For Round 3 of the Mini Challenge, we headed to Thruxton where I had a wild weekend up the sharp end with some bumps and scrapes along the way.
Qualifying was certainly a challenge with the clutch failing on the way to the assembly. This forced the team to pull it out of the bag, and they did a great job repairing the car so I could make it out for the last 15 minutes of the qualifying session, where I myself against time pressure qualified the car 6th and 7th.
Race 1 was eventful to say the least with rain pouring down whilst being on slick tyres making for treacherous conditions. I was running well despite conditions as I stayed with the front pack. This was until disaster struck, I was making a move for 4th and the driver alongside got caught out by the conditions. The other driver lost control and slid into me, spinning me round at 105mph. Thankfully I kept the car out of harms way and limped the car home to 13th.
Race 2 was set by Race 1s result so from 13th I drove up to 6th but the pack had got a way, and it turned into a fight for the slipstream. Ultimately this battle raged on until the end of the race and after some more contact I secured a rookie podium and a top 10 finish
Race 3, coming from 6th was a chance to have a solid result. I had a battle from start to finish with about 8 other drivers all fighting for the same piece of track and after some seriously tough fighting I bought the car home to 6th and 2nd in the rookie class, ending a solid points haul on the Sunday.
These results leave us 2nd/14 in the Rookie class, 7th/23 overall and 2nd/8 in the constructors championship, continuing what is panning out to be a very solid debut campaign in senior racing!
Thank you for your continued support
James