I was looking forward to the start of a really exciting season after a great finish in fourth place at the Trofeo Abarth 500 GB Championship last year. An even more exciting start as I am starting this season with a sponsorship from Wilkin and Son and in a different car! The Ginetta G50 is three and a half litres compared to the much smaller 1.4 litre Abarth I was driving last year. It has a lot more grip, a wider wheel base, better brakes and you are a lot lower down so it is a totally different experience, but it is an awesome car! I was feeling confident after a test at Silverstone the week before where I was only nine-tenths of a second off last years lap record!
The race at Oulton Park got off to a shaky start and we had a few problems with testing and our pace was five seconds down on our rivals. The new brake fitting was affecting the balance and that was slowing the car down, but we made a change and that smoothed it. The change meant we were on the back foot for the weekend and only came in fourth and fifth in qualifying. The first race we did really well in the pit stops to get into third place, but we were beaten out of a podium finish on the last lap. Considering the problems we had with the car during testing we were pleased with our finish, but things got even better in the final race…
I managed to get off to a really fast start on the opening stint and after the safety car was deployed we decided to make an early stop and driver change.? Luckily this was a great decision and tactic as there was another safety car and by the time all the other teams had pitted we had a lead of about a minute. This amazing lead gave us a huge confidence boost and it looked like we were going to win by a mile but suddenly gearbox problems halted us and Jake could only select third and fourth. Gradually he was hauled back by the second placed car that went past him at the end, finishing with 5 seconds clear across the line.
However, the stewards confirmed that the winning car had passed us under a yellow flag and that meant he was awarded an eight second time penalty so in the end we won by three seconds! We were leading in the championship! The win gave us a huge confidence boost and felt amazing, can?t wait for more action at Snetterton in a few weeks.
