Emily Linscott returned to the Ginetta Junior championship last weekend at Brands Hatch for her first full season.
She did the final few rounds last year to gain experience but now takes on a whole year. With the experience already gained she was hoping to progress further this weekend and hopefully gain a rookie podium.
Friday testing went well with much improved pace over last season and so it was onto Saturday which would see Practice, Qualifying and one race.
Practice went well but qualifying didn’t go according to plan and she ended up sixteenth on the grid. But what followed was some very impressive driving.
Emily got a great start and gradually passed rivals moving up the field and by two thirds of the way through the race she had reached eighth and third in the rookie class. She was driving better than she ever had before and things looked good to reach her podium target. But then disaster struck when a drop-link failed in the car’s suspension, sending her off the track. She somehow managed to regain control and dragged the car to the finish in sixteenth. It was a strong drive with little reward. Linscott was happy with how she had driven though;
“Omg what a race! I started 16th but I got up to 8th with possibly my best driving to date, only to have a drop-link break and send me off, everywhere. I’m Extremely happy with my performance today, thanks to my awesome team for their fantastic support and hard work”
Race two on Sunday was wet, which she still hasn’t had much experience of. She made a good start and was up to thirteenth by Druids but then was pushed wide into the gravel at Clearways. This dropped her all the way down to twenty first. But she recovered and pushed on passing several cars to end the race in fourteenth.
It was little reward for a weekend where she had put in her best driving performances to date only to have her efforts spoiled by events out of her control.
“Today’s race for me wasn’t the way I’d hoped it would go but once again, I’m pleased with my driving though.” She said afterwards.
Emily’s next races are at Donington Park on the final weekend in April. By Marc Waller
