As The Sim Grid’s More Female Racers by Thrustmaster series headed to Silverstone, the championship fight was hotting up. Being the penultimate round of the short five-race season, the stage was set for more close racing and incredible action. Even with our high expectations, Silverstone certainly proved able to exceed the level of action previously seen.
After an impressive few races from the Pro-AM team Map1 Racing, both Aloo Gobi and Jens Kaiser had the positive momentum and so looked to further their lead in Pro-AM. However, this time it was not the class lead they were after, instead, it was the championship lead.
The story at the front
After three races of Jean Alesi Esports Academy dominance in Pro class, another pole and victory were seeming almost inevitable. It was, therefore, to everyone’s surprise when it was the #21 McLaren from Map1 racing on pole position – not our Pro class championship leaders.
As the lights went out for the start of one hour of racing, it was the Jean Alesi Esports Academy Mercedes who took the lead from Aloo Gobi in the Map1 McLaren. However, as Gobi drifted wide at Maggotts she made contact with Mia Rose ahead, affecting neither car, but starting a chain reaction of incidents behind. As this unfolded, it was Rose who was under investigation for a suspected start infringement.
Despite a string of strong laps from Jean Alesi Esports Academy to extend a gap, the race was turned on its head when it was confirmed by our stewards that they did indeed have a drive-through penalty for speeding at the start of the race. It was as they served this penalty that Map1 Racing was promoted to the lead and followed by a team new to the series – Neptune Racing. With Jean Alesi Esports Academy now third, it was a battle of the McLarens ahead.
As the clock ticked down to ten minutes left, Jens Kaiser in the Map1 Racing McLaren spun at Copse, losing their lead completely and promoting Neptune Racing to the lead in just their first race in MFR. Victory was looking certain, but as they caught up to a pack of lapped cars, the Heck 1 Flexus machine spun ahead of them, leaving the McLaren nowhere to go. As they faced backwards, they were passed by both Map1 Racing and Jean Alesi Esports Academy, dropping to third place. Surely this time, Map1 Racing could hold the lead? Aenore Rose in the Mercedes behind drew right up to the rear-wing of Kaiser, but Kaiser managed to hold on, taking an incredible first overall victory at a race where we were all on the very edge of our seats right until the clock hit zero. After all of Map1 Racing’s hard work, Gobi said in an interview that “it felt really really good to see it pay off” and that the race was “so much to think about” considering the pressure she was under.
Pro-AM’s top finishers
One of the biggest stories of Pro-AM was that their championship leader won not only in class but the overall race. With this result along with their past dominance, Map1 Racing are seeing a promotion to Pro class, meaning that they are also no longer part of the Pro-AM championship fight. This leaves BSKIT Motorsport MFR in first place, followed closely by Star Girl Racing and Team Edison, but also promotes everyone a spot in the previous results. Although at the time of the race, it was Map1 Racing who won in class, the victory has since been handed to a first-time winning Bentley.
Taking their first class victory this week was NSN MFR. In the hands of John Munro and Melissa Taplin, the Bentley flew past the competition among some of the tightest battles we have seen so far in More Female Racers. Upon entering the pits for their first stop, Taplin sat fifth in class, but due to two of their competitors ahead serving time penalties, they gained two spots and more importantly, more time. Now with Munro at the wheel, he had to catch and pass the championship-leading BSKIT Motorsport MFR Nissan of Declan Bowler, after he took over from Jenny Camugli. As Munro launched his Bentley down the inside of Bowler, he took the position where just twelve minutes later he’d finish – ahead of Bowler who would come home third.
In second place was Team Edison’s Maryn Edwards and Vicky Thomson, who saw themselves return to the podium after a ninth-place finish last week at Monza. After the disappointment of last week following on from back-to-back second-place class finishes, they wanted to pick themselves back up and taste the virtual champagne once more. Not only did they do this, but they did it with one of the standout drives of the race. After a tough stint for Maryn, they sat seventh in class, however, as Thomson stepped into the car, she hauled it back through the field – a type of drive that Thomson is becoming known for.
Silverstone’s drama
Whilst Pro-AM saw some great highs, it also saw its lows. The second-place team in the championship saw one of their toughest races after getting caught up in the lap one mess. This was the Star Girl Racing Ferrari, who currently have all the pressure on their shoulders to try and claw back the championship lead from BSKIT Motorsport. Jenny Camugli from BSKIT Motorsport said in an interview that she and Declan Bowler “need to perform well next week to secure that P1”, so make sure to keep an eye on the Ferrari as they try to beat the BSKIT Motorsport Nissan to the flag after this week’s struggle.
Another team whose race didn’t turn out as they would have pleased was the Heck 1 Flexus Lexus. Despite being right amongst the action for the majority of the race and therefore being a real point of interest, their race took a turn for the worse. As Selene Witcher said in a post-race interview, both “Alice and I thought we had some good pace for Silverstone, unfortunately, it seemed like everyone else had more”. However, it wasn’t all bad by any means due to their great battles, but “the final nail in the coffin” was when teammate Alice Horton spun at Abbey, getting collected by the leader at the same time and making Silverstone a race to forget.
The standout drive
Arguably Silverstone’s standout drive was from the GTWR Female Racing 2 Lamborghini, driven by Chris Hartveld and Yvonne van den Berg. They too got caught up in the lap one incidens and saw themselves sitting twenty-second after qualifying eighth. From lap two and onwards, Yvonne and then Chris had their sights set on climbing up the order. With some perfect moves and great pace, the pairing rose to ninth by the checkered flag – an amazing feat considering the kick to the stomach that lap one was, both to their car and for the two mentally.
What to look for next week
As the second season of More Female Racers by Thrustmaster is due to come to a close at a rainy Imola next Monday, it’s still all to play for up and down both championships. All of the action will be live on The Sim Grid’s YouTube channel, so come along to not miss out on the championship finale. Make sure to also check out More Female Racers’ title sponsor, Thrustmaster, for the best sim racing gear.
