As the withdrawal symptoms start to kick in, I have now had the chance to review this season, my first racing cars in the Ginetta Junior Championship.
It would have been naive of me to have expected a perfect first year, especially in the exciting, tricky and challenging Ginetta Juniors, but like any racing driver, I will always want to do better!
However, having initially felt rather underwhelmed with my results this year, I have now had a good chance to extract the positives and highlights from this season. As in most sports, you have to ride out the disappointments and focus on the continuous quest for improvement.
I’d like to think I’ve learnt a lot through 2013. I had a resounding and long awaited maiden visit to the podium at Knockhill in the main Championship, and some promising results at the Winter Series in November have vastly increased my confidence and expectations. And, although a couple of issues proved costly, my overall pace and comfort with the car, in often treacherous conditions, felt good.
The plan is to run for a second year in the Ginetta Juniors, where I would hope to be competing at the front, and ultimately aiming for the title, although I will have to balance this with my GCSEs and other sporting commitments.
There are a few areas where we need to improve next year, so the close season will give us the opportunity to work hard on these and make some important decisions about how best to achieve them.
I’m also keen to play my part in promoting ‘girls in motorsport’. It’s currently a male dominated sport and the emergence of more girls will broaden its appeal, and widen the marketing opportunities for all. The more popular motorsport becomes, the better for everyone. In fact, Alice Powell and I are putting together an ‘all female’ karting team in the Dan Weldon Charity Endurance Race, live at the Autosport Show at the NEC on 10 January 2014.
Overall this year has been fantastic! Racing on the TOCA package has been a real experience and I have learnt an enormous amount both on and off circuit, for much of which I really must thank Ginetta.
Finally, I’d like to thank everyone for their support this year and wish you all a very merry Christmas
