Qualifying:
Though there was predicted rain for Saturday, Oulton Park remained dry in time for qualifying. Holly recorded her fastest lap time of the session on lap 5, with a time of 1:37.045. Her time was approximately 2 seconds off pole, qualifying her for P22 across all three races.
Race 1:
Poor weather conditions proved to be a key determinate of Race 1 positions. Half of the grid opted for slick tires while the other half started for wets – Holly with the latter.
In the first two opening laps, many drivers struggled on the slicks as the rain continued to pick up. Holly took advantage of this situation with her wet tires, and breezed by her competitors, moving her up to an impressive P12. A safety car was brought up the following lap, leaving only three laps remaining of the race. Holly was able to capitalise further on the tricky conditions and progressed her way up to P9 before the chequered flag, her new highest finishing position of the weekend.
Race 2:
Racing resumed on the Monday with undetermined weather conditions. Visibility was low with scattered showers – parts of the track were wet. Regardless, all drivers chose to start off on the slicks.
A formation lap crash from Josh McLean allowed Holly to gain a position on the starting grid, from P22 to P21. From the first lap, Holly gained another place due to a crash from Mayer Deonarine, resulting in a safety car for three laps. Racing soon resumed but another incident occurred, moving Holly to P19. In the final lap of the race, Ava Dobson and Megan Bruce fighting led to both of them being pushed off track. This allowed Holly to finish with the result of P16.
Race 3:
The patterned rain continued into Race 3, forcing teams and drivers to decide between slick or wet tires once again. In the formation lap, Lily-May Watkins collided with the wall, resulting in a delayed start with an additional formation lap. This allowed 18 drivers to enter the pit to change tires. Only five drivers, including Holly on wet tires, stayed out on track to begin the race. From the starting grid, Holly now began in P4 rather than P22, ahead of the pitted drivers. Unfortunately, as the rain began to clear and the track soon dried, Holly’s wet tires proved to be more and more difficult to manage. Holly soon lost grid positions to those on slick tires. In the end, Holly finished just outside the top ten in P11.
Holly reviews her weekend: “Oulton Park was definitely difficult with the changeable weather. Nonetheless, I’m happy to take home my top two finishes of the season so far. Many thanks to my team for all their support this weekend. During this six-week break, I’m determined to train hard so I can come back even stronger. See you at Snetterton!”