Mini Challenge

Mini Challenge

Friday 20 May 2016

First round, first win - great start!




 

So this round kicked off at Donnington Race track Derby, after a hard pre-season we have managed to get a group of local companies to support me in my greatest test to date. I have had three test days in the new car to date. So going into the first round I knew I had my work cut out, seeing as I am facing last year's champion and now MINI ambassador Charlie Butler-Henderson (brother to 5th Gear presenter Vicki Butler-Henderson). 

Practice went well on the Thursday and Friday which boosted my confidence going into the first qualifying round of the season. My aim in qualifying was to follow Charlie around as I knew he was going to be quick - after a few laps my tyres were warmed up and at peak performance. I managed to secure pole position, posting a time of  1:15.939 - 1/4 of a second faster than 2nd. 


Later that day was race 1 of the season and I was apprehensive as I have never started in my new John Cooper Works MINI. Unfortunately I didn't get the best of starts and lost a few places. Eventually I managed to catch upto Charlie and with a few laps to go I went for an overtake but couldn't make it stick and he got 1st place back. 

This is how race one ended with Charlie 1st, me 2nd and Chris Smith 3rd. I was happy with the result but I knew I could of won and I was even more determined to win the two races on Sunday. 

Race two started pretty much the same - I lost a few places with a bad start but unfortunately, due to an 8-car crash, the race was canceled and emergency services were rushed to the scene. Luckily no one was hurt. 

For race three I was determined to not have a poor start and I got the hang of it. Starting from 2nd I managed to go around the outside into the first corner and overtake Charlie Butler-Henderson. He was in hot pursuit for three quarters of the race remaining around 1-second behind me. Soon drizzle started to drop and I feel this affected peoples' confidence as lap times started to slow, but I remained persistent and pulled a lead of 6-seconds from Charlie who finished 2nd with David Grady in 3rd - 11 seconds behind.

I was ecstatic with my win and now going into the 2nd round at Brands Hatch on the 7th and 8th of May I am feeling positive. I am also joint leader of the championship with Charlie!

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