Jamie Chadwick and Esmee Hawkey were in action at Silverstone last weekend for the lastest rounds of the Ginetta Junior championship supporting the BTCC.
Jamie had taken a podium finish for her team JHR developments last time out and was hoping more of the same. Esmee was only in her second ever car race meeting and would be pushing on towards the top ten while gaining experience of both racing and the car with BTCC team AMD Tuning.com running her.
In first practice Jamie managed to set the fifth fastest time, only four tenths off pole. Esmee was sixteenth but only a few tenths of a second off the top ten. With just a slight improvement both were hoping for a great result in qualifying.
Sadly things didn’t go according to plan for either of them, Jamie took ninth and eighth on the grid and Esmee managed Seventeenth and Nineteenth.
When the first race got underway, Jamie set off after the leading pack while Esmee got a good start to follow further down the field. The battle at the front was fierce and Jamie kept a close watch, waiting for her opportunity. As the race entered the closing stages she got her chance when several of the front runners collided as they battled for the lead. Jamie took full advantage as she sliced through to take third place which she held to the flag. Esmee finished sixteenth, lower than she hoped but she is gaining valuable experience all the time.
They both hoped to do even better in race two. Jamie got a great start and Esmee too was up with the pack when disaster struck at the front with a collision and a spin. This caused a huge pile up which sadly collected both Jamie and Esmee.
Esmee was out on the spot, Jamie headed to the pits where they changed her wheels and were all set to send her out when they spotted further damage. Sadly this wasn’t fixable during the race and so she was out as well.
It wasn’t the end to the weekend that either had hoped for. Next up is the last rounds of the season at Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. Both drivers will be hoping for a good weekend. It’s Esmee’s home circuit and a top ten would be a positive way to end her first few races in cars. Jamie had hoped to be winning races this year but bad luck and incidents have restricted her to podiums, she’ll be aiming to try and end the year on a huge high with her first win. By Marc Waller
