A Double Podium at Silverstone
A demanding weekend at Silverstone saw Charlie bring home two P2 finishes in races 1 and 2 of the weekend, adding to his already healthy dose of points, extending his championship lead.
It felt like it was only yesterday that we were at Oulton Park for the opening round of the championship, but a few short weeks later, we were back in the car for Round Two, this time at Silverstone.
With a heavy downpours of rain for most of the weekend, track conditions were challenging to say the least. Thankfully, most of our winter testing was conducted under similar conditions, so we were able to quickly adapt to the conditions and stay at the sharp end of the timings for most of the pre-weekend testing.
After a strong qualifying, where Charlie and teammate Isaac Phelps were consistently top of the timings, Charlie secured a P3 start for race one, and pole position for race two.
Race One
After a strong start, and in typical Ginetta Junior fashion, it was a nail biting racing from start to finish in the opening race of the weekend. After a short interlude from the safety car in the opening laps, racing quickly got underway once more, with the battle for the top three positions a hard fought battle right down to the last laps. Thanks to some careful teamwork between Charlie and teammate Isaac, he crossed the line P2 maintaining his impressive run of podiums since the season opener.
Race Two
In the second race of the weekend, the heavens opened, adding a new set of challenges as track conditions evolved rapidly across the 20 minute dash.
As the race got underway, Charlie quickly moved up to take the race lead, maintaining that for a considerable portion of the race, but a small mistake saw Charlie drop back to P3, but undeterred he fought on to bring it home in P2, delivering a stunning photo finish as he and Henry Joselyn crossed the line with only a two thousandths of a second margin between them.
Race Three
The British weather which kept things interesting all weekend, delivered us a slight reprieve from the typically wind and rain, offering us a dry race to round out the weekend. Starting on the right side of the grid was less than optimal, owing to more favourable conditions towards the circuit edge, we knew we had our work cut out to ensure we maintained position, and could mount a challenge for the race lead in the opening laps. Despite gaining a good start from the front row of the grid, a few small mistakes here and there, and with visibility severely restricted owing to the car in front spraying Charlie’s windscreen in mud, he dropped back a few places to P7.
Towards the closing laps of the race, the car started to come alive and Charlie managed to climb to P6, but with the clock ticking down he wasn’t able to progress further. This result brought an end to his stunning record streak of P2 finishes so far this season.
With the weekend wrapped up, and having had the chance to reflect, we know that as the championship heads to Donington Park for Round 3 of the championship, we have the opportunity to build a gap in both the team and drivers championships, with Charlie now 16 points clear in the drivers standings. Fingers crossed we can bring home a good result for the team, and reach the top step of the podium.
