tech 9 team saw him win the European championship with an overall of three Firsts, three Seconds, and one pole position, and in the Porsche Cup he won eight out of ten races. Everyone was incredibly surprised and taken aback by the performance of this young driver, and Sean himself was amazed that he won the Championship.
In 2007 Sean moved up to the GT2 class, embarking on the FIA European Championship in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR, still with Tech 9. It was in this Championship that Sean did his first ever 24 hour event at the Total Spa 24 Hours. He drove alongside Porsche factory driver Sascha Maassen, and finished 3rd. He also managed to set the car’s fastest lap of the race: 1.24.498 at 2am. He lead 5 out of 8 races, and qualified as the top Porsche twice as well as claiming 2nd and 3rd places in qualifying. He also won the Porsche Open Snetterton race in a 997 Cup Car, driving with client, Jim Geddie.
In 2008 Sean moved back into sprint racing, this time with the ultra successful Konrad Motorsport and set his sights on the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, which is the most competitive Porsche series in the world. He had an amazing season, with two victories, one being at his home race Silverstone in front of the massive F1 crowd! He also clinched victory at Spa Francorchamps, his favorite track and had a third place at the toughest track around, Monaco. He and Konrad Motorsport won the Teams Championship and finished 5th in the drivers Championship, being by far the best rookie of the season and one of the best in the Supercup’s established history. Konrad Motorsport also provided him with drives in the VLN and GT Open with the 2008 997 RSR and ARC Bratislava gave him a new experience with the Saleen SR7 in the FIA GT1 Championship.
With the global economy in turmoil, 2009 was always going to be hard for the motorsport industry and as many of the Supercup teams lost their sponsors and pulled out, Sean was left without a drive in the series. Although not competing in a series full time, Sean is still producing the results in various championships. He was employed by ARC Bratislava for the LMS 1000km of Barcelona, Muhlner Motorsport for FIA GT3 Silverstone, Trackspeed for FIA GT3 Oschersleben and Prospeed for the FIA GT2 Oschersleben round, where he and Porsche factory junior driver clinched second place! Prospeed then placed him in the 60 car for the Spa 24 hours, along side Manu Collard, Richard Westbrook and Daryl O’Young. Unfortunately a collision with the leading Maserati put any hopes of victory down the drain and they could only claim fifth position in GT2. Hermes Attempto Racing then bought Sean in for two rounds of the German Carrera Cup in an attempt to climb higher in the teams standings. He was running third in Barcelona before being hit off, but still finished fifth and in finale at Hockenheim he put in a great performance to clinch second place in the race and help to secure the team second place in the championship too. So a season that started with difficulties ended on a high and he is looking forward to next year already in which he hopes to be back in the Porsche Supercup and German Carrera Cup.
Name: Sean Lawrence Guy Edwards
Date of birth: 06-12-1986
Resides: Monte Carlo
Height: 186cm
Weight: 85kg
Education
Newton Prep London
International School of Monaco
International School of Nice
Wellington College
Cherwell College Oxford
GCSE’s – English, French, Italian, Maths, Chemistry and Physics
A-Levels – Business Studies, Design Technology and Information Technology
Instructing
Licensed grade “A” ARDS instructor since 2005.
Five years instructing at the Silverstone Racing School and Motorsport Vision Circuits.
I have run a “Performance Driver Coaching” business since 2006, doing on to one private instruction for track day and racing drivers. In 2008, I did around 120 private track days.
Racing
2009 – FIA GT2, FIA GT3, Le Mans Series
1st place in the Porsche Cup Oschersleben FIA GT3 race
2nd place in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany Hockenheim race
2nd place in the Oschersleben two hour FIA GT2 race
2nd place in both Porsche Cup Silverstone FIA GT3 races
4th place in the GT1 category of the Le Mans Series Barcelona 1000km race
5th place in the Total Spa 24 hour FIA GT2 race
5th place in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany Barcelona race
2008 – Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (Formula One Support Series) in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, FIA GT2, VLN, GT Open
Supercup,
Wins 2 (Silverstone and Spa)
Thirds 1 (Monaco)
Poles 1 (Valencia)
Fastest Laps 1 (Silverstone)
5th in Championship, Best Rookie!
Teams Champion with Konrad Motorsport
FIA GT, two pole positions in G2 and Citation Cup and 3rd overall at Silverstone
2007 – FIA European GT2 championship in a Porsche 997 GT3 RSR
3rd place in the Total Spa 24 Hours, first 24 hour, driving along side Porsche factory driver Sascha Maassen
Set the cars fastest lap of the race, 2.24.498, during the 24 hours of Spa at 2am
Lead 5/8 races (Zuhai, Silverstone, Bucharest, Oschersleben and Spa)
Qualified top Porsche two times and had 2nd and 3rd places in qualifying
Other races
1st place, Porsche Open Snetterton in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup with a clienn
2006 – FIA European GT3 championship in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Overall Wins 3 (Dijon, Mugello x2)
Overall Seconds 3 (Silverstone, Spa x2)
Overall Pole Positions 1 (Mugello)
Porsche Cup Wins 8 out of 10 (Silverstone, Oschersleben, Spa x2, Dijon x2, Mugello x2)
Porsche Cup Thirds 1 (Silverstone)
Porsche Cup Pole Positions 4 out of 5 (Oschersleben, Spa, Dijon, Mugello)
2006 FIA European GT3 Champion, Overall
2006 FIA European GT3 Champion, Porsche Class
2006 FIA European GT3 Teams Champions
2005 – British GT championship, 2 races in a Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
Pole, fastest lap and win in British GT, (Silverstone GP, 2 hours, Inv GT3 class) in first ever GT race (14/08/05)
2nd place in the Tag Heuer GT 250 race at Brands Hatch
2nd place in Inv GT3 class, in British GT (Silverstone International)
2004 – Formula Renault UK championship
5th in rookie championship
2003 – British Racing Drivers Club Formula Ford championship
Podiums 4 (Donington Park, Croft, Silverstone, Oulton Park)
Wins 1 (Croft)
4th in championship
Non championship wins 3 (Silverstone x3)
1998-2002 – French, Italian and European karting championships
Hi Sean, i am writing to ask if you would be so kind as to pass on my email and phone numbers to your father Guy Edwards. My grandmother Jessie Green knew your father and we met personally at one of your fathers race meetings at Thruxton. I would so like to meet him again and find out how he knew my grandmother as it was many years ago now. Also we may have a little in common as my son’s Luke 11 and matthew 8 have both started their careers in karting now. I hope you don’t think me a little cheeky in contacting your family in this way, but i have not found any other way of making contact. My phone numbers are 01444 881751 or 07783 743945. Many thanks for whatever assistance you can provide.
Yours faithfully,
Shane Green