Donington Park Race Report
Qualifying
Well, what can I say, qualifying was a none starter for me. Just pulling out of the garage to go down pit lane and the drive shaft snapped. So that was my qualifying session over, meaning I would be starting dead last in the sprint race.
Race 1 Sprint
Starting from the very back of the grid, I knew I had my work cut out and had to push really hard from the lights going out. I managed to have a great first lap and got through some of the GTH cars allowing me to push on and start to make inroads up to the front runners. I managed to get up to P2 but was over six seconds behind the lead car my teammate Frazer in the number 3 car. I kept pushing really hard and taking a few risks but, in the end, I had to settle for second place finishing only 8/10th behind him and setting the fastest lap of the race. Another 1 - 2 finish for the team.
Pitstop Race Saturday
With me getting the fastest lap in the sprint race it meant my teammate Charlotte started the race from pole position, she got a great start and managed to keep up a good pace all the way to the pitstop window bring the car in in P1 but, then we had a 45 second pitstop because of our success penalty from winning the last race. This meant I re-joined the race down in third place, I had a real battle on my hands with trying to get back up the leader board and with our sister car coming up behind me at a very good rate of knots it was a fight to the end and I just managed to finish third overall and first in class, so great for our championship points haul and we have it all to do again on Sunday.
Pitstop Race Sunday
This time Charlotte started the race from the back of the grid because her qualifying session although really quick and should have been starting P2 we were disqualified for being underweight by less than 1kg. She had a momentous first lap and came round in P4 where she stayed until the pitstop on lap 21, I got in the car and on lap 24 the heavens opened and we made the decision to pit and change the tyres for wets, this turned into quite a lengthy stop as one of the wheel guns decided to stop working. When I re-joined the race I was last again and had to drive the wheels off the car to get back up the grid and managed finish P5 overall but more importantly P2 in class thus keeping our overall championship lead in great shape. We come away from what was a very trying weekend increasing our overall lead now by 50 points so its all to play for at the last round, we must be at the top of our game at Snetterton.
The final round is at Snetterton on the 5th and 6th October.
