Caitlin May’s circuit racing career has seen the teenage racer progress quickly in a short amount of time, as the British driver secured third place in the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Club class championship with eight podium finishes across the season and impressive consistency.
Caitlin May continued her impressive transition into senior racing in 2023 as the young driver secured third place in the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Club class championship. Securing eight podium finishes across the season, with just one retirement to her name, Caitlin’s consistency was the key to her success. Her best weekend of the campaign came at the Silverstone National circuit, with a pair of Club class runner-up finishes sitting alongside her best overall finish of seventh. May was also one of just four full-season drivers not to accumulate any penalty points, highlighting her maturity in one of Britain’s premier one-make championships.
Caitlin’s circuit racing career has seen the teenage racer progress quickly in a short amount of time, with the Ford Fiesta at the heart of her development. The 2022 season saw May compete in a partial schedule in the BRSCC Fiesta Championship, starting out in the ST150 class before switching to the more powerful turbocharged ST240 machine for the second half of the season. This step up in performance proved fruitful for Caitlin who secured her best result of the year in the final round of the season at Brands Hatch.
Returning for a full-time effort in the Club class for less experienced drivers, Caitlin was targeting regular podium finishes in the AIRTEC Motorsport Fiesta ST240 Championship in 2024. The year got off to a fantastic start at Snetterton as she qualified a season’s-high second in class, before securing her first podium of the campaign in race one while finding over a second of lap time improvement.
Despite the second half of May’s weekend not going to plan with a retirement in race two and a sixth place result in race three, she had established a solid base on which to build from.
Tackling the formidable Silverstone Grand Prix circuit for the second round of the championships, Caitlin’s early season misfortune continued as she was unable to set a lap time in qualifying. A pair of sixth place finishes were not representative of her pace, nonetheless she collected valuable championship points which would pay dividends later in the campaign.
Oulton Park was a significant weekend of improvements for Caitlin who initially struggled with one-lap pace in qualifying, before gaining a sizeable number of positions in both races. Starting 18th overall and eighth in class in race one, May charged through the field to finish 11th overall while collecting her second top-5 Club class result of the season. Improving a further position in race two, Caitlin was unfortunate not to step onto the podium but left the Cheshire circuit with added confidence as a trip north of the border awaited the drivers.
The middle portion of Caitlin’s season proved the most fruitful and this began with a strong weekend at Knockhill. Qualifying fifth in the Club class, just six tenths of a second away from pole position, May translated this speed into the three races which followed. Fantastic driving throughout the meeting saw her collect a trio of third place finishes, including her first overall top-10 result in the final race of the weekend.
Returning to Silverstone for the next round of the championship, albeit on the National layout, this allowed Caitlin to put what she had learnt from a challenging earlier round of the season into practice. Although qualifying sixth, times were incredibly close among the Club class competitors which saw May set a time less than a second away from pole position.
Following a secure drive to fourth in race one, Caitlin drove a superb race two in which she claimed the runner-up position behind fellow female driver Morgan Kidd. Finishing an excellent seventh overall, May missed out on victory by just seven tenths of a second, the closest margin of the season. She carried this momentum forward into the final round of the weekend, once again finishing second and placing within the overall top-10.
Arriving at Croft for the penultimate round of the campaign, Caitlin once again showed her fighting qualities to recover from a difficult qualifying to gain an impressive nine overall positions in race one. This saw her claim her seventh podium finish of the year while finishing eighth overall. One further top-5 finish saw May continue her impressive finishing record with the young driver aiming to end the year on a high with a third visit to Silverstone.
The season finale on the Silverstone International layout epitomised Caitlin’s year of progress. After qualifying seventh in class, May improved to sixth in race one before an excellent drive in race two saw her end the campaign on a positive note. Stepping onto the Club class podium once again, she finished 11th overall by holding off Barry John McHenry by just two tenths of a second. A run of 16 consecutive race finished saw Caitlin finished an excellent third in the Club class standings, scoring the second highest number of points before dropped scores were taken into account.
Caitlin’s race pace was the main strength of her 2023 campaign in which she finished one race in a higher position than she qualified in all but one meeting. Often competing against the Pro class drivers during the second half of the season, May continued to develop her racecraft while maximising her championship points.
Missing out on runner-up position in the Club class championship by dropped scores alone, this further highlighted her consistency and this will be the trait she will aim to replicate as she looks ahead to the 2024 season.