Abbie demonstrates podium pace at Brands Hatch
PODIUM PACE AT BRANDS HATCH
Round 2 on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit was a stark contrast to the flooded Donington Park event two weeks earlier. With highs of 22 degrees forecast for the entire weekend, and an additional race to make up for the Donington Park rerun, it promised to be an intense weekend of racing.
As shown at Donington Park, the 2024 PCCGB grid has been fiercely competitive, and Brands Hatch was no exception. With each driver having two new sets of tyres to set their lap times, Abbie’s first run was cut short after a few laps due to a rear-end collision, and with only 10 minutes remaining, she was down in P20. Thankfully the car was OK’d and Abbie pushed hard to climb the grid, finishing P5 in Pro/Am, just four-tenths off the overall pole position.
Race 1 of the weekend was a rerun of Donington Park Race 2, with the grid determined by the Race 1 results from Donington Park. Abbie started P17 overall, P7 in Pro/Am, and after a clean race with some brilliant overtakes, she finished P5 in Pro/Am.
Race 2 was the first official Brands Hatch race, with Abbie starting P14 overall, P5 in Pro/Am. She got off to a fantastic start, gaining three places in the first lap. However, progress was halted by a significant accident involving Angus Whiteside, which brought out the red flag and caused a 30-minute delay. Thankfully, Angus was medically cleared and the race was able to be restarted.
Upon the restart, Abbie had another great start, chasing down the Pro/Am cars ahead. She made a bold move on Josh Stanton at Graham Hill Bend, securing P3 in Pro/Am, which she held for the remaining 28 laps to achieve her first Porsche Carrera Cup GB podium. However, a post-race jump start penalty dropped her to P17 overall and P7 in Pro/Am, a significant blow as her progress had been made during the race, not at the start. Despite this, her performance on the track demonstrated excellent improvement and pace comparable to the front group.
Given the Race 2 penalty, Race 3 was set to be a challenge, due to the starting position being from Race 2 results (P17 overall, P7 in Pro/Am). Undeterred, Abbie made her best start of the weekend, gaining two places on the first lap and continuing to advance until she was fighting for a podium position in Pro/Am. An intense battle with Ollie Jackson, who fiercely defended against Abbie’s overtakes, eventually led to contact that damaged Abbie’s steering, halting her progress.
Overall, the Brands Hatch weekend showed a significant improvement in pace and competitiveness, even if the results don’t fully reflect it and we hope to carry this momentum into the rest of the year.
Next, we head to Thruxton, the fastest circuit in the UK, on June 8th.
"I'm really pleased with the progress I made at Brands Hatch. I made a couple of mistakes in Qualifying at Donington Park, so I was keen to make sure I didn't do the same here. The weekend started off great with a big improvement in Qualifying, and securing my first podium was a really special feeling. Despite having a post race penalty, I think there are far more positives than negatives with our excellent pace on circuit, and I look forward to building on the progress at Thruxton".
