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Race Report: Oulton Park - March 2008
I damaged my car in the free practice session on Saturday morning so I was unable to participate in the qualifying. I was
approaching Cascades corner when a car nipped up the inside too fast, and braked too late/too hard. In trying to avoid him
I braked hard myself and therefore lost the racing line round the bend. I made it round the bend but on exit my car span,
throwing me upwards and backwards into a tyre wall. The impact damaged the rear of the car structurally, but mechanically
only the suspension wishbone was broken. As for me, I had hit my head and got checked out by the medics as is routine. After
a rest (amazing how easy it is to have a sleep when F3 cars are screaming past!) I felt fine and they approved me for qualifying.
However the car remained in bits and my support team Esprit Automotive patiently attempted to put it back together again in
time for the afternoons race.
The Clerk of the Course agreed to put me at the back of the grid in 29th place for both races.
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| © Peter Dixon Photography - My repaired car hurtling down Cascades |
Race 1
Saturday 22nd March, Oulton Park
Snow greeted us as we lined up on the grid to do our green flag lap. It soon subsided however and the track thankfully remained
dry.
After a tentative start (I'd never done a race start in the G20 before), I managed to start to make my way up the field. However,
unbeknown to me, a car further ahead had spilt oil on the track. The marshals were slow in finding their danger flags so I
came through on the racing line at Old Hall corner only to find myself spinning backwards towards the wall. Luckily I was
able to recover and get back on the track, only to spin again in the oil at the bottom of Cascades corner and some backmarkers
passed me. I slowly edged out of the gravel trap and continued on my way round, but I had lost the cars I had been following
so much of the rest of the race was spent without much company.
I finished in a respectable 20th place with a huge sigh of relief for having made it through the first race in one piece!
Grid place: 29th
Finished: 20th
Points: 1
Race 2
Monday 24th March, Oulton Park
The weather had been changeable, from snow to sun to hail to rain; but it brightened up in time for our race at 14:25.
This time I got a great start and passed a few of the backmarkers. I picked up some speed and found myself amongst a few other
cars as we headed into the first corner at Old Hall. A car spun and the car in front of me drove into them, so I had to take
a bit of grass to avoid the spinning cars but I scraped by. Heading down into Cascades corner I aggressively held the racing
line and managed to overtake another car heading up the hill towards Island bend. Holding my own, I headed onwards until lap
2 when there was another incident; this time at Druid’s corner. A car had spun and then driven into an oncoming car,
sending it spinning off into the barrier. Fibre glass and mud lay strewn across the track but I made it through the debris
to continue the race.
Scott Stringfellow (son of nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow) in the 'Celebrity Guest Car' was now chasing me down. I began
to push a little harder to try and shake him off. In doing so I came in too fast to Deer Leap corner, an uphill hairpin approaching
the pit straight. I took a quick visit onto the grass and high kerb, but managed to force the car back onto the track and
shake off the dirt. Fortunately for me, Stringfellow had spun at Knickerbrook corner trying to keep up with me so I pulled
away enough for me to retain position and finish in a satisfying 16th place.
Grid place: 29th
Finished: 16th
Points: 5
All in all, a good weekends racing. Unfortunate for me to have damaged the car but I finished both races and scored 5 points.
I am now officially the current leading female in the Championship! There are only 3 women in the Championship - the other
2 girls are also from last years Formula Woman Championship.
Championship Points Total: 6
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