Kimura Racing’s Eliza provided her report from the weekend:
The Snetterton round of Mazda Supercup was my third race weekend in cars and we were able to get a test evening at Bedford Autodrome prior to this round so I felt well prepared to take on the challenge. What started as a challenging weekend, turned out to be one of the best so far!
Friday Testing
We arrived at a dry Snetterton and surprisingly it stayed dry for the whole day which has been a rarity this year so far. It was great to get some solid testing in the MK3 in the dry, feeling more confident and comfortable in the car each lap. For the last of the four sessions, we put a new set of tyres on the car so that I could get used to the extra grip before qualifying, as the previous set had done the last two race weekends and all the test days. This was a good call as I was able to carry much more speed into the corners and I could feel what a difference it made to the handling of the car.
Qualifying
Our qualifying session was dry and although I was improving on the test day, I was not able to achieve a lap time as quick due to some small mistakes on each lap and hitting a track limit sensor meaning a good lap time was deleted.
Race 1
The rain returned for the start of race one and would stay with us throughout the rest of the weekend! Although I had good pace in the rain an unfortunate spin after being a little too eager on the throttle out of Palmer corner sent me spinning. We recovered to P6 in class and P29 overall.
Race 2
In another wet race two we started P31 on the grid and fought our way through the pack to achieve P19 overall, keeping it on the track and battling cleanly.
Race 3
For race three it was dry in the assembly area however the downpour started as we gridded up for the start of the race. This meant the whole grid was on an even playing field as it was too late for setup or tyre changes. We started P19 on the grid in the mix with cars in both classes in front and behind. Again, learning from race one and two I kept focused, drove to the grip of the car and track and was able to make my way up the order in class to achieve P2 in class and P18 overall, making this my first podium in car racing on my third ever race weekend!
On her performance during the weekend Eliza said ‘Big thanks to the guys at @bccarsmotorsport for giving me a good car and keeping me on track. Thanks to my friends and family for all your support. Thank you to my sponsors for joining me on this journey, happy to bring a good result on my third ever race weekend in cars! And thank you to @bentuckracing for coaching me, and putting up with me, this wouldn’t have been possible without your guidance!’
Eliza is looking forward to the next and last round at Silverstone on 7th and 8th October. Her and the team are arranging an event at this race for sponsors and friends to come along and network, if you would like to partner with her for this event please get in touch, there are plenty of opportunities available!
