| Knockhill Race Report: British Championship Round 3
Qualifying – P4 Qualifying was an up and down session due to oil out on track. For the majority of the session i was P3, then when there was oil dropped on track i headed for the pits in order to look after the car and the tyres until the track was back at its best. Unfortunately when i rejoined the track with 5 minutes to go in the session i was stuck in traffic therefore could not improve my lap times and fell to 4th place at the very end. This was still a great position to mount an attack from in race 1. Race 1 – P3 I had a great start moving up to P3 by the hairpin and was running right with the leaders in the early laps. Then the safety car was called out due to accidents in the early laps when the track was damp. I got a great restart and was challenging for P2 for the next few laps, unfortunately i got held up massively by the car in front into turn one which cost me momentum and a position by turn 2. The 3 way battle for P2 got very close at the hairpin and i managed to squeeze through into P3 with a few laps to go. I then challenged for P2 over the last few laps but was unable to find a way passed and had to settle for P3. Race 2 – P4 Race 2 was a battle from start to finish. I felt very conformable in the car and was easily faster than the car in front, i was attacking at every corner trying to force a mistake until we caught back markers. This ultimately cost me the race when i was forced off the road trying to overtake a slower car and cost me a position. I tried everything i could to get back passed but came just short of P3 across the line. Despite not finishing on the podium i felt that it had been a great race as i showed excellent speed and where unlucky not to have been P2 to say the least. Race 3 – P2 Race 3 was hectic in the opening lap as i climbed to P2 round the outside in turn 1, however when i got to turn 2 i got hit in the rear and sustained damage to the suspension and body work on my car. The safety car was then called out again as the cars involved in the accident where removed from the track. This bunched to whole field up and when we restarted i had to attack and defend. Every time i got alongside the leading car i was pushed onto the grass on the straights, due to this i dropped to P4 into turn 1. On the next lap the 2 cars in front ran wide and i managed to get passed and up into P2. From this moment on i was catching the leader by a substantial margin each lap and pulling away from the cars behind despite the damage from the opening lap but ultimately ran out of laps to close up enough to possibly overtake. Overall round 3 was a great weekend, i had great pace all weekend and managed to stay out of trouble when it mattered most. A huge thank you to all my sponsors and to the team for their hard work and continued support! These results have launched me up the championship standings and i already can’t wait for Kirkistown in 3 weeks time. Jamie Thorburn |
