With the luck that Jamie Chadwick has had in recent races she’d be forgiven for not looking forward to the recent rounds at the Scottish circuit of Knockhill.
She was knocked off at the previous round at Snetterton losing a likely podium but she headed to Scotland still full of optimism that this would be the round where her luck would improve.
Unfortunately her usual luck continued in qualifying and she would start down in tenth, with her brother, Ollie, a bit further up the grid in 6th.
Jamie’s first race saw things going no better, she had started to make up ground from her tenth place start until she was knocked into a spin at the hairpin. This left her down in ninth place at the end, higher than she started but a long way off the podium finish she wanted. Her brother had even less luck, suspension failure forcing him out.
For the second race on Sunday things were very different as she had an excellent start and then two cars colliding up ahead put her in sixth place. This became fifth place when she passed Jack Mitchell. This also gave her the lead in the rookie cup and a place on the podium if she could stay ahead and finish in front of Mitchell. She held on and finished fifth, just behind Brother Ollie and more importantly she had won the rookie cup, earming her a first ever podium.
Jamie was overjoyed with her best result to date;
“We really needed a good result to make up for so many recent disappointments. The JHR Developments team had worked hard and the wisdom shared by my newly-appointed driver coach, Aston Martin British GT racer Jonny Adam, all came together in Sunday’s race. That and the Scottish hospitality made my first visit to Knockhill really memorable. It’s a great circuit, with great crowds, and I’m already looking forward to racing here next year.”
Her next target will be an overall podium and she will be aiming for this at the next rounds in a few weeks’ time at Rockingham on the 14th and 15th September. By Marc Waller
