So, the first race weekend of the season is now over, and it was quite an eventful one. There were some highlights, some struggles, but overall I think it went pretty well.
Friday was the first day I actually got some seat time. I got up to speed relatively quickly despite some car troubles and a red flag in one of my sessions, so I was feeling pretty good with the car by the end of the day. Come Saturday morning, though, and the track was drenched. As much as I was feeling like I’d got comfortable relatively quickly, I still honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to do in the rain. In karting, I’d always done pretty good in the wet, but cars are a very different beast, and until that point I’d never once driven a car in wet conditions.
Saturday started straight off with qualifying, which went decently well. I was driving a bit reservedly given it was my first time, but the pace was still relatively good; enough to land me sixth place on the grid. All things considered, I was happy with that. Before the next race, my team and I had plenty of time to go over the data and compare with my more experienced teammate, so I was feeling good heading into the race, even though it was still only my second ever session in the wet. At the start of the race, it seemed like it was paying off massively. I had an amazing start, getting past several people in the opening lap or two; in the chaos of the rain I lost track of exactly how many cars I passed when, but after a few laps I made my way up to second place with my teammate right behind me. I was feeling great. Unfortunately, it all unraveled when I clipped the exit curb of turn two one lap, which in the rain was enough for the car to completely snap, ending with me in the wall and my race over.
It was extremely disappointing. Especially now, knowing that I was sitting in second at that point, it’s a shame. But there were a few silver linings. The obvious one is that I made it to second in the first place. For my first race and my first ever drive in the wet, that was really good. On top of that, even though I couldn’t keep it out of the wall, when I lost the car I still managed to save it enough that the damage was surprisingly minimal, mostly bodywork and a slight alignment tweak. So, even though I was starting the second race from last place due to my crash, I wasn’t feeling that bad at all going into it.
The second race was a lot less eventful compared to the first. By that point the track was drying very quickly so there was a lot more grip for us. I started the race fairly cautiously, both because the quickly changing track made conditions uncertain and because I was still a bit psyched from my crash. Throughout the race, though, I steadily gained confidence with the track and picked my way through traffic. By the end of the race, my pace was pretty much on par with the leaders and I managed to make my way back to sixth for a decent amount of points. Overall it was still a touch disappointing knowing that the race before I was in contention for a podium, but given the situation it was still a pretty good performance.
The third and final race was Sunday morning, and I was so ready for it. My pace across the whole weekend that far was right up there with the leaders, and because of the way they decided the grid for the second and third races, I was starting on pole. Unfortunately, this race was over pretty much before it started. Almost as soon as the lights went out for the standing start, two cars behind me came together and unluckily it ended with one of them spearing sideways into my car, ending my race there. It was disappointing for sure, but personally I was less frustrated with this one than the first crash because the first one was purely my mistake.
Either way though, with that anti-climactic ending, the weekend was over. I didn’t get the results I could’ve, but the potential was clearly there and it was good experience behind the wheel. Now it’s time to look forward to the next one!
