Daniella Sutton returns to the top-5 in challenging conditions at Snetterton
- LIAM REDFORD
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Continuing her excellent form in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship, Daniella Sutton returned to the top-5 at Snetterton, recovering from an early setback in Race 1 and running as high as second in the final race of the weekend.
Daniella Sutton returned to the top-5 at Snetterton as the Race Car Consultants driver continued her excellent form in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship. After qualifying in fifth position in wet conditions, Sutton recovered from an early setback in race one to finish in seventh. In a dry race two, Daniella finished in fifth before she ran as high as second when wet conditions returned in the final race of the weekend before being classified in eighth position.
Sutton arrived at Snetterton seventh in the overall championship standings and with a margin of over 50 points behind her, she had firmly established herself as a front-running driver. During the previous round at Anglesey, Sutton secured a career best result of fourth, missing out on a maiden podium finish by less than a second. The Race Car Consultants driver also topped free practice, underling her pace at a new venue.
Returning to Snetterton now allowed Sutton to build upon her experience at the challenging circuit. The Norfolk venue hosted the 2025 season opener where Sutton achieved a best result of sixth and therefore she was looking to improve on that performance during round four of the championship. With grid numbers reaching a record-high for this event, Sutton lined up on the grid in a landmark weekend for the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship.
After a series of productive test sessions held in dry conditions, qualifying on Saturday morning brought an added challenge with extremely wet track conditions at Snetterton. Sutton quickly got into her rhythm and jumped up to third position on her first flying lap. This was extremely important with the potential for disruptions throughout qualifying as track position held extra significance with an expanded grid of 29 drivers.
Nonetheless, the session ran uninterrupted and Daniella worked with her teammates as they all attempted to maximise their potential. At the end of the fifteen-minute session, the BRDC Rising Star had set the fifth fastest time and was almost two seconds clear of the drivers outside the top-10 to further underlined her speed in the challenging conditions.
Race one of the weekend began on Saturday afternoon and the track at Snetterton was now dry. Sutton started from fifth on the grid and it was a busy opening lap as the positions at the front of the field were closely contested. After one lap one, Sutton was in seventh but just one tenth of a second behind Dara McInerney as she looked to regain her position inside the top-5.
On lap two, contact resulted in Sutton being shuffled down the order and the Race Car Consultants driver was now in 12th position. Daniella was keen to fight back and on the following lap, she overtook Jack Sant for 11th. Now with some clean track in front of her, Sutton was the second fastest driver on track and this enabled her to open up a small gap behind.
During the middle portion of the race, the leading group of drivers continued to exchange positions and on lap nine, this resulted in contact being made being Jack Burgess and Lewis Islin. As a result, both drivers fell down the field with Sutton elevated into ninth position. She was now battling Hayden Gray and Max Fenton and the Daniella was able to make a final lap move on Fenton to take the chequered flag in eighth position. Following a post-race penalty awarded to Oliver Heron, this promoted Sutton into seventh position in the final classification.
The second race at Snetterton took place on Sunday morning with track conditions remaining dry. Grid positions were based on the results from the previous day and therefore Sutton lined up from seventh. Daniella made a good start and gained one position on the first lap to move into sixth while initially remaining with the leading group of drivers.
On lap two, the battles intensified and Sutton was able to move ahead of Oliver Heron, while fellow female driver Callie Clifford passed the Race Car Consultants driver. Therefore, Sutton remained in sixth and was just a car length behind Clifford as the drivers began lap three. Following good work from Daniella, she cleared the car of Clifford to move inside the top-5 while quickly building a comfortable gap behind.
By lap five, the margin to the sixth-placed driver was now over three seconds and therefore Sutton’s primary aim was to run fast and consistent lap times. It was a strong end to the race from Daniella who held fifth position to the chequered flag to bank another large haul of championship points.
For the final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, the conditions had changed once again and the track was extremely wet at Snetterton. The grid positions were once again based on the results from the previous race and therefore Sutton lined up on the third row of the grid in fifth position. It was a great start from Daniella who remained fifth at the end of the first lap, while running less than two seconds behind the race leader.
On lap two, Sutton extended her margin behind her to almost three seconds and this enabled her to focus on applying pressure to Isaac Doble who was just two tenths of a second ahead. The safety car then made its first appearance of the weekend after an incident involving Lewis Islin required a short neutralisation period.
When the race restarted, Sutton was keen to move forward and she enjoyed a fantastic lap as Daniella gained three places to move into second. As she ran side-by-side with third-placed driver Christopher Doble to start the final lap, the provisional podium spots were traded. Both Sutton and Doble ran wide while searching for grip and this allowed the group of drivers behind to close in.
As Daniella aimed to fight back, she made contact with Oliver Heron in the difficult conditions and was subsequently shuffled down to sixth position at the chequered flag. A post-race penalty applied to Daniella resulted in her losing two spots and she was therefore classified in eighth.
Nonetheless, it was another excellent drive from Daniella who showed superb speed in extremely challenging conditions. Sutton finished all three races inside the top-8 and this maintained her strong championship position, while a first trip to the podium grows ever closer.
The Race Car Consultants driver will be targeting this breakthrough result when the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship returns at Silverstone on the weekend of 16th/17th August.