Morgan Kidd claimed her first pole position of the season and backed it up by claiming all three victories along with fastest lap in race one with a flawless weekend at Croft, as she strengthened her position atop the Club class standings of the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship.
Morgan Kidd has strengthened her position atop the Club class standings of the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship with a flawless weekend at Croft. The JRW Motorsport driver claimed her first pole position of the season in qualifying and backed it up by claiming all three victories along with fastest lap in race one, leading all but two laps in the process. Consistently running with the Pro class drivers ahead, Morgan’s sixth place result in race one also equalled her best overall finish of the season.
After a successful career in karting, Morgan made her AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship debut at Snetterton last season. Achieving a top-10 finish on her debut, Kidd showed excellent speed for a car racing rookie and was determined to return to the championship for a full campaign in 2023.
The AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship has seen an increase in entries in recent years following a switch to new turbocharged machinery. The platform provides extremely close racing and with two classes of drivers distinguished based on their experience level, this ensures healthy competition throughout the field. Morgan competes in the Club class for less experienced drivers with 2023 being her first full season in car racing. Supporting the TCR UK Championship for a number of meetings, drivers have a clear path to the highest level of touring car racing and with races live streamed online, exposure is guaranteed.
Morgan has enjoyed an extremely positive 2023 season to date, claiming a class victory at the season opener at Snetterton, with two other podium finishes establishing her as the Club class driver to beat. Despite a challenging middle portion of the season, Kidd continued to collect valuable championship points with a hat-trick of fastest laps at Knockhill, her first visit to the circuit, underlining her speed.
At the most recent race weekend at Silverstone, Morgan consistently ran amongst the Pro class drivers and was even drawn onto the second row of the grid for race three. A further victory on the National circuit ensured she arrived at Croft in the Club class championship lead.
Croft was a new circuit to Morgan leading into the meeting and with limited testing opportunities, it was set to be a weekend of improvement for the JRW Motorsport driver. Despite these challenges, Kidd achieved another milestone in qualifying by claiming her first Club class pole position of the season, setting her quickest time on the final lap of the session.
Although Morgan lost the initial lead of race one to Club class rival Archie Johnson, Kidd re-took the lead on lap three and pulled out a sizeable advantage. Improving on her fastest lap from qualifying by almost a second, Morgan took a commanding victory by over 13 seconds while also equalling her best overall finish of the season in sixth.
Race two saw Morgan negotiate an early red flag to take command of the restarted race and claim her second victory of the weekend. It was an action-packed eight laps for the JRW Motorsport driver who was involved in close battles with Pro class runners Joseph Knight and Zachary Lucas, taking the checkered flag ninth overall.
However, it was in race three where Kidd arguably produced her most impressive performance to date. Lining up on pole position in the Club class following her race two result, Morgan moved from tenth at the end of the opening lap to seventh by lap four. At the halfway point, Kidd was running just four seconds away from the overall victory and with her fastest nine laps within half a second of her best, her consistency kept her in contention for an overall podium. Taking the checkered flag in seventh, while claiming her third Club class victory of the weekend, Morgan rounded off an exceptional weekend in the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship.
Morgan’s impressive run of results have seen her extend the Club class championship lead with just one round remaining. Claiming her first pole position of the season at Croft will give her further confidence, with Kidd’s ability to race alongside the Pro class competitors a sign of her improvements throughout the season. Aiming to seal the championship at Brands Hatch, Morgan will close out the season on the weekend of 7th/8th October with her eyes set firmly on the title.