Jessica Hawkins was last seen on track in the Michelin Clio Cup road Series at Brands Hatch in August.
A change of plans and new sponsorship saw her make her single seater debut last weekend in the Dunlop Formula Ford Championship at Silverstone. She’d had a brief test in a car when her plans were first in the pipeline but Friday’s test session would be her first real run in the car, a Mygale chassis run by MBM Motorsport.
She spent Friday getting used to the car and although she competed plenty of laps, ever competitive, Jessica wasn’t happy with her speed and hoped the race weekend would be better;
“That was a mixed day. I’m hoping for a better one tomorrow.”
Before qualifying got underway, her car was liveried up with the logos of sponsor, Pomepure. The car looked great in white and Jessica was hoping to show what she could do in qualifying. Sadly a puncture part way through the session held her back and the track time she lost was valuable. With the track time she did have, she took twelfth on the grid, lower than she would have liked.
There would be three races during the weekend, one on Saturday and two on Sunday. Jessica made a good start for her first race in single seaters and found herself racing Chris Mealin, who has been racing the whole season. The two battled for ninth and fifth in the scholarship class for several laps. Sadly Jessica’s tyres went off and she faded towards the end but still took tenth on her debut. It had been a good performance for her first single seater race, a fact noticed by circuit commentator Ian Titchmarsh. He mentioned her several times during the race and said how well he thought she was doing.
For race two, things initially went well and she was again competing for the top ten when a problem meant a pit visit. Sadly this meant she lost and lap and so any chance of a top ten result. Still the track time would be useful and she was circulating faster than several front runners once she emerged from the pits. She was still classified eleventh still as quite a few rivals failed to finish.
Race three was on Sunday afternoon and this proved to be the toughest race yet and although Jessica was getting faster all the time as her confidence in the car grew, her rivals were getting quicker too. However she pushed hard and a second top ten finish was her reward.
It had been a positive debut and Jessica had been noticed by several people. Her confidence and speed will grow will every lap so if she can continue to get the funding, it won’t be long before she is fighting right at the front.
“It was great to get a top ten on my debut,” she commented after the weekend, “A massive thank you too all of my sponsors! Pompure UK, Hawthorns of Farnham and Brian. Also thank you to my Mechanic for the weekend, nothing fell off!” By Marc Waller
