BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship scholarship winner Daniella Sutton enjoyed a productive debut at the Silverstone non-championship round, where the rookie showed great maturity throughout the weekend in both wet and dry conditions to bank valuable experience ahead of a full campaign in one of Britain’s leading junior championships.
Daniella Sutton enjoyed a productive debut weekend in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship at Silverstone. The non-championship round held on the International layout proved perfect preparation for the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship scholarship winner who claimed a best result of ninth in race two.
The Pro Alloys Racing rookie showed great maturity throughout the weekend in both wet and dry conditions to bank valuable experience ahead of a full campaign in one of Britain’s leading junior championships.
Daniella’s debut appearance in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship came as a result of her success in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship scholarship in February. Coming through a gruelling three-day competition at Blyton Park, Sutton was chosen as the recipient of a funded drive with leading team Pro Alloys Racing, a squad with links to both the Milltek Sport Civic Cup and the TCR UK Championship, providing Daniella with contacts to further progress her racing career.
The assessments conducted as part of the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship scholarship were highly rigorous and tested Sutton’s on and off-track abilities, including fitness and media relations. Scholarship judges included multiple British Touring Car Championship race winners Matt Neal and Josh Cook, with Cook serving as Sutton’s driver coach during the course of the campaign.
Competing in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship serves as a sizeable step up for Daniella who has most recently raced in the Daniel Ricciardo Series of karting and will now look to contend for rookie honours as the season progresses.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with Daniella aiming to build up her experience on the Silverstone International circuit. It was a highly promising session for the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship scholar who qualified 13th overall, less than two seconds behind JamSport Racing’s polesitter Jenson O’Neill-Going. With just over a second covering positions seven through fourteen, the pair of races to follow were sure to be closely contested.
Standing starts were another new aspect of circuit racing which Sutton would need to master and her first start in competitive action was excellent as the Pro Alloys Racing driver gained two positions on the first lap. Daniella then began defending from a recovering Jack Burgess, before losing out to her MK7 class competitor on lap three.
Racing in the midfield allowed Sutton to develop her race craft and she was soon in amongst another close battle, this time with fellow female driver Maggie Webster. A strong defence from Sutton was broken down by Webster on lap four, however she tucked in behind her rival and set about clocking her fastest lap of the race.
Following separate issues for Henry Foote and Thomas Merritt, Daniella was up to 11th overall by lap nine and had began applying pressure to Webster for a coveted top-10 position. Finishing her debut BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship race in 11th, ninth among the MK7 class drivers, it was an encouraging debut for Sutton who banked valuable experience to take forward.
Race two of the weekend was held on Sunday morning with wet conditions providing an extra challenge for the young drivers. Once again it was a clean start for Sutton who held 11th position at the conclusion of lap one, with grid positions determined by driver’s race one finish.
Holding nicely with the drivers ahead, her progress was halted on lap three as the safety car was deployed after Thomas Merritt found the gravel trap. As the racing got back underway, Sutton was on the move and entered the top-10 as she overtook Callie Clifford. On lap seven, the race was ended prematurely following a scary roll for Henry Foote who escaped unharmed.
As a result, Daniella was classified 10th and secured her maiden top-10 result in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship, while later being promoted to ninth following a post-race disqualification for a rival.
Daniella should be pleased with her progress in her debut weekend in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship. Two mature drives allowed her to build experience and develop her race craft, while collecting a maiden top-10 finish.
Sutton displayed good consistency during the weekend and this will stand her in good stead when the main championship gets underway at Brands Hatch on the weekend of April 13th/14th in support of the TCR UK Championship.