From Snetterton to Thruxton

Our run of consistent results and podium finishes finally came to an end at Snetterton, after a disastrous qualifying session on Saturday that saw me start 26th for Race 1. Race day was always going to be challenging, but we put in the effort overnight in a bid to turn our fortunes around.

Qualifying just didn’t go to plan! I finished Free Practice 1 in 5th position and felt pretty optimistic, but a combination of some negative set up changes, the crazy track temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius and some dodgy driving by yours truly, meant I ended up closer to the back of the field than the front.

Oh dear.

I can normally pull a lap out the hat no matter what is thrown at me, but on this day it just didn’t happen. The team and I worked late to review the data, onboard footage and car set up and we managed to piece together why it went wrong and correct it for race day. 

With a tweak to the car set up and some changes to my technique, we were so much stronger on race day.

From 26th in qualifying, I cut through the field to finish 15th in Race 1, 12th in Race 2 (despite being knocked off the track, losing 9 positions on lap 1) and then 7th in Race 3, scoring points in all three races and setting the 3rd fastest lap in Race 3.

Despite bagging some valuable points, it was frustrating to think we could have had a whopper of a weekend if qualifying went differently. On the flip side we learned a lot along the way, which we can take with us into the remaining three races. 

This weekend we head back to Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire for our second visit of 2022. It’s the fastest circuit in the UK and notoriously challenging for car and driver. It’s the only circuit at which we solely use the hard compound Goodyear tyre to cope with the extra load the surface puts through the rubber. The combination of tyres, surface and the bumpy high-speed nature of the track makes for an exciting lap! 

Thruxton hasn’t been our strongest circuit this year as I could only manage a handful of points back in May. However, my Toyota Corolla is in a very different set up window now and I feel confident that this time round it’ll be a match for Thruxton and its high speed & bumpy bends!

Keep track of all my results via TSL timing, qualifying is also live streamed on ITV.com on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, races 1 and 2 will be broadcast live on ITV and race 3 will be broadcast live on ITV4 as well as ITV.com. Set your TV to record or tune in live from 11.30 for a full day of motorsport action.