After qualifying on Saturday not going the way I wanted it to, today I really wanted to push hard in the races to get some solid finishes, progress from my starting position and challenge for a podium position.
The team ( Academy Motorsport) were still changing the set up on the car to make it better as I was using a different car this weekend. Not having the time to test it properly it meant overnight changes to the set up to help improve lap times.
The changes meant I had a car with a different set up to what I had been driving the day before, so it was all different again for the first race where I was starting from 9th.I got a good start off the line gaining a few places, but the most important thing was that I stayed out of trouble on the first lap because there where some bumps and bangs.
As the race progressed I had made my way up to 4th with 5th right behind me, unfortunately he managed to get passed but I stayed right behind him and together we chased down 3rd place.
We caught 3rd and was close behind him but there just wasn't enough laps left in the race to make an attack and I had to settle for 5th position right behind both 4th and 3rd.
The changes we had made over night to the car for the first race had made the car better and I was able to push hard, so I decided to leave the car alone for the second race.
This meant that I was more familiar with how the car was going to handle which would mean that I knew the limits of the car more for the second race of the day. For this race I was starting from 8th on the grid and again I got a great start gaining a few places before the first corner.
Throughout the race I managed to climb up to 6th position with 5th right in front of me. We where having a little battle but still working together to catch 4th and 3rd place every lap.
As we caught up to them in the race I had managed to gain 5th position with 6th place right behind me, but the lap I took 5th place on the same lap one of the leaders had spun out and when he came to re-join the track it was right in front of me which meant I had to brake hard meaning 4th and 3rd place gained a gap again.
I was now running in 4th place but when the person who was leading, but spun out dived down the inside of me he pushed me wide, meaning the car a was having a little battle with also got passed me. This meant I was back down to 6th position and left me frustrated because I had no choice but to avoid the car diving down the inside, otherwise he would have bumped me off the track.
A lap later a crash resulted in a red flag meaning the race had been stopped early, meaning I unfortunately had to settle for 6th place.
Even though I hadn't got a podium place I still took away that in both races I was able to catch up to 3rd position and battle for the position; so even though I didn't achieve what I wanted to, I can still take away more confidence to the next race
So at the next round at Knockhill (13th-14th June) I can battle for a podium and with some more luck be able to get onto the podium.
I'm really enjoying racing in the Ginetta G20 championship.
I would like to thank the team for getting the car ready to race at this weekend and I would also like to thank Mark Wania for letting me use the car, plus a huge thank you to all the people that came to the circuit and also the people back at home who have been supporting me.
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