Event: 750 Motor Club Race Meeting
Location: Silverstone Circuit
Date: October 27th 2024
Series: PBS Brakes Hot Hatch Championship
Class: C
Car: Citroen Saxo VTR
Qualifying
Mel Higgins
Position: P27
Best Lap Time: 1:13.153
Highlights:
TIMESTAMP 10:28:44.863: Green Flag
TIMESTAMP 10:43:45.988: Session Finish
Race 1 Summary
Mel Higgins
Starting Position: P27
Highlights:
TIMESTAMP 13:28:29.840: Green Flag
TIMESTAMP 13:29:24.787: Safety Car
TIMESTAMP 13:35:07.858: Green Flag
TIMESTAMP 13:43:59.189: Session Finish
Lap 5: After several laps behind the safety car, Higgins spins at Copse, another competitor taking evasive action to avoid an incident and only damaging Higgins’ front bumper and light.
Race 1 Results
Mel Higgins
Laps Completed: 5
Final Position: Not Classified
Time: 16:30.227
Gap: +7 Laps
Best Lap Time: 1:37.192
Race 2 Summary
Mel Higgins
Starting Position: P29
Highlights:
TIMESTAMP 15:52:17.834: Green Flag
TIMESTAMP 15:56:11.068: Safety Car
TIMESTAMP 16:04:15.914: Green Flag
TIMESTAMP 16:07:32.478: Session Finish
Laps 3-5: Higgins’ wheel catches a slippery spill on the circuit into Copse and Maggots, resulting in a wobble that has her falling behind when the safety car comes out for a separate incident, blocking her behind the safety car.
Lap 6: Higgins is let through by the safety car.
Lap 7: Higgins is lapped by the rest of the field after spending an extended period behind the safety car.
Race 2 Results
Mel Higgins
Laps Completed: 9
Final Position: P28
Time: 15:38.551
Gap: +1 Lap
Best Lap Time: 1:17.004
Incidents and Penalties
Race 1
Incidents
Lap 5: Higgins spins at Copse after several laps behind the safety car, and another competitor narrowly avoids a major crash with Higgins, instead only scraping the front bumper and light.
Penalties
None
Race 2
Incidents
None
Penalties
None
Analysis and Team Comments
Team Analysis
“This round was another one that strikes somewhere between a valuable lesson and an unfortunate one.
Qualifying result is one we are hugely happy with – our driver for both races, Mel, got in the car and immediately set out to hit the goals she had in place prior to the race. She was successful in that, consistently achieving 1.13, which naturally made the entire team very proud. It also placed her 8th in class, which was another thing to be pleased with.
Qualifying was the height of our weekend, as both races we took part in came with quite a bit of misfortune.
Race 1 resulted in a Non Classification, and some damage to the car after an incident going into Copse, our driver spinning out on cold tyres post safety car and simply unable to save it – though nowhere near as much as could have been, were it not for the skill of another competitor in largely managing to avoid hitting our car. The incident would have been quite painful for Mel as well, so most of all we were glad to see her escape a potentially nasty incident. The car was repairable as well, and we did get to continue with the weekend.
Race 2 was equally as unfortunate, with our driver catching the puddle of a suspected coolant leak going from Copse to Maggots, dropping her behind timing wise and leaving her stuck behind the safety car when it came out for a separate incident on track. There was no small amount of confusion, or truthfully frustration, from the pit wall when we realised that Mel was not going to be let through by the safety car until it returned to the pits. This led of course to us being lapped, and essentially knocked out of competition, though we did finish the race in P28.
It was a frustrating weekend, but overall we take it as a lesson, both on the world of Motorsport and on growing pains. We are a new team, doing something new, and unlucky weekends like this are bound to happen.
Fortunately, the group of people who make up this team have quickly learned to take these days in stride, easily finding the positives of our weekends and the lessons hidden in the negatives. Mel, as our driver, is particularly good at this. The good energy in this team truly knows no bounds.
Onwards and upwards.”
Mel Higgins
“A little girl’s dream has come true, racing at the iconic Silverstone circuit. Sadly, while quali was good, the races were not so much.
The good news is qualifying was great, and I achieved the 1.13 consistently that I set out to achieve – that put my 8th in class. And right in the middle of my section, so that was very exciting! I am very happy with quali.
Race 1, I had a spin at Copse after sitting behind the safety car for several laps and the tyres just got too cold – I lost the back end and didn’t recover. Ended up seeing out of the corner of my eye another competitor heading towards me, and it’d have been a painful T-Bone. Thanks to their quick thinking and evasive action they only caught my front bumper and light – I am very grateful for that!! I felt terrible about it. Marshals called me in WD into the pits to get reattached and I went back out – apparently to some applause from the BRDC stand, which was so nice to find out about! Thank you so much to them for that, of course.
Race 2 didn’t get much better. I was told after the race someone had spilled coolant or something slippery round the circuit, and that’s what I managed to get my wheel right on – and I managed to fall behind. The safety car came out for a different incident elsewhere, blocking me from passing. I was stuck for a couple of laps, and they only let me through when he was going to come in, so the rest of the field caught up to me and I got lapped. It was a bit frustrating, and everyone on the pit wall and the grid behind me was asking the same – why isn’t he letting her through? I finished P28, which was disappointing, but at least it was a finish!
It is a shame about the races but we live and learn – especially as I’d have been right up there with them if I had a little better luck! Regardless, it was a dream come true to race at the circuit, and I think I made girls out there proud.”
With Thanks To
A massive thank you to all those who worked to organise the event, Event Marshalls, and the other teams present, for a fantastic day of racing; as well as to our own team members including:
Mel Higgins [Driver]
Lee Kenealy [Mechanical Support]
Laura Evans [Social Media Manager]
Leah Halsey [Presenter and Social Media Content Creator]
Katrina Muhsin [Presenter and Social Media Content Creator]
Sasha Wynn [Web Content Manager and Writer]
Abraham Fernández [Photographer and Videographer]
Harriet Bluett – HD Media [Photographer and Videographer]
Also with many thanks to::
Ninety2 Automotive
Powerflex
Stormvault UK
And our supporters:
Paddock Passion
And of course, our friends and family who were able to join us in-person and online worldwide.