Lily-May Watkins secured a personal best qualifying result at Snetterton on Saturday, as the KMR Sport driver continues her recovery from the broken hand she suffered in June.
The 19-year-old set the 16th fastest time overall (for race one) and will line up 15th in race two, where the grid is based on second-fastest lap times.
It is Watkins’ best ever GB4 qualifying result, beating her previous high of 18th from the previous round at Silverstone.
“I finally got a clean session and showed the pace that I have,” said Watkins. “It was more about finding my feet. I’m not bad at this track but it isn’t my favourite, so to be that high up here is encouraging for the rest of the season.”
Watkins is continuing her recovery from a broken hand, which she suffered at Donington Park just seven weeks ago.
“I definitely have the strength back; it just hurts when I’m in the car,” she explained. “It is just about pushing through that and, if I don’t think about it, I don’t really notice it until after the race.”
Watkins was just 0.129s off her rival in the female driver standings, Jordyn Martin, who is set to start from 13th in both ‘main races’ this weekend. It demonstrates a big step forward in her pace, with Martin a regular front-runner of the midfield.
“It’s been good being at the back end of the midfield at the start of the year because it has got me used to being in a pack of people,” said Watkins. “To be towards the front of the group now, I know I can go forward as long as I get a good start and can stay out of trouble, then I know I’ll probably get further up the grid.”
The Briton has set her sights on those ahead of her in the races as she looks to claw back points in the championship, after missing the Donington Park races.
“My aims are just progressing forward in the races,” she said. “We had the pace in quali and there wasn’t a big gap between myself and the next three cars in front, so I know I can jump them in the race. It’s just about going forward and staying out of trouble.”
Race one is scheduled to start at 14.55 this afternoon (Saturday).
