Monday 15th July 2024
Round 4 of the GB4 Championship was held at Snetterton on the 300 layout on Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th July.
This was to be Alisha's fourth race meeting in a single seater after a six week break from the previous round.
SATURDAY 13th JULY:
Qualifying:
Race 1 = P1
Race 2 = P1
Race 3 = P12 (full reverse grid from Race 1 qualifying position)
Qualifying was extremely positive, Alisha was quickly on the pace and able to lead the times from her first push lap where she went on to post two identical laps times to the nearest thousandth. This resulted in Alisha's first pole position in the championship for race 1 and in fact was a double pole for race 2 also.
Race 1: P1 - P2
Alisha got an ok start but was jumped by the driver in P2 alongside her on the front row who led into turn 1. As the pack settled after turn 2, Alisha drove as hard as possible with some initial pressure from behind. It quickly became clear that others around her were on different set-ups and were able to fire the tyres up quicker as well as having the benefit of some of the new tyre allocation on the car which Alisha was saving for later races. As a result the driver in P1 was able to open up a lead whilst Alisha pushed as hard as possible to build a gap to P3 behind. Alisha's tyres came on much stronger during the latter half of the race and she was then able to post some very competitive lap times - within a tenth of the fastest lap. However, it was too late to close the gap and so Alisha finished on the podium in a very positive P2.
This race can be viewed at the following link:
SUNDAY 14th MAY:
Race 2: P1 - P1
Alisha got another ok start, this time to jump the driver along side on the front in P2. However, the drivers on row 2 in P3 & 4 got lightening starts and were able to jump ahead of Alisha by turn 1. Alisha was then able to quickly pass out of turn 2 to retake P2 as she set about pushing hard to challenge for P1. Alisha kept the pressure on lap after lap, typically running within 3 tenths of a second off P1 and at times defending an attack from P3 behind. However, as the race progressed both Alisha and the driver ahead were able to build a small gap and as she went into turn 4 (Agostini) on lap 7 she made an extremely bold move up the inside to claim P1. This left her vulnerable to the under-cut but she was able to gain enough traction to exit the corner fully in front and close the door. From that point onwards Alisha set an increasing number of fastest laps in the race to open up the lead and take P1 and overall fastest lap of the race. This was Alisha's second race win of the year.
This race can be viewed at the following link:
Race 3: P12 - P1
Race 3 was the full reverse grid race, so Alisha lined up at the back of the grid. Alisha made a very good start but found herself boxed in going into turn 1 so was not able to capitalise on the stronger start. As the next few laps unfolded Alisha was able to make up 4 or 5 places but began to suffer with a lack of balance in the car. She was still able to continue to make progress but not at her usual pace. With approx. 7min 30 seconds of the race remaining there was an incident at turn 4 involving two cars which brought out the safety car the lap afterwards. Alisha found herself in P7 at this stage, directly behind a championship rival who had got a broken front wing. As the clock ticked down it became clear the safety car was coming in which would allow a final one lap shoot out to the flag. On the restart, the cars at the front of the field in P1 & P2 collided going into turn 1, with the driver in P3 also getting caught up. This resulted in cars scrambling for position as they navigated their way through the spinning cars. Alisha was able to emerge through the incident in P2 where she had a brief battle with P3 into turn 2 before securing the position. She went on to cross the line in P2 on track. However, due to a starting procedure infringement, the car who finished in P1 received a 10 second time penalty and so Alisha was promoted up to P1. There was obviously an element of luck in this result, but given the amount of bad luck Alisha previously experienced at the past round this seemed to level things out.
This race can be viewed at the following link:
Overall an extremely positive race meeting! Entering the weekend Alisha was 73 points behind in the championship battle but due to the success of the weekend, she left a mere 16 points behind meaning the championship challenge is re-energised and back on.
Alisha now has a short two week break before the next round which is due to take place at Silverstone (GP) on 27th - 28th July.
A big thank you as always goes to Elite Motorsport, Ed Ives, Chris Hodgetts, Sarah Moore, Jody Fannin, Oli Bailey & Demi Belt for all the hard work and support throughout the weekend!
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