SPEAKER_01 0:00

Well Lydia, interesting conditions here at uh Alton Park, windy and wet, which is about the best we can hope for this weekend, isn't it? But a decent qualifying session for you there's and uh yo-yoing up and down. I mean the times were changing rapidly and you were putting in some very, very nice green and a couple of purple sectors.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Oh really? I didn't know that. Yeah, thank you. It's uh it's new for me actually because I've not done much in the wet in this car at all. Even last year in the club sport, I didn't really have any wet running at all. So uh we had a dry day testing yesterday, obviously, and then we've gone into qualifying this morning with completely different dis um conditions and something that I'm not used to in a rear-wheel drive car, so it was a bit of a learning curve. I had a slow start to be fair, but we came in and then I saw P5 on the board at one point and got ever so excited. But um, I don't think we uh quite managed to hang on to that. But to be honest, I was just happy to keep it on the black stuff, learn as much as I can, and you know, if it rains further into the season now, hopefully now I've got one session under my belt in the wet, maybe it will go a little bit better.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

It was interesting to watch the timing board at one point. I mean, I across the whole of the grid there's something like 14 seconds, which shows how how spread out it is. Um at one point you were about five seconds behind the the pole, the pole sitter, and then that came down to sort of 2.2 seconds. Were conditions changing? Was the track coming to you a bit more?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

There was a dry line. To be fair, we went out on quite shot with the wet tires, um, not really knowing what the conditions were like. Obviously, you can stand on the pit wall and have a look what that looks like, but out the back under the trees, you don't really know what it looks like. So until you drive round it, you don't really know what you're dealing with. So once we came in and put some better tires on it, it was a lot better. But um by that point it had just gone to the point where it was kind of drying out almost too much for the new wets, but it is what it is. You know, the team are doing their best, they can only see the pit wall, so it's down to us to give good feedback, and yeah, it's hard to it's hard to know really when you're quite inexperienced in these conditions in these cars. It's it's hard to kind of know, really. But that's what's great about this team because there's a lot of experience, and a lot of the drivers you know raced last year and they're really quick, so yeah, that helps for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

In the the middle pack as well, which is always an interesting place to be, doesn't it? But uh but with the speed that you've shown and the consistency of lap times you've shown in that session towards the end, particularly, that gives you some good momentum, a good feeling for races coming up.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

It does. I think it's just a huge learning experience to be honest, and to be in amongst everyone and in the mix of things, hopefully I'll just keep learning, picking things up. It's obviously quite hard to overtake Round Autumn Park, as we know, it's quite a narrow circuit, so qualifying is key. I don't actually know where we qualified, but to be honest, I don't really mind because it's just a huge learning experience for me, and I just need to learn as much as I can, really, and hopefully then take that into the rounds in the future throughout this championship.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

How challenging is this circuit? I mean it it it's it it undulates, doesn't it, to some degree, a little bit like Donington Park does. Um, but it does require quite a lot of concentration.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

It does, it's so narrow, there's no margin for error. I mean, if you're going off, usually the tyre barrier is not very far away. I did actually have an off in that qualifying session, actually, but at least it was slow speed. But the problem is when it's wet as well, the grass is wet, so you only only really accelerate towards the tyre barrier here, and it's not like Donington Park where there's loads of gravel and lots of places to sort of gather yourself and bring it back to the track. If you have an off-track excursion at Alton Park, usually it's pretty costly and not very nice. So yeah, it is. I always say it's a culture shock coming to Alton Park. That first test session on a Friday, it's usually a bit of just breathe in, hold your breath, take your brain out, and just go for it, really. But just yeah, it's totally different, but it's yeah, it's one of those things where you're almost trying to manage the risk a little bit, but it rewards you know high intensity and bravery, really, which um I'm still getting used to.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

But the good thing is you're here, you're still in the championship, you're here for another round, and that's been because a lot of the hard work that you've been doing behind the scenes to enable you to go racing.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

It has, uh it's been no secret that it was a battle to get onto the grid this year. And obviously, I I did have a bit of an accident at the last round, which hasn't helped the budget uh scenario, but I've got a lot of amazing partners on board, a lot of whom are local. Yeah, so um I've got an amazing array of partners, some of whom are new for this year, which include Phoenix Sprate, which has just been you know fantastic to have them on board. I know they've been involved with the team previously and they're they're new to me, but they're a lovely bunch of people, and yeah, they've shown huge support for me this year and ultimately keeping on the on the grid, so yeah, means of the world.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

On the grid you are, three races to come. Um can we perhaps look forward and say certainly point scoring, but podium maybe?

SPEAKER_00 4:23

I don't know. I I'm just gonna do the best that I can. I don't want to put pressure on it, you know. Whatever happens, happens. I had a great race at Dawnington Park. I started sort of 13th or 14th, and I think I finished seventh in the end, didn't I? Or something like that. So, yeah, anything can happen. It's it's Porsche racing, it's motorsport, so you know, expect the unexpected is what I always say.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Have a great weekend.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Thanks so much.