Daniella Sutton battles to top-10 finish at Donington Park

Daniella Sutton overcame challenging conditions throughout the latest round of the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship to score a top-10 finish at Donington Park, producing a strong drive in race one to finish in ninth position.

Photo credits: James Roberts

Daniella Sutton overcame challenging conditions throughout the latest round of the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship to score a top-10 finish at Donington Park. Sutton qualified inside the top-10 and produced a strong drive in race one to finish in ninth position.

It was a more challenging end to the meeting for the BRDC Rising Star who retired from the final two races. In race three, Sutton was set for a top-15 finish after starting from 22^nd on the grid, before a technical issue led to a final lap retirement.

After recovering from a sizeable crash last time out at Silverstone, Sutton arrived at Donington Park looking to bounce back and continue her excellent season in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship.

Prior to race three at Silverstone, Sutton had completed every lap of the campaign to date and the Race Car Consultants driver sat seventh in the overall standings entering Donington Park with a sizeable 63 points gap behind. Two consistent rounds would ensure Sutton ended the year with a comfortable top-10 championship position, while a charge towards the top-5 was still within reach.

Donington Park was a new venue to Sutton and the overwhelming majority of her rivals with the circuit having only once featured on the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship calendar since 2020. With the track featuring the second highest average speed of the season, slower only than Mallory Park, the National layout provided a significant challenge to the young drivers. Despite this, overtaking opportunities were plentiful and the trio of races brought superb action throughout the close and competitive field.

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and was held in predominantly dry conditions, albeit damp in places. The session ran uninterrupted and this enabled the drivers to get into a rhythm as lap times improved throughout the field. Sutton’s quickest lap came just past the halfway point of qualifying with her fastest time of a 1:25.034 placing her in eighth position. With less than a second separating seventh through 22^nd position, the trio of races were set to be hotly contested.

Photo credits: James Roberts

Race one at Donington Park was held on Saturday afternoon with partially damp conditions, similar to that in qualifying. Starting from the fourth row of the grid, it was a clean start for Sutton who lost one position on the run down to Redgate corner before completing the first lap in tenth position. Sutton was less than two seconds away from the podium as the drivers began lap two to further underline the competition throughout the grid.

Daniella remained in tenth position during lap two, before she was able to build a gap of one second to the car behind at the conclusion of the following lap. Sutton was soon into ninth position as a technical issue forced Thomas Merritt into the pits, before the Race Car Consultants driver closed in on Oliver Heron. After Sutton got a good run out of the final chicane, she passed Heron for eighth position with a large train of cars now behind her.

On lap six, Jack Sant looked to the inside of Sutton into Redgate and Daniella ran wide through the exit of the corner and lost momentum as she took to the gravel. Sutton rejoined at the rear of this pack of cars and did a nice job to avoid a series of high-speed incidents which unfolded around her. At the conclusion of the lap, Daniella was in 12^th position and now began focussing forward on regaining lost positions.

As the drivers began lap eight, a great move from Sutton saw her move to the inside of Eden Spanswick into Redgate and claim 11^th spot, while she now had clean air to push into ahead of her. Following another incident behind, Daniella had little pressure from the chasing pack and as a result, she was able to set a series of personal best lap times.

On lap nine, she was quicker than the next three drivers and after Jenson Pritchard went off the road at Coppice, Sutton was back inside the top-10. Daniella was lapping on pace with those inside the top-5 during the closing stages as she completed a good recovery drive by taking the chequered flag in tenth position. Following post-race scrutineering checks, Archie Davies was subsequently disqualified from the race and this promoted Daniella into ninth position.

Photo credits: James Roberts

The second race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with Sutton lining up from ninth position courtesy of her race one result. It was a clean run down to Redgate corner with Sutton maintaining her position, before action unfolded at the Old Hairpin. After Harry Lindley got sideways on cold tyres ahead, some of the drivers checked up with Oliver Heron making contact with the rear of Sutton’s Race Car Consultants machine.

Sutton received damage to the rear of her car, however she was able to continue in ninth position, while both Lindley and Heron were beached in the gravel. Daniella ended lap one in ninth and moved into eighth after Max Fenton went wide on the exit of Redgate. The race was then red flagged following the lap one incident as a complex recovery was required to retrieve the two stricken cars.

A full restart took place with Sutton’s crew able to tape the rear-left quarter of the car after the contact from Heron, however some alignment issues remained. Daniella took her place on the fifth row of the grid and made a good start as she quickly jumped into eighth spot. Sutton was showing good speed on cold tyres and as she aimed to make her speed count into Coppice. Daniella looked to the inside of Fenton, however she drifted wide with both Sutton and Fenton taking a trip across the gravel.

At the end of the first restarted lap, Sutton was in 19^th position and now looking to execute a strong recovery drive. Misfortune then struck at the conclusion of lap two as Sutton went off at the final chicane as a legacy of the earlier damage and was beached in the gravel. It was an unfortunate end to the race for Daniella who was now targeting a charge through the field to conclude the weekend.

The final race at Donington Park was held on Sunday afternoon with Sutton lining up from 22^nd on the grid courtesy of her race two result. Conditions were damp and rain was falling which led to the young drivers carrying out an additional green flag lap. When the lights went out, Sutton got a good start and gained three positions on lap one to move into 19^th spot.

Although she lost out to Kacper Tomalewski on lap two, the rookie driver was among the fastest on circuit for the remainder of the contest. Sutton then began her charge forward, despite managing a technical issue, and after running side-by-side with Luke Broadbent to start lap four, she completed the move at Redgate before also benefiting from an off-track moment for Harry Russell.

Sutton then overtook Jenson Pritchard on lap five for 17^th position and the BRDC Rising Star was consistently lapping on pace with those inside the top-10. The Race Car Consultants driver continued her strong drive by then overtaking Jake Howarth, while also moving ahead of Benjy Douglas in the closing stages.

Daniella was now in 15^th position and looking to push towards the top-10 in the closing stages as the battles remained close ahead of her. Misfortune then struck as Sutton was forced to retire from on the final lap due to the technical issue which she was managing during the course of the race.

It was an unfortunate end to the weekend for Sutton who showed good determination to overcome adversity at Donington Park. Her speed throughout the event was strong as she continued to race within the top-10 in a range of conditions.

Daniella will now be looking to bounce back and end her season on a high when the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship wraps up its season at Brands Hatch on the weekend of 25^th/26^th October.