Ella Lloyd opened her F4 British Championship campaign at the weekend (April 27/28), recording a pair of top ten finishes in a competitive field at Donington Park.
The 18-year-old, who raced with success in the Ginetta Junior Championship and GT5 Challenge previously, faces a different challenge this season as she continues to adapt to single seater machinery after scoring three Female Driver Trophy victories in the Formula Winter Series.
Coming into the weekend, Ella had two practice sessions on Thursday, but felt a little disappointed in the speed on track, knowing she had more pace to really show what she can do behind the wheel after catching traffic on her fastest lap.
Working hard on Friday to refine things with her engineers at JHR Developments, she performed well in qualifying on Saturday morning, finishing just two tenths of a second from pole position and ninth quickest of the 22 drivers, recording the fastest sector one time of anyone on the grid.
With the grid for race one being formed from drivers’ second fastest times, Ella started 12th and fell back a few places off the line. However, showing her race craft, she battled back to seventh by the end of the opening lap and looked comfortable in that spot for most of the 20-minute contest. Making a small error in locking a tyres in the closing laps, she was passed, but crossed the line eighth for a good maiden race in the series having held her own against second year drivers.
Heavy rain fell overnight and all morning at the Leicestershire venue, leading to lengthy delays in action as staff worked hard to clear standing water and rivers running across the track to ensure it was safe to go racing.
As the timetable was then condensed, only the second race would be held, with the third to be rescheduled for later in the season. Ella dropped a few places from fourth on the grid as the track was mostly dry but damp and dirty in places, but fought her way into seventh, where she held her own against a host of drivers in their second season in the series.
Scoring good championship points in both races and proving her prowess at passing cars on track, Ella now looks forward to the next round of the season, which takes place on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, over the weekend of May 10-12