Chloe Grant shows improved performance at Donington Park

"We made significant progress this weekend. I’m feeling very comfortable in the car and our pace is strong." - Chloe Grant enjoyed a positive weekend in the GB4 Championship at Donington Park, where she showed strong pace throughout the event and achieved two sixth place finishes despite bad luck in the final race.

Photo credits: Nikolas Taylor / @throughthelensmedia_

Chloe Grant enjoyed a positive weekend in the GB4 Championship at Donington Park. Showing strong pace throughout the event, Grant achieved two sixth place finishes in her KMR Sport machine. Her speed in both wet and dry conditions showed her adaptability as a driver and despite a challenging race three, there were a number of positives which Chloe can take away from the weekend.

Chloe’s return to the GB4 Championship has been a positive one to date, with the young Scottish racer comfortably sitting within the top-10 of the overall standings. Despite a challenging end to the event at Silverstone, Grant’s pace matched the front-running drivers and maintaining this at Donington Park would give her a great chance to return to the podium. In 2022, Chloe achieved two of her best results of her GB4 Championship campaign in the season finale on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit and she was aiming to carry this form into the event.

The opening test sessions of the weekend took place on Thursday, with Grant showing excellent speed. Ending the day eighth overall, Chloe had set the third fastest time in the opening session of the day. Friday’s three sessions were equally productive for the KMR Sport driver who gained seven tenths worth of lap time improvements from Thursday to end the day seventh in the final classification.

Chloe was looking to translate her fast start at Donington Park into a season’s best qualifying result. Just like in testing, conditions were good and times were extremely close throughout the field. As a result, Grant qualified tenth but was less than a second away from pole position. Her second fastest time saw her qualify ninth for race two, with opportunities also set to arise in the reverse grid contest.

Race one of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with the grid based on the fastest times from qualifying. Therefore, Grant lined up tenth and made an excellent start to move into seventh position at the conclusion of lap one. Chloe was setting sector times which matched those in podium spots and this resulted in her moving ahead of Finn Harrison on lap three.

After clearing the Elite Motorsport car, Harrison fell back into the clutches of the drivers behind and this allowed Grant to build up a comfortable gap behind. As a result, she could focus forward and began closing in Marcus Luzio and Harry Burgoyne. Despite closing the gap to her KMR Sport teammate during the second half of the race, Chloe just ran out of time to make a move. Taking the checkered flag in sixth position, it was a great start to the weekend for the young Scottish racer.

Photo credits: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Further opportunities were presented to Chloe on Sunday morning as race two was held in wet conditions. Starting from ninth position with the grid formed from driver’s second fastest qualifying times, Grant negotiated a busy opening lap to hold her position. Her initial pace in the tricky conditions was strong and this allowed her to close in on the wounded car of Alisha Palmowski, making the move for eighth on lap four.

Now catching Marcus Luzio, the KMR Sport machines looked to have a good setup in the greasy conditions and this was aiding Grant’s progress. On lap seven, Chloe was able to overtake Luzio and move into seventh position, once again displaying pace to challenge the top-5 runners. Continue to push hard to the checkered flag, Grant finished in seventh position, later classified in sixth, while setting her personal best time on the final lap of the race.

Conditions were improved for the final race of the weekend, with a predominantly dry track at Donington Park, with some damp patches remaining. Race three utilised a full reverse grid with Grant lining up from sixth position. It was a difficult start for the KMR Sport driver who dropped back to 11th at the end of the first lap, before Brandon McCaughan and Liam McNeilly moved ahead on lap two. Extracting peak performance from the tyre was a challenge in these conditions and although the field remained tightly bunched, Grant was unable to make immediate progress.

After slipping to the rear of the field on lap four, Chloe began fighting back and setting a number of competitive sectors. Overtaking Megan Bruce on lap five, the KMR Sport driver was in position to challenge those ahead before an off-track moment saw her beached in the gravel at McCleans bend. It was an unfortunate end to a weekend which saw Grant show pace which matched those inside the top-5.

"We made significant progress this weekend", Grant said after the weekend. "I’m feeling very comfortable in the car and our pace is strong. Races one and two were positive, finishing P6 in both and earning valuable championship points", she added, summing up her weekend. "Race three was a setback, but it’s all part of the learning process. Huge thanks to KMR Sport for their fantastic support."

Chloe will be looking to carry forward the positives of her pace into the second half of the season, with the young Scottish racer competing well in both wet and dry conditions. Two sixth place results represented a solid haul of points from Donington Park and this will be cause for optimism as the GB4 Championship heads back to the Grand Prix circuit in September.

"With over a month until the next round at Snetterton, I’ll be training on the sim to make sure I’m fully prepared and focused on driving myself and the team forward in the championship", Chloe concluded, as she already looks ahead to the next round.

The drivers will now take a summer break before returning to compete at Snetterton on the weekend of 13th/14th July.