Surprise guest drive for Stalloni Campioni at Castle Coombe as part of the SRK Championship!
With a quieter weekend on the cards, Tom was privileged to receive a last minute invite to stand in for a Stalloni Campioni team driver in the SRK Championship! Heading to Castle Coombe there were a few nerves, other drivers had already completed several rounds and were familiar with the track, Tom had neither of those to his advantage…
He was welcomed by the team & coach and given advice and tactics on what to expect on the track walk. A narrower track and with heats of 6 drivers, Tom quickly realised that passing would be tricky, especially on heats where he was allocated a grid slot further back. The first heat saw Tom struggling with his pedal on arrival at the grid, and consequently he was slow to start as he was trying to sort it out when the lights went green - disappointed he battled on and managed to maintain 4th (his starting position).
Heat 2 saw Tom start dead last, but make it through the traffic to take 4th - learning that racing in SRK required him to put aside the 'no contact' rules he's learnt in FAT Karting League to a slightly more aggressive (but not unfair) style - the only way to make a pass on the narrow Castle Coombe track.
Heat 3 - Tom started pole, and maintained it throughout the heat despite some hot competition, taking first place at the flag and leading to a tense wait to find out if he'd done enough to make it to either pole for the B final, or even better into the A Final on his first visit!
Final - A Final it was! Tom started 7th with the winner of the B final lining up behind him. Having showed competitive pace with the 6th fastest lap of the day out of the 24 competitors he took 6th place in the A Final as the chequered flag went down - not bad for his first outing!
Thanks to Ethan McNally-Roberts for letting us take his seat for the round & to coach Zack for the advice! Great day, supporting Oliver Catchpole, Jacob Bint and Maya Nefzi and helping secure points for team Stalloni Campioni Racing
Heat 1 - 4th > 4th | Heat 2 - 6th > 4th | Heat 3 - 1st > 1st 🥇 | A Final - 7th > 6th
