The 2020 season started like any other normal season but by the time it was a few weeks before the first meeting the whole fixtures for the year got cancelled due to the global pandemic. This meant that the season was delayed until July.
This meant we kicked off the season in July with a media day at Croft Circuit. This gave a great opportunity to get some track time in and get comfortable with the car. This didn’t go as planned as in my first session out I pushed myself too hard too early and managed to roll my car over twice and land with all 4 wheels firmly on the ground. In true stock car fashion I simply started the car up and drove my car back to the pit lane, unaware of the fact that I had an ambulance chasing after me to check if I was ok. This then meant that I couldn’t go out for the rest pf the day and I had left my dad a lot of work to get the car ready again for the first meeting in only a few weeks.
A few weeks had passed and it was time to head to Cadwell Park for the first meeting of the season. With the events of Croft in the back of my mind, I was starting to feel anxious about what the first round would bring. A big thank you to Rob Smith for sorting out for Bobby Thompson to sit in with me for one of my practice sessions. This gave me a lot more confidence in the car as I knew when to push it. Every session throughout the weekend I set an aim for myself to get quicker which I achieved. By the end of the weekend I had shaved just over 12 seconds on my best lap time and managed to bag myself a 9th and 10th position in both the races. This then left me feeling confident for Silverstone and ready to push myself further.
Silverstone had now come around and I was excited to get back to racing. I felt more confident coming into this weekend and took the practice session on the Thursday to get familiar with the track and build up some speed. I was struggling slightly with the lines but with some help from Rob Smith I was able to get the correct lines and improve my lap times. My positions in the race weren’t as good as I hoped they would be (P15 and P11) but I improved 6 seconds on my lap time throughout the weekend.
The next meeting was at Donington Park. As I didn’t do as well at Silverstone as I hoped I would I told myself I would push to be quicker as I thought it would be the last meeting of the year. Throughout the practice session I got used to the track and managed to shave some seconds off of my lap time. By the time the races came around I was confident with the track thanks to a little help from Olly Turner and Jamie Going. This helped me achieve my first top 10 finish of the season, which I was very happy with. On top of that I managed to cut down on my lap time by 5 seconds. I thought this was a very good way to end the season.
A last minute decision meant that I was going to attend the last meeting of the season at Croft and I was a little nervous considering what happened the last time I went to Croft but I was determined to make it a great end to the season. As it was a last minute decision, I didn’t do the practice session the day before. This meant that I had less track time than the other drivers but I wouldn’t let that faze me. I grew more confidence throughout the meeting picking up a P8 and P9 as well as a 10 second improvement on my best lap time. I was pleased that I was able to change my mind on Croft as a circuit.
I feel like I developed and improved a lot over the season and have become more comfortable in the car as well as on different tracks. Overall I am very happy with how the 2020 season went and am excited to see what he 2021 season brings.
BGD Motorsport UK 