Weekend 6 - Snetterton

10 October 2019

Weekend 6 - Snetterton

The two races for weekend six ultimately proved to be a contrast in terms of difficulty and results. Snetterton is the team’s home circuit on which they’ve completed countless laps, and so the team headed into a weekend of racing feeling primed for a win.

The Austin Healey was first up, and driver Mark Holme set out an early marker by qualifying second overall, just 0.3s behind the pole sitter. Sitting in second on the grid out of a total of 45 cars, Holme’s race day strategy was simple. Although the car in P1 was fast, the driver on previous form sometimes made mistakes, and all Holme needed to do was remain focused and carefully calculate a precision move on the car in front, knowing that the driver would ‘overdrive’ and lose time. Holme’s plan panned out as predicted – he took an early lead, and passed the chequered flag in first, 8.345s ahead of second place.

The GTS race, in contrast, was a tough 40-minute sprint for Holme. The MGB had an engine problem and every time the car went round Agostini, the tight left-hand corner caused intermittent fuel starvation in the engine, resulting in Holme losing a second per lap on the leaders. Holme knew he had to dig deep, later reporting that it was: “The hardest race I’ve been in, but it was still a great race.” Despite an underpowered engine Holme was able to finish second in class and eighth overall – a fantastic result considering he started 13th on the grid. “We’ll take that as a positive,” Holme finished.