Double top-10 for Daniella Sutton on first visit to Mallory Park
- LIAM REDFORD
- 6 hours ago
- 5 min read
It was a successful first trip to Mallory Park for Daniella Sutton, who finished both BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship races inside the top-10, showing pace to contend with the leading group throughout the event and secured a best result of seventh.
Daniella Sutton adapted superbly to a new circuit in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship as she secured a best result of seventh at Mallory Park. The Race Car Consultants driver finished less than five seconds away from the race win in an uninterrupted race one, ultimately taking the chequered flag in ninth position. After falling to 11th at the start of race two, a superb charge through the field saw Sutton close out the event with a seventh-place result.
Returning to the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship at Snetterton in April, Sutton made a superb start to the season with her new team Race Car Consultants. A top-10 qualifying performance led to her matching her career best finish of sixth overall, with Daniella leaving Snetterton in ninth place within the overall standings.
Mallory Park was set to provide a new challenge for Sutton and her fellow BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship drivers. With the short circuit having not featured on the calendar in recent years, prior testing combined with data gathered by the teams would provide vital in ensuring a fast start to the weekend.
As one of only two events to feature a pair of races instead of three, this meant that Saturday’s schedule featured an additional free practice session in the morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon. Both fifteen-minute races took place on Sunday and would be set to feature close battles throughout the field.
The BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship drivers were first out on track at Mallory Park for their free practice session on Saturday morning. Sutton was quickly up to speed and challenging towards the front of the field along with her Race Car Consultants teammates. The session was ended early due to a red flag with Sutton’s fastest lap of a 55.580 placing her in a strong sixth position overall.
Qualifying took place on Saturday afternoon and Sutton was targeting a strong starting position. On her first flying lap, she jumped inside the top-5, before Daniella briefly moved into third at the end of her second lap.
At the midway point of the session, lap time improvements became more challenging with Sutton sitting in eighth position on a 55.762. Daniella was just half a second away from pole position and running extremely consistent times as the session entered the closing stages. On the penultimate lap of the session, Sutton improved her time to a 55.732 and as a result, she qualified in ninth position.
Both races at Mallory Park took place on Sunday with Sutton lining up from ninth on the grid for race one. The Race Car Consultants driver made a clean start and held her position on the run down to the opening turn. A strong opening lap from Sutton saw her remain in ninth position as the leading pack of drivers ran nose-to-tail.
Sutton was running directly behind Isaac Doble in the early stages and Bobby Holmes was the driver chasing. As the pace quickly increased at the head of the field, Holmes became detached and the first nine drivers began to break clear. Sutton was comfortably running in the leading group and with less pressure behind, she could focus forward on applying pressure to Doble.
On lap six, Sutton set a personal best time and she narrowly missed out on the fastest lap of the race. With the margins extremely close at Mallory Park, one small mistake could be decisive and Daniella was remaining consistent in her battle for the top positions. By lap nine, she was just five seconds away from the race lead with rookie driver Eden Spanswick now the racer directly ahead. Sutton was also the third-fastest driver on track to underline her pace as the race entered the closing stages.
On lap 11, the gap behind Sutton had grown to over five seconds as the leading group of drivers continued to set a fast pace. Two laps later, just three-quarters of a second covered the drivers in sixth to ninth with the Mallory Park layout aiding the close battles for positions. As Sutton began the final lap, she remained in ninth but Daniella was now just four seconds off the lead. The positions at the head of the field changed in the final laps with Archie Davies claiming the race victory, while Sutton remained in ninth at the chequered flag to complete an excellent first race.
For the second and final race of the weekend, Sutton started from ninth on the grid. It was a challenging initial launch for Daniella as she initially fell to 11th position as the drivers entered the first corners. Sutton remained in 11th as the drivers ended lap one, however with the racing continuing to be close at Mallory Park, there were still chances to move forward.
At the end of lap two, Sutton ran directly behind Harry Lindley and Eden Spanswick, almost running side-by-side with Spanswick as the drivers began lap three. Sutton was able to complete a nice move to enter the top-10 and she immediately pulled out a gap to the drivers behind. Following a personal best time on lap five, Sutton was directly behind Lindley and she was keen to find a way through as he began halting her progress through the field.
As Lindley defended from Sutton, this brought Spanswick back into contention as the battle for positions just inside the top-10 intensified. After running just a tenth of a second behind Lindley as the drivers started lap 10, Sutton moved ahead and brought Spanswick with her as both drivers cleared the #69 machine.
Sutton then set about catching the next group of drivers ahead and although Spanswick remained close behind, Daniella’s pace was strong. Out front, contact between Oliver Heron and Archie Davies saw the latter spin and Sutton moved into eighth at the exit of the hairpin. Heron’s car was now damaged and as he slowed, Daniella capitalised and claimed seventh position on lap 13.
Sutton’s late race pace was strong as she set a new personal best time on the penultimate lap as her margin to Bobby Holmes ahead reduced to under a second. Daniella just ran out of time to make a move, however she ended race two with a superb seventh place finish in a race which saw her use her racecraft to make progress.
It was a successful first trip to Mallory Park for Sutton who finished both races inside the top-10. She showed pace to contend with the leading group of drivers throughout the event and as a result, she solidified her position inside the top-10 of the overall championship standings.
The BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship drivers are set to visit another new venue on the weekend of the 7th/8th  June as the young racers next take a trip to Anglesey in Wales.