Looking to build on his round one performance, local favourite Tristan Ovenden headed to Lydden Hill circuit over the Easter weekend. The Super 1600 driver was pitted up against some of Europe’s top drivers in this category, but still relished the challenge.
The weather, and the threat of ‘Storm Katie’ didn’t stop Ovenden, who lined up for the first qualifying round on the second row of the grid. He put in an impressive performance, setting the second fastest British time in the competitive field, putting him into ninth place overall.
Qualifying two saw Ovenden draw pole position, which he used to his advantage, making a fantastic start that meant he found himself at the front of the pack at Chessons Drift, and by the end of the session, put him once more into ninth place. However, qualifying three didn’t go as planned, and on lap three, the drive shaft on his Suzuki Swift broke, meaning he couldn’t continue. Fortunately, the local driver had done enough to make the semi-finals, albeit starting from the back of the grid.
Between the third qualifying and the semi-finals, the Peter Gwynne Motorsport team worked hard to fix the broken drive shaft, as well as replace the gearbox, so that Ovenden could start in the semi-finals. Once more, Ovenden made an excellent start, manoeuvring himself into fourth position, which would have been enough to get into the final. However, the drive shaft issue returned on the third lap, bringing his race and weekend to an untimely end.
Even though technical difficulties hampered Ovenden’s weekend, he still picked up valuable points, which helped him to maintain his third place position in the championship. Ovenden commented that it was a “promising weekend, but not the result we were after at the end of the day”.
