At the end of the season opener from Oulton Park, Hillclimbing ace Charlie Martin reflected on her first weekend in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge where she left with silverware.
Poor conditions curtailed the weekend for the Richardson Racing driver with the final race being cancelled along with a number of support races. Qualifying had not started any better, with wet conditions and a red flag ensuring Martin would only get the chance of one flying lap, putting her down in twenty-seventh.
She had been on course for a third place finish in the AM class for the opening race, but was punted wide in the closing laps. She recovered though and during a shortened second race, made up eleven positions to finish seventeenth overall and third in the AM class.
“It’s been a real baptism of fire for me this weekend on my debut and the conditions have been tough, but I’m really pleased with how things have gone.” said Martin
“I’ve been able to learn a huge amount, made progress every time I went on track and am happy at the fact that I was able to make up places in both races on merit and not simply through attrition. To end the weekend with a trip to the podium was also fantastic.”
Her teammate Alex Toth-Jones also struggled, but ended his weekend on a lower note. Having qualified sixth, he maintained the position in race one only to be caught up in an accident during race two and retire from a potential top five result. He’ll hope to recover his championship chances at Rockingham.
“The short sprint races are much more intense than the hill climbs I’ve been used to in the past,” Charlie continued. “But I feel I adapted well and I’m looking forward to building on this weekend when we head to Rockingham for round two.”
