BRDC Rising Star, Alice Powell, produced a win out of what was another problematic weekend for the 20 year old.
The F3 Cup travelled overseas to race at the famous Zolder circuit in Belgium, where it was new to the majority of the field.
After having problems with her car at Brands Hatch and having to participate in a spare car, Alice prepared for Zolder in hope that she would be back in her own car. However, a test in her car before she went to Zolder showed that the problems still existed with her car, so it was back in a different spare car, “It is very frustrating that we have not found this hidden problem with my car. It is lucky that we tested it before we went to Zolder. However, it is also lucky that my other team mate, Stuart, was not racing and kindly let me use his car. It is completely different to what I raced at Brands!”
After only having a 25 minute practise session, it was straight into qualifying, where Alice managed 3rd on the grid, despite having trouble with the gearing.
For Race One, more problems soon unfolded, as a stuck solid gear cable delayed Alice from getting to the grid, so she had to start from the pit lane. However, Alice fought her way up the field to 4th and would have been right on the back of Henry Chart in 3rd if there were a couple more laps.
Alice lined up in 3rd place for Race Two, due to setting the 3rd fastest time in Race One.
All cars got a clean start away from the grid, with Alice putting pressure on the two drivers in front. Alex Craven managed to pip past Tristian Cliffe out of the final turn to complete the first lap. Alice pilled pressure on Cliffe, who made a small mistake into turn 4 on lap three, which allowed Alice to nip through. By this time, Alex Craven had produced over a three second lead. Alice was producing fastest lap after fastest lap, closing the gap on the lead, when Craven made a small error and took to the gravel, allowing Alice past and into the lead. She didn’t look back, as she took her 5th victory of the season and keeping herself on the top of the F3 Cup Drivers Championship, “After a problematic weekend, it was great to leave Zolder with a win. The MBR team have worked very hard all weekend trying to sort the problems. It didn’t take me too long to adjust to the spare car, but the car threw a few problems at us, what with the gearing trouble and the gear cable jamming before R1. However, I did have a bit of luck with the drivers in front of me making small errors, but you need some luck in this sport! I am looking forward to Brands, and really hoping I will be back in my usual car!”
The next round of the F3 Cup takes place at Brands Hatch GP on 27-28 July.
