Callie Clifford adds to her podium tally at Silverstone

Despite battling technical challenges throughout the weekend, JamSport scholarship winner Callie Clifford secured a third-place finish in the MK6 class at the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship at Silverstone, ultimately gaining valuable experience in her rookie season.

Photo credits: JamSport Racing

JamSport scholarship winner Callie Clifford secured a podium finish within the MK6 class of the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship at Silverstone. It was a challenging weekend for the young driver, however she continued to gain experience in her rookie season of circuit racing.

After retiring from race one, Callie bounced back well to finish third in class during race two as she enjoyed close battles in the midfield. A technical issue prevented her from taking the start of race three, however the team were able to rectify the problem during the race which allowed her to bank vital experience.

Clifford was looking to start the second half of the season on a high with her rookie campaign in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship showing significant promise. The JamSport Racing scholarship winner secured four top-10 finishes prior to Silverstone and was looking to re-enter the top-10 of the overall championship standings, while consolidating her second-place position in the MK6 classification.

After an encouraging performance during the non-championship round on the Silverstone International layout, Callie was aiming to compete in the top half of the field as the young drivers competed on the National layout for three hard-fought races.

The first competitive session of the weekend was qualifying on Saturday morning. The slipstream effect was extremely powerful and therefore positioning the car smartly was important during the fifteen-minute session. Clifford showed good speed in sector two especially and qualified her JamSport Racing prepared car in 11th position overall, second among the MK6 competitors.

Race one of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Clifford determined to fight her way into the top-10. It was an excellent start for the JamSport Racing scholarship winner who gained two positions on the opening lap to move into ninth position overall. Championship contender Finn Leslie then moved ahead as he set about a recovery drive, with Callie attempting to settle in behind.

On lap three, Jack Burgess moved ahead before Daniella Sutton applied pressure as she fought to move inside the top-10. Approaching Brooklands, contact with a rival which saw Callie retire from the race with a red flag also displayed following the incident. It was a disappointing end to race one where Callie was fighting for a position in the top half of the field.

Photo credits: JamSport Racing

The grid positions for race two were set by the race one results and therefore Clifford would need to fight back through the field from 17th on the grid, fourth in the MK6 class. It was a good start for Callie who gained two overall positions on lap one while also moving into a provisional podium spot within class.

The JamSport Racing driver continued to make early-race progress as she overtook both Jack Burgess and Benjamin Doughty on lap two. The midfield battles were particularly close and although Doughty re-passed Clifford on lap five, she continued to set personal best times.

On lap six, Callie lost out to Burgess but retained third position in the MK6 class and looked to make progress in the second half of the race. Quickly setting a new personal best time, Clifford was now faster than the next seven cars ahead and was able to use her pace to move back ahead of Doughty. Following a personal best time on the final lap of the race, Clifford finished race two in 14th position overall, third in the MK6 class.

Clifford was set to line up 14th on the overall grid in race three, however a technical issue prevented her from taking the start. Nonetheless, a great job from the JamSport Racing team saw Callie join the race seven laps down and bank valuable experience on her first trip to the Silverstone National circuit. Her race pace was comparable to those in the midfield and this was an encouraging end to a challenging weekend for Clifford.

Despite the difficulties faced at Silverstone, Clifford was still able to stand on the MK6 class podium with a good performance in race two. Gaining vital knowledge in race three was important in spite of the issues, with any track time proving important for drivers in their rookie season.

Callie will now be looking ahead to the next round of the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship which takes place at Thruxton on the weekend of September 21st/22nd.