Solid Start for Sarah in Trofeo Abarth

Resident Columnists

Sarah had a great weekend at Oulton Park in Cheshire for the first round of the Trofeo Abarth 500 GB Championship and achieved points finishes in both races. With expectations of at least one session in the wet, Sarah and the Reflex Racing GB Team headed for the undulating Cheshire circuit on Friday.

Surprisingly, qualifying and both races ended up being dry and so slicks were the order of the day! Despite having had a heavy downpour over night, the track was drying rapidly, particularly as the British GT's and F3's were out before the Abarths! By the time Sarah hit the track for qualifying, there was a dry line with only certain areas being damp.

Throughout the qualifying sessions, Sarah's lap times were getting quicker and quicker as she got to grips with the car and the circuit (she hadn't been to Oulton for over 2 years!). Having held 10th fastest for most of the session, she unfortunately slipped in the last few minutes to 12th - but still a solid performance ready for the race!

"Having not raced here for such a long time and still getting use to driving a left hand drive car with slicks and a turbo, I was fairly pleased with qualifying," said Sarah after. "There are some seriously talented drivers on this grid, including past Clio Champion and ex British Touring Car drivers so I've got a great bench mark to aim for!"

Race One was again dry. Sarah got a great start but got boxed in going into the first corner. This meant that she very nearly collected the recovering car of Benny Simonsen! Ben Winrow then lost control of his car, crashing heavily and damaging his car. Sarah avoided all the carnage and got in a solid first lap, including passing ex BTCC driver Fiona Leggate. Sarah again continued to put in faster and faster laps, finishing 11th place by the end of the 30 minute race.

Race Two was a little more challenging! With yet another first corner incident, Sarah picked her way through and pushed the little Abarth harder and harder as the race progressed. She could see she was catching the cars in front of her and pushed a little too hard going into Knickerbrook corner, resulting in getting a little air and ending up on two wheels! Fortunately, the car came back down to earth the right way up and Sarah sped off to continue her chase! With time ticking away, Sarah managed to take 9th place before the chequered flag.

"I'm really pleased with the results of this weekend and two solid points finishings for the Championship." said Sarah. "Despite having not been at Oulton for a couple of years and still getting to know the car, I think this weekend was a great start. It's only two weeks now until the second round at Silverstone so I intend to build on the solid foundations we have built here at Oulton!"

The next round will be at Silverstone on the new GP circuit on 17th and 18th April 2010. http://www.girlracer.co.uk