Monday 29th April 2024
Round 2 of the GB4 Championship took place at Silverstone on the iconic GP layout on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th April.
This was only Alisha's second race meeting in single seaters with lots of positive's taken away from the previous round in Oulton Park where she achieved a debut victory!
SATURDAY 27th APRIL:
Qualifying: Â
Race 1 = P4
Race 2 = P4
Race 1: P4 - P2 Â Â Â
After a close qualifying session in damp, changeable conditions where Alisha secured two P4 starts for races 1 & 2, she lined up on the second row to start her first race of the weekend. After a good launch Alisha found herself boxed in going into turn 1, Copse, and with a driver behind getting a very strong launch off the line, she found herself dropping into P5 as she accelerated up the hill towards Maggotts. As the lap unfolded and Alisha progressed down the Hangar Straight, she made a great move up the inside into Stowe to retake P4, with a brief lock up that she controlled. Whilst then heading down towards Vale she quickly closed on the car infront whilst also adjusting her brake bias ready for the next sequence of bends. Alisha was able to position the car extremely well to achieve a textbook undercut as she exited the next sequence of bends and found herself in P3 as she entered the Hamilton straight. However, by this time the gap to P2 ahead had opened so Alisha set about closing the gap over the next few laps before getting on to the back of the battle for the lead. With her teammate now ahead, Alisha was able to get a better run through Becketts and out of Chapel Curve onto the Hangar straight where she was able to make a straight line pass for P2. At this point P1 ahead had opened a gap ahead that Alisha wasn't able to close and so she finished in a very positive P2.
This race can be viewed at the following link:
SUNDAY 28th APRIL:
Race 2: P4 - P4
The second race of the weekend was scheduled to take place on Sunday morning. However, due to excessive overnight rain, the race was postponed and ran in the later slot that had been scheduled for Race 3. Alisha again started from P4, but this time she had some issues at the start resulting in the engine dying and her falling to the very back of the grid in P16 and a number of car lengths off the back of the field as she entered turn 1 for the first time. However, Alisha went on to have a storming first lap and was able to pass 8 cars on the first lap to find herself in P8 as she started lap 2. From this point on Alisha carved her way through the field with extreme pace and precision and with a handful of laps remaining, it began to look like a podium was still possible. However, with approx. 3 mins to go as she entered lap 8 and accelerated hard up towards Maggotts, she managed to get alongside the car in front. As she continued to accelerate the car moved over and squeezed Alisha up to the edge of the circuit, clashing wheels several times in the process. As they approached Maggotts, Alisha was still half a car length along side as the other car went straighter before turning, causing contact. This unfortunately ended the race for the other driver but Alisha was able to continue albeit with the front alignment knocked out resulting in a less responsive car through the bends and so Alisha had to settle for P4 just off the podium.
This race can be viewed at the following link:
Race 3: Race postponed until a future round.
As a result of race 2 being delayed into the slot of race 3, there was no opportunity for the final reverse grid race to be run and so this is due to be rescheduled to take place as part of a future round.
Overall a very positive round for Alisha, where she again demonstrated raw pace, consistency and the ability to cut through the traffic. Alisha is now looking forward to Round 3 at Donington Park (GP) on 25th - 26th May.
A huge thank you as always goes to Elite Motorsport, Ed Ives, Chris Hodgetts, Sarah Moore, Oil Bailey & Demi Belt for all the hard work and support throughout the weekend!