This would be a day and a half, that’s for sure!
Qualifying
For qualifying, we did something a little different. I worked with my friend and with him pacing me, managed to qualify 11th, with my friend in 10th. My time was a very respectable 41.352 set on the 4th lap.
Heat 1
On lap 1, we lost 4 places, which whilst might be a little disheartening, those that did overtake are ones that usually run further up the grid, so it was more a return to normal. We managed to claim a place back after a few laps though and finished 14th.
Heat 2
This heat was tricky. There was rain. We were considering staying on slicks, but after a walk around the paddock, everyone else had switched to wets and we followed. This decision was done after watching the Rotax Seniors all struggling on slicks. The general feedback was that slicks would have been fine. Our wets took a little bit of a battering.
For Heat 2 I lined up 13th on the grid. The race was tough but after losing a couple of places, I managed to take them back, having some good tussles throughout the heat. Finished 13th.
Finals
For the Finals, we lined up 12th on the grid. At this point, it was most definitely wet. Managing to keep a clean nose whilst everyone jostled for position, as we came to the exit of Stadium a large part of the pack went off to the left. Keeping my cool and sticking to the right, I emerged from the mayhem in 6th place. After this, the drive was all about staying on the tarmac and pointing in the right direction. I lost a position after lifting when someone got squirrelly out of a corner and expecting to take avoiding action. After this, keeping my head down and concentrating, being consistent, we made up the place again. It was looking to be a 6th place finish except on the final corner of the last lap, the person in front spun meaning a 5th place finish.
A very happy day indeed. It wasn’t over yet though. As we have always done, we headed to the presentation ceremony and was awarded “Driver of the Day”, getting my first trophy!
Full results, lap times, lap charts and stats can be found at https://results.alphatiming.co.uk/rye/2022/224/
Photos
Just a couple of photos from today, its tough photographing whilst monitoring progress via Alpha Timing and encouraging the driver.
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