National Championship Round 7

Qualifying – P3

Qualifying was a great session for me as I managed to find a clear bit of track in the beginning of the session which allowed me to settle into a rhythm and post some quick laps. Around half way through the session I dropped back into a queue of cars to try and benefit from a tow, this proved crucial as I found time thanks to the huge advantage of following a car down the straight. I ended the session P3, although I did set the exact same lap time as P2 but due to him doing it a lap earlier than me I had to start from 3rd. This was a fantastic result as it meant I was right in the mix to fight for the win. 

Race 1 – P6

The opening lap of the race was perfect as the 3 of us pulled a gap at the front, however going into turn 1 on lap 2 I was forced to go to the outside and hit cement dust that had been laid down to cover oil from the previous race, Unfortunately this cost me valuable time as I slid wide and dropped back to 8th place. The remainder of the race was spent trying to move forward, I pulled of some great overtakes to move up the field before being driven off the road by another competitor which not only cost me 3 positions and valuable time to the front group of cars. I recovered to finish 6th in the end which given the circumstances wasn’t a bad result but it was still frustrating as a top 3 would have been easily possible.

Race 2 – P6 

Race 2 started well as I worked my way up through the field to 4th place. However with a head wind coming down the back straight the slipstream effect was worth more than normal and it meant we were swapping positions practically every lap. In the end I crossed the line in P6 and was relatively happy considering the amount of position swaps that had happened in the race, it also meant I was in the hunt for the reverse grid race which could prove crucial.

Race 3 – P9

The reverse grid draw put me on P3 for the start and by the end of lap 1 I had managed two great overtakes to get into the lead, I held the lead for the first 5 laps followed by the entire field of 36 cars until the huge slipstream effect on the straight allowed the car behind (championship leader Luke Williams) to get passed on the run into turn 1, as we exited the corner we touched as I tried to cut back to get the inside line for the run to turn 2 but in doing so caught the nose of my car under the gearbox of the leading car, this ripped it off and left me a sitting duck on the straights due to the lack of aerodynamics without my nose cone, I battled as hard as I could but ultimately slipped down to 9^th at the flag.