My Anglesey weekend was quite simply a rollercoaster of emotions. Coming into the event, I was hoping to build from the experience of my first weekend at Snetterton, and to maintain station comfortably in the mid-pack to allow further progression as the season develops. I was definitely expecting the weekend to be slightly more difficult from a performance standpoint, as I had never driven Anglesey circuit before (a beautiful coastal track that looks across the Irish Sea), and furthermore was not planning on participating in the Friday practice sessions - my first taste of the track would come in qualifying on the Saturday morning.
Upon arriving at the track, the sky was much clearer than previous days. The constant threat of rain throughout the weekend played across everyone's minds, with the 'microclimate' of the Welsh coastal island seemingly doing as it pleased. Qualifying's early morning start would mean it wouldn't be long until we were in the car, for a short 15 minute session to set the grid for the first race later that day. Again, expectations were to place myself in the middle of the pack of 31 cars, with the main focus on improving issues I had in the previous qualifying session at Snetterton. Track grip was high, and I found myself latching onto the back of an experienced driver who could help get me up to speed with the track. Lap after lap saw improvements and I had a good run of clean space after making my way past some slower drivers.
Amazingly, I had managed to qualify in 6th position, approximately one second behind the pole time. This massively exceeded my expectations, as I originally thought that with limited running, I was unlikely to be fighting in the top 10 out of the gates. I was ecstatic and felt that even if the weekend had ended after the one session, I would be very pleased with how I managed to get on the pace quickly.
This meant starting in P6 for the first race. After a good launch from the line, I managed to hold position for the opening lap. Sticking on the tail of the car in 5th, we slowly managed to pull away from the train of cars behind us, however, a gap started to form in front of us too, with the front 4 cars slowly pulling away. Throughout the race, I felt I had a little more pace than the car in 5th, however a couple of passing attempts were unsuccessful and crossed the line in my starting position of 6th after a fairly uneventful 15 minutes.
I felt that if I could potentially hitch onto the back of the leading four cars, I may be able to stay with them and pull away from the rest of the field, so the aim for race two was exactly that - get past the car in 5th position and try and bring the car back in 5th.
The following day would see races 2 and 3 take place. In race 2, another good launch at the start of race two was unfortunately not rewarded. A poor start from the P2 car meant that both myself and the car in P4 had closed up, but with a swarm of cars on the inside of the track in turn 1, a small lift to avoid contact ahead meant I lost a couple of places. It took a few laps to build a rhythm, again losing an additional couple of places. However, after switching on properly, I knew I had the pace to outrace those around me, and slowly regained my lost positions, including a brave pass on the brakes into the Rocket hairpin. In the closing stages of the race, I found myself behind the same car in the first race, and again, after a few passing attempts, I couldn't find a way by. I finished the race in p7, which I found slightly disappointing given the pace I thought I could unlock in the car.
Upon reflection, prior to the weekend I would have never thought I would be slightly disappointed with a P7 finish, but it shows the pace I thought I had in the car over the weekend. As luck would have it, the final race would be top 7 reverse grid. This would mean that everyone would start the race in the same position they finished race 2, however, the top 7 finishes would be reversed. This would mean that me finishing in 7th place would put me on pole for the last tussle. I was incredibly nervous, and didn't stop thinking about it for the whole 3 hour duration between the races. In hindsight, I had limited reason to be - I knew that I could maybe hitch onto the back of the front four in terms of pace, and being a novice, I could go in with no expectations and with no pressure from a performance standpoint.
Everything settled once I was positioned in the grid box, at the front of the field of 31 cars and the lights gantry almost directly above me. I felt like my heart was pounding a million times a minute, but the calming flush of adrenaline quickly pushed all other thoughts to one side. I got a great launch off the line, however, being on pole put me on the inside of the circuit into turn 1. This is the 'dirty' side of the track, that had limited rubber grip laid down as it was off the racing line. The car in second position managed to hold momentum around the outside through turn one, and then claimed the inside into the turn 2 hairpin. I maximised my momentum out of the corner and managed to regain first position on the long run up to the Rocket hairpin. I was then, for the first time ever, leading the race. While I had doubts as to how long I would be staying there, all my focus was just making sure I hit my markers and stayed on track.
Then one lap went by. And another. And another. I found myself still leading the race. There was no time to get comfortable, however. The fastest 3 drivers had made their way onto my tail, and they clearly had the very slight edge in terms of pace. However, I continued to fight, and managed to hold on to my position for one lap longer, including holding an attempted pass around the outside at Peel bend before losing two positions. Still running in third, disaster struck, as contact with the car ahead on the following lap after confusion with a yellow flag had sent us both off the circuit, with myself crashing into a tyre barrier under a marshal post at Rocket. The car stays running, but I hobbled back to the pits to avoid any further damage.
I was absolutely gutted, mainly as I was running in such a great position on circuit only for it to quickly disappear. The saving grace was the damage to the car was minimal, with no structural or mechanical parts sustaining damage. Whilst very upsetting, there were many positives to take from the weekend, one of which is experience in dealing with the emotional highs and lows of the sport. I was really surprised by the pace in the car too, and the fact that I was up at the front of the pack inspires confidence for the remaining rounds in the series.
I am extremely grateful for my family, friends, and everyone at the track's support, and I can't wait to get the car back to full health ready for its next outing, back at Snetterton. The events of the weekend have inspired me to work as hard as ever to get back up there, so it’s time to move onwards and upwards and get going!
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