Race Three
The final race of the weekend was the endurance race and Jack lined up in 7th place on the grid and looking forward to capitalising on the longer race time to chase down the other cars. Unfortunately Jack was given the news just before the race that championship rules meant that due to his win in Spa he faced a maximum 20 second time success penalty which would be added onto his pit stop.
Jack had the inside line at the rolling start and was squeezed into 8th place. The Thunderhead-sponsored driver remained tight on the back of the leading pack and at the end of lap two had managed to get himself back up to 7th place.
Displaying strong race pace, Jack was tight on the back of the reigning champion in the #1 car and was applying the pressure. The pressure subsequently forced the #1 car to push too hard and it was handed a 5 second time penalty for exceeding track limits. Jack, driving within the limits of the race track, was staying with the #1 car but couldn’t find a way past.
Coming in for his 45 second stop which had the maximum success handicap of a further 20 seconds for his success in Spa, Jack could only watch as his rivals pulled out of the pits and re-joined the race way down in 19th place. With 9 laps remaining, Jack began fighting his way back up the order and was delivering some of the fastest laps on the track. On a mission to regain all the positions lost in the lengthy stop, Jack began overtaking handfuls of drivers on nearly every corner of the track.
By the time the 40 minutes had elapsed, Jack had made him way from 19th up to 9th place to position him nicely inside the top ten - a remarkable result considering the added 20-second success penalty! Jack was later promoted to 8th place after a time penalty was added to another car which gave him even more points to take home.
Jack reflected on a positive weekend back on British soil. “It was a good weekend, we displayed some strong performances and dealt with the challenges effectively. I feel we could have collected a podium here at Silverstone but the time handicap for my success in Spa ruled that out in the final race. We struggled with the heat in the first race but we now know what we need to do next time to avoid cooking the engine. I have analysed the data and there is lots to build on and I am looking forward to my next race in the Radical ”
Kieren Clark, Head of MB Partners Young Driver, saw this as a good but challenging weekend for Jack. “Silverstone was a good test for Jack, battling the heat and a competitive field. Jack’s pace was good all weekend and he deserves to be leaving with more points. There is always room for development and Jack is a very quick learner! ”
Back-to-back racing weekends means that Jack is straight back in action again this weekend as the Radical Championship heads to Rockingham for round four.
