Difficult debut in Ginetta for Michael at Silverstone

Having been absent from the cockpit of a racing car since April, Michael made his first appearance on track in the Speedworks Ginetta. With extremely difficult track conditions facing the 19 year old, Michael set about learning the car on a very greasy Silverstone circuit.

The day got off to an embarrassing start when Michael spun and parked the car in the Brooklands gravel trap on his first lap out of the pits! "I was taking it very cautiously on the first lap to get a feel for the track conditions, understand the car and get some heat into everything. I entered Brooklands at what felt like a snail's pace and the car started to slide and then snapped away. I was pretty baffled by the whole event!"

After recovering back to the pitlane, Michael ventured back out onto the circuit for the remainder of the first session. "I had another spin on my first ?flying' lap of the circuit but thankfully it stayed on the black stuff! I was able to get more feel in the car and understand some of its characteristics better.

With the track drying for the second session, Michael was able to establish more confidence in the car and push harder. Despite a still greasy track and traffic problems, he was able to post a best time of 1:09.100; only 2 seconds shy of the lap record set on a completely dry track with new tyres and slipstream. "The session was going really well; I wasn't pushing 100% but I felt comfortable in the car and felt confident to push a little bit harder every lap".

In the closing stages of the second session, Michael ran wide on the exit of turn one, loosing control of the car and crashing into the nearside wall, causing enough damage to force the team to withdraw from the rest of the day. "As I was pushing harder I began to use the kerb on the exit of Copse (turn 1) which provided good grip and looked bone dry. When I started my last lap I carried a little more speed into copse and the car began to understeer. Rather than trying to make the corner I ran the car over the extra tarmac as I have done in every other car but I lost all grip and it fired me across the track, across the grass and into the barrier. I was kicking myself for letting it happen because it was a complete misjudgement on my part and I was expecting a rollicking off Christian when I got back to the pits!"

Christian commented after: "Obviously it's a disappointing was to end the day but these things happen. Having been out of a car for so long, Michael really needed the track time but he was on the pace very quickly so we're confident of being in the top three next weekend. Michael is a very quick driver and would definitely be a championship contender if he ran with us next year".

For more information about Speedworks Motorsport and the Ginetta Championship, please visit: www.speedworksmotorsport.com