Round 5 @ Donington

DONINGTON PARK RACE REPORT

**Qualified 23rd and 23rd, Race 1 – DNF, Race 2 – 16th**

What a weekend we had at Donington Park! On Friday I had such a great time practising and learning the track with the very talented, James Clarke. Apparently my passenger laps scared him a little...compliment? Thanks to Dave for coming up with the idea to put me out with James, it was great fun and so helpful!

We only managed to qualify 23rd on Saturday but took 2 seconds off our lap times from the previous day. On the restart of race 1, I made an alright start and climbed my way from 23rd to 14th in only one lap. Unfortunately my race was brought to a very premature end when I was t-boned at the hairpin, causing substantial damage to my car and my window to shatter and fall in on me. I was held in the medical centre for a while until I could convince them my ankles were fine and my heart rate was low enough to go out in race 2! My awesome mechanics, Andy and Mark, worked so hard to replace the broken panels and fix the car up in time for the afternoon.

In race 2, I made it up from 23rd to 14th on lap 1 again and held this until a very similar incident on the hairpin which put me back to virtually last again. I recovered to finish 16th but my brand new door didn’t look quite the same as it did at the start!

Carnage would be the best word to describe the weekend, but Donington has to be my favourite circuit of the year so far. Gutted to pick up so much damage and the dents that this put on my results too, but as always I learnt a lot!

The most special thanks has to go to James this weekend – not only for his help on Friday but also for his words of wisdom to put me in the right mindset for Sunday. Thanks also to Nichola and Malcolm for their ongoing support, Mark and Andy who worked tirelessly all weekend, Dave, Michelle, Ed Pead for the circuit tips, the marshals/medics and of course my wonderful sponsors. House of Hearing, Jays Racewear, Walero Motorsports, Ian J Brown and Company and Fabletics UK. See you at Brands Hatch in 3 weeks time!

And the wonderful scholarship sponsors to whom I am very grateful- Vantage Motor Group, OREX Competition, Junction1 Graphics, Purple M Photo, Custom Cages, GAZ Shocks, Fuel Safe, Silverstone, Haymarket Media Group, Tockwith Motorsports, PhotoBox, Yokohama Tyres Europe