Alisha Palmowski, Harry Burgoyne and Brandon McCaughan were the top-three drivers in the first GB4 race of the season at Oulton Park. Here's how each contender reacted afterwards.
Winner, Alisha Palmowski, Elite Motorsport:
"I’m just absolutely over the moon. I’m a bit speechless to be honest, it’s the first race win I’ve had in a while, so I’m absolutely over the moon.
“I was really nervous about the start to be honest, I’ve only done two practice starts so I was aware that could be the weakness that could catch me out and make or break the race. So to get the lead off the line, it was then keep my head down and being as consistent as I could with the lap times.
“I was monitoring the gap from behind, I was quite lucky because I think they started battling behind, Harry and Finn, my teammate. I just kept my head down. The adrenaline is just coming down now, I’m quite relieved.”
"The car is feeling fantastic, Elite Motorsport have done a phenomenal job with the car. The setup is perfect, really comfortable. I just want to say a huge thank you to my sponsors, Lamplight Media and the Compliance Guys for all their support in getting me on the grid, it wouldn’t be possible without them and I’m looking forward to going again on Monday.
"It’s absolutely incredible, I joined Elite Motorsport this time last year for my last season in Ginetta Juniors, they’re incredible, they’ve helped me so much, I’ve progressed as a driver immensely. The environment is great to work in, everybody has got my back, you can see how many people are over there, I can’t believe it there’s like 20 or 30 of them!"
Second, Harry Burgoyne, KMR Sport:
"It feels good, we maybe should have been further up. But from the start, we got a little bit messed up with [Finn] Harrison, he messed us about and then we ended up in a fight. I got clear of him and headed forward but we just weren’t fast enough to catch.
"I feel like we’ve got the pace to win, showing in that race there, it was definitely good. Points make prizes at the end of the day so you just need to keep finishing up there and at the end of the day you’ll come away with something. It was a good race to be honest."
Third, Brandon McCaughan, KMR Sport:
"I'm happy enough, third in my first slicks and wings race. Not complaining anyway. I didn’t get a great start, I just didn’t work the tyres right in the warm up lap and that set me off the pace for the first couple. Unlike Formula Ford I couldn’t really make that up with the dirty air. Other than that, I had a good race, it was consistent, no mistakes. I’m happy.
"One, its experience, two it’s a good result. It should really help to get some sponsors on board and give us something to work with. Not only next week to try and get sponsors, it’s a lot of valuable information for Monday, I’ll be starting on pole for race two.
"I’m a racing driver, I want to win. I want to be winning race two. I’ll go back, I’ll learn what I did wrong, I’ll get the formation lap better next time and hopefully we’ll be sitting P1 on Monday."
