Alisha Palmowski claims double GB4 Championship victory at Snetterton

Elite Motorsport driver Alisha Palmowski claimed two stunning victories in the GB4 Championship at Snetterton in a weekend which saw her finish all three races on the podium.

Photo credits: JEP

Elite Motorsport driver Alisha Palmowski claimed two stunning victories in the GB4 Championship at Snetterton in a weekend which saw her finish all three races on the podium. Palmowski showed excellent speed from the first test session on Thursday and claimed double pole position for the first time in her career.

After finishing second in race one, Alisha produced a superb overtake on Harry Burgyone to claim victory in race two. Starting from 11th in the reverse grid race, a thrilling final lap saw her improve from seventh to second to score the largest haul of points in her GB4 Championship career to date, before being promoted to the race victory following a post-race penalty.

Arriving into the weekend sitting fourth in the GB4 Championship standings with three podium finishes to her name, Palmowski was aiming to break into the top-3 places at Snetterton. With trips to the rostrum in all three events during the campaign, the Elite Motosport driver has displayed her versatility in her debut single seater season. Gaining six positions in reverse grid contest at Donington Park, Alisha’s overtaking skills have also been impressive in her adaptation to a new style of racing.

The race weekend at Snetterton got underway on Thursday as the drivers were given the opportunity to participate in three test sessions. It was a flawless day for Palmowski who topped the times in every session, while opening out a sizeable margin to the midfield runners. Three further sessions followed on Friday with Palmowski improving her overall time and ending the day third quickest, less than two tenths of a second behind pacesetter Lucas Blakeley.

Photo credits: JEP

Qualifying was held in dry conditions, albeit with some damp patches off-line following overnight rain. Therefore, the track temperature was low and building tyre temperature would be an important factor in setting a fast qualifying time.

Palmowski showed excellent speed through all-three sectors which saw her claim pole position by two tenths of a second from returning driver Lucas Blakeley in second. Alisha’s consistency was also impressive as her second fastest lap was also the fastest and would see the Elite Motorsport driver line up on pole position for the opening two races of the weekend.

Lining up on pole position for race one of the weekend, Alisha made a good start but was unable to hold off Lucas Blakeley who moved ahead into the opening turn. Blakeley built a margin of around one second at the conclusion of lap one, while Palmowski did well to hold off the challenge of Harry Burgoyne. By lap three, the Elite Motorsport driver was showing great speed as she set the overall fastest final sector as she aimed to close the gap to Blakeley.

As the race passed the halfway stage, Blakeley’s margin had grown to three seconds, however Alisha was now consistently gaining on the KMR Sport driver. Setting a fastest middle sector on lap six, she backed this up with further improvements on lap eight and nine to cut the lead margin once more. Taking the checkered flag in second position, Palmowski set her quickest time on the final lap of the race to finish in second while showing fantastic speed in the closing stages.

Grid positions for race two of the weekend was based on the driver’s second fastest times from qualifying with Alisha once again on pole position. Her rivals once again made a better launch which saw her running in third position as the drivers approached the Wilson hairpin. Linus Granfors had made a great start and was up to second but made contract with the rear of race leader Harry Burgoyne which allowed Palmowski to move through into the runner up position.

Ending lap one in second, Palmowski was immediately closing in on the KMR Sport car ahead and this saw her set the fastest lap of the race. By lap three the gap has closed to just three tenths of a second with the Elite Motorsport driver now applying significant pressure. At the end of lap four the gap was barely one tenth of a second and with Burgoyne forced to defend, Lucas Blakeley and Linus Granfors were brought into the fight.

Setting the fastest final sector of the race on lap six, Palmowski’s pressure was beginning to tell as she lined up a move on her rival. On lap eight, Burgoyne ran wide out of Palmer and this gave Palmowski a run into Agostini.

Pulling out of the slipstream at the last possible moment, it was a perfectly judged move from Alisha who out-braked her rival and took the lead. The Elite Motorsport driver immediately pulled out a sizeable gap and set back-to-back fastest laps of the race to seal her second victory of the season in the GB4 Championship.

"I'm absolutely speechless to be honest, just so relieved", Palmowski stated. "They certainly didn't make it easy, it was very hard work. I struggled a little off the line and the two guys from second row had a huge launch and got both me and Lucas [in race one]. I then focused on getting my head down, making no mistakes, and tried to keep as close as possible to Harry, which proved to be extremely difficult with the dirty air behind him, especially through the high speed corners."

"It was very difficult, but I started to learn what Harry was doing and I noticed he was braking a little bit early into Agostini, so I knew if there was going to be an opportunity, that was the corner where it was going to be. I went for it, and managed to make the win stick, so I'm over the moon!"

Photo credits: JEP

The third and final race of the weekend was the reverse grid contest with Palmowski lining up from 11th position. Alisha made a clean initial start before producing an excellent three-wide move into Oggies to move into the top-10. On lap two, the Elite Motorsport drive overtook Chloe Grant before passing Dan Hickey on lap three while setting the overall best middle sector of the race.

Continuing her charge forward, Alisha overtook Leon Wilson for seventh position on lap four before passing Megan Bruce a lap later. However, Lucas Blakeley was able to pass Palmowski when she was completing the move on the Fox Motorsport driver. Contact between Chloe Grant and Dan Hickey then resulted in a safety car was Alisha running in seventh.

A swift job from the marshals allowed the race to resume for one final lap. Contact was made at the first turn between teammates Jack Taylor and Linus Granfors while they battled for the lead, with several cars taking avoiding action.

As a result, Palmowski found herself in a remarkable second position and was able to hold this position for the remainder of the lap to end a sensational weekend at Snetterton. Her result was further improved by a post-race penalty awarded to Lucas Blakeley with Palmowski promoted to first position.

“Reverse grid races are always tricky, they’re a totally different ball game", Alisha said.

"Just went in with a mentality of we need to collect championship points and finish the race."

"I was very lucky there to be totally honest, I inherited that, but then again we had so much bad luck at Donington Park through no fault of my own so. Motorsport is full of highs and lows. For me, great, great championship points.”

Securing her largest ever haul of GB4 Championship points across a race weekend, Alisha left Norfolk with two wins and one second-place result to her name. Palmowski has now cut the gap atop the championship standings to 16 points, with Harry Burgoyne now leading Linus Granfors with Palmowski in a secure third position.

The next round of the GB4 Championship takes place at Silverstone on the weekend of 27th/28th July.

Photo credits: JEP