Monday 23rd October 2023
Round 8 of the Ginetta Junior Championship saw a second and final visit to Donington Park on Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd October.
Another mixed weekend with lots of positive's for Alisha to round off her career in the Ginetta Junior Championship.
SATURDAY 21st OCTOBER:
Qualifying:
Race 1 = P3
Race 2 = P1
Race 1: P3 - P4
Weather was greasy and wet, Alisha got a good start and was able to maintain P3 into turn one and then went into P1 out of turn three as the cars ahead went wide. This was short lived however as the race was red flagged to recover a car from the gravel, resulting in re-gridding which changed the dynamic of the race. Starting P2 on the re-start Alisha was squeezed and briefly dropped into P3 before fighting back up into P2 by turn three where she began to build a lead with P1 ahead. However, a further safety car saw the lead closed and on the re-start she was shunted coming onto the start / finish straight resulting in a bad exit and lost P2 into turn one. She fought hard for the next half a lap to retake P2 but this allowed the leader to break away. Alisha was then squeezed going into the chicane and the subsequent chain of events that followed saw her drop to P7. She continued to push however and made it back up to P3 before the driver behind made a dive up her inside and ran her off the track resulting in her finishing P4 which was frustrating.
This race can be viewed at the following link:
SUNDAY 22nd OCTOBER:
Race 2: P1 - P2
The second race saw a mostly dry track but with the odd wet / damp patch off the racing line. Heading off from P1, Alisha made a good start to maintain the lead for the first handful of laps before the car in P2 got a better run out of the old hairpin and was able to dive up the inside, which in turn forced Alisha wide and several other cars moved in front. After pushing hard Alisha was able to move back up to P2 with some strong moves and began to build a lead with the car in front. Alisha then saw an opportunity to make a move for the lead going down to the old hairpin but in doing so moved off the racing line and onto a damp patch causing her car to goes sideways as she briefly took the lead. She made an immense save but this dropped her off the back of the leader meaning she had to settle for P2.
This race can be viewed at the following link:
Race 3: P2 - P8
The final race of the season and of Alisha's Ginetta Junior career saw her start in P2. She got off to a great start, out dragging P1 into turn one where she took the lead. Both Alisha and P2 opened an immediate gap on lap one to the rest of the field before a safety car was called for an incident further down the grid which allowed everyone to bunch back up. Upon on the re-start P2 made a move up the inside into turn one for the lead and the dynamics of the race were changed once again as a result of the safety car. A tag from behind later in the lap unsettled the car and allowed another car through and from there on there were numerous incidents of contact from behind before she was eventually sideswiped whilst making an overtake and knocked off the track. She was able to continue but went on to finish very disappointed in P8 - not where she deserved to be - but that's racing!
This race can be viewed at the following link:
For a final time in 2023, a huge thank you goes to Elite Motorsport, Rhys Simpson, Chris & Stefan Hodgetts and Adam Smalley for all the hard work and support throughout the weekend!
