Brands sees disapointment but also much to be proud of for Jamie and Esmee

In the pack (Photo by Marc Waller)Last weekend saw the final Ginetta Junior races of the season for Jamie Chadwick and Esmee Hawkey.

For Esmee, the weekend would be her first experience of wet conditions and she’d be looking to build her experience in her AMD tuning run car. JHR run Jamie was hoping to add to her podiums and maybe even a win.

Practice was okay for both drivers but things went wrong for Jamie in Qualifying when unpredictable conditions put her in a lower than usual tenth place. Esmee took fifteenth, higher than she has been qualifying. On second best times which would form the grid for race two, Jamie was slightly higher in ninth with Esmee slightly lower in seventeenth.

Both looked forward to race one on Saturday. At the start the track was wet although it wasn’t raining. Esmee, not used to the conditions dropped to the back but Jamie held her position. Unfortunately several offs led to the safety car being out for much of the race. They did 4 laps in total in the end with only 2 of these at racing speed, not enough time for either driver to make any impact.

Jaime (Photo by Marc Waller)Esmee (Photo by Marc Waller)Jamie was disappointed to not get much racing but looked forward to her final race of 2014;

“Frustrating day yesterday with only a two lap race!! Looking to finish the season on a high today, so going to throw everything at it!”

Jamie was true to her word and raced hard running seventh for much of the race and fighting up to fifth only to spin off on the penultimate lap and become stuck in the gravel. It wasn’t the positive end to the season Jamie had hoped for but she certainly had thrown everything at it.

Esmee had a quieter race but as she gains experience she is looking faster with every lap she completes, she took fifteenth.

Jamie ends up eighth in the championship but she helped her team to win the team’s championship.

Both racers now look to 2015 and will work on their plans to get back on the grid. It’s clear that they both have a lot of potential for the future and with enough backing they can progress to higher championships. By Marc Waller

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