19th August 2018
After mixed results at Snetterton I was feeling pretty determined to try and produce some good points finishes this weekend.
Rockingham was the first circuit I raced at last year, so psychologically I felt like I sort of ‘knew’ the track a bit which gave me a bit of confidence. I still wanted to be totally prepared though so mum took me to Izone in the week (a simulator that allows you to learn the tracks and you learn where you should be looking etc) then on to Rockingham for an official test day. I took a while to get up to speed during testing but by the end of the day I was fairly happy with my lap times.
I qualified P6 and P3 for the first two races, I knew where I could make my moves and I managed to take advantage of a contact from two other drivers to take a short lead. Patrick (Kibble) was in front but I managed to get past at my now favourite corner, Tarzan, and take the lead and win the race!! This was epic as I hadn’t had a win since Donington and had suffered a couple of times when in the lead with contact and been denied the overall win. So I was feeling pretty happy at this point and keen for race 2.
Starting P3 I made a really good start and managed to take the lead at yes you guessed it – Tarzan – but Fin (Green) overtook me a couple of laps later. Early days I thought, and waited for a bit, following Fin, until I could work out a way to overtake and used my favourite corner again to take the lead back again and head to a second victory! Unbelievable! It all seemed a bit dreamlike if I’m honest but I was so chuffed to have got two wins.
Sunday I started in pole and it was a wet race, which I really like. I like the car moving around, it brings a new element to the race plus I was keen to try and get ‘the triple’……however I had a really slow start and Luke (Browning) took the lead off the start and that’s where we finally finished. I managed to stay with him which I was pleased about, as he is quick and good in the wet but about 4 laps to go I had ‘a moment’ in the car while looking for a way past, and thought it was probably best to play it safe and bring the car home in 2nd, as we had managed to get a big gap between us and the car in 3rd. So I didn’t get the triple but a 1-1-2 is more than I could have dreamed of. The team did a fabulous job on the car as always and I was chuffed to have been a small part of their successful weekend.
Next race is Knockhill, Scotland, another new circuit for me, so I’m looking forward to seeing how I get on.
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