SPEAKER_01 0:00

Well Lydia, we're studying the sunshine which is making a few people smile, but there's also quite a lot of grim faces here in the in Park Ferme. Two red flags in that session, which just disrupts flow, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Yeah, it does. So it's exactly what I was going to say, it just absolutely ruins the flow. I thought I had a problem with my front right uh well actually heading to the grid, so I came in and then ended up at the back of the pack, and then was obviously with all the drivers that I didn't want to be with, so uh I spent a few laps passing them, and then just when I got in a bit of fresh air, the red flag came out, so I had to come in and then obviously went out again, and then immediately after that, another red flag. So you've kind of just wasted a set of tyres then. So we came in for the second set and uh obviously just didn't quite make the most of it, which is a shame, but um, it is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

It is, and I guess as you said to me before, it is the same for everybody. Um, this is uh a particular circuit, isn't it? It's very quick here. We've got essentially four corners, so some heavy braking and and some fast parts as well. That requires a particular setup, and you have to be a bit nice to your tyres, don't you?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

You do, yeah, particularly that front left, because obviously it's doing most of the work. Every corner apart from one is a right-hander, so and they're all quite quick as well, or you're leaning on it quite hard. So, yeah, I think the race will definitely be interesting. I think by the second half of the race it'll probably be struggling, but again, everyone's in the same boat, aren't they? So uh yeah, we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully, I can move forward a little bit. But problem is when there's only four corners, the grid's so tight, so I think only a tenth would put me up another three spots, and then it wasn't much in front of that either. So it's yeah, it's tight, but uh makes for interesting racing, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Absolutely. I think people watching the timing uh boards and and you know watching the racing think, oh you know, a tenth will pop you up three places, but that tenth is could be a huge challenge, couldn't it?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Yeah, yeah, it is. It doesn't sound like a lot of time, does it? When you try and stop on your stopwatch, it's nothing, but uh yeah, in a corner, it is quite seems to be quite a huge amount of time, but it's uh yeah, I keep thinking of it as it's only one tenth per corner, but it's easier said than done, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 1:57

So I suppose if you break it down like that, it's it's not not quite so bad. Um but the good news is you're here this weekend. Uh when we uh spoke at Croft, you weren't sure. You've you've made a lot of effort to get yourself on the grid. Um you're here, which and you're challenging, which is important.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Yeah, I think even a few days ago to be honest, I wasn't sure really what the future held. Um, and even looking forward to brands hatch, it obviously depends on how this weekend goes with damage as to whether I can do that one as well. So it's yeah, it's definitely not really the headspace that you want to come into a race weekend with, really. I'm concentrating more on the money and rather than the actual driving, which is never really where you want to be. Um especially if you uh you you know your other competitors were here Thursday as well. I didn't really test on Thursday just to try and save some money. So we're definitely not doing it probably the way that I would want to be doing it, and driving around worrying about having any damage is certainly not the way to get a fast lap time out of a car, but it's uh yeah, it's a miracle we're here. Just need to make it to the end of the season and hopefully look forward to next and hopefully be in a better position and then take what we've learnt this year into next season.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

And we always look for a silver line, and it's better that you're here rather than sat at home watching it on the TV.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

I know, I don't think if I was at home, I don't think I could have been watching it to be honest. It was uh a very glum drive home from Croft and thinking it wasn't gonna happen. So the fact that we are here, to be fair, obviously I'm disappointed we're qualifying, but in the grand scheme of things, it's actually a miracle that we're here. So, yeah, a huge thanks to the team that have helped out massively and also all of my partners as well. They've made it happen. So uh yeah, massive thanks to them.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Have a great weekend. We'll catch up again on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Thanks so much.