3 Wins. 1 Fastest Lap
I was looking forward to racing at Croft, due to having driven the track earlier in the year when I tried to win the Mini Scholarship drive. The track was different to anything else I?d driven and I enjoyed the track layout.
However once again I couldn?t afford to test on the Friday, so it was straight into qualifying on the Saturday morning.
As soon as I hit the track I realised the car?s handling had changed from previous races. I was struggling with major under steer so the harder I tried to overcome the problem, the more it pushed on. My best lap time was miles off the class pole, so it was up to the team to try and understand what changes we needed to make. With changes made I had my fingers crossed for race 1.
I made an average start and found myself at the back of the field and I realised the car was better, but only slightly, and to be frank, I knew I was going to struggle to get anywhere near the front of the pack. So I just had to knuckle down and try to make the best of the car I had underneath me. The under steer was still there but I pulled the front three in and I could see that Ray, Luke and Keith were fighting amongst themselves. I had a gut feeling that there was going to be an incident in front of me at some time or other, it was just a case of being patient.
This happened on lap 6 when the Seat tried to overtake Ray Grimes in the Clio at the hairpin. It resulted in all three cars ahead making contact. This was the opportunity I was waiting for so I took full advantage, and gained the lead. Unfortunately Luke suffered some damage and had to retire from the race, but Keith and Ray set about chasing me down. Keith, in the BMW was going particularly well and was soon on my back bumper. Due to the Corsa not handling like I wanted, I had to defend on a number of occasions to keep Keith behind but I enjoyed the challenge of getting a hard fought class win!
In the team debrief it was decided to make some major suspension changes for the last 2 races of the weekend.
The track was dry and I was intrigued to see if the changes the team had made to the car would be beneficial. I made an average start which allowed Ray, Luke and Keith by into the first corner. But I was happy as I could feel the car was handling much better and I felt confident that I could press on and get another win. This was probably the best race I?ve had this year in Sportmaxx as it wasn?t easy and I definitely had to fight for it. There was plenty of overtaking and good close racing, which in my opinion makes a perfect race, which was even better topped off with a win!
Race 15 was boring by comparison, I made a good start and lead into the first corner. I had Ray Grimes on my back bumper for a couple of laps then pulled away and got a good lead of about 10 seconds. I set fastest lap and got another win!
All in all I was pleased with how this weekend went, even with the setup difficulties! (I suppose this made it more of an interesting weekend!) I was also happy that I managed to do this with an extra 72kg of success ballast in my car!!
Unfortunately the funds have run out and it?s looking very unlikely that we?re going to make the last round. We?re going to win the Class B Championship but won?t win the overall championship which is very disappointing as we?re 7 points behind the leader!
I?d like to thank John Thorne, Rich Abra and the guys at Thorney Motorsport for supporting me through this year. I couldn?t have got to where I am now without their help and I wish them the very best in the future!
Abbie! X
