Showing excellent speed at the previous rounds, Jasmine Shaw was finally rewarded in the season finale at Brands Hatch, where she achieved a breakthrough podium finish in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship - gaining a sensational twelve places overall from her starting position.
Jasmine Shaw achieved a breakthrough podium finish in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship finale at Brands Hatch. Dealing with changeable conditions throughout the weekend, Jasmine drove smartly and was rewarded with her first trip to the podium in race one, while gaining a sensational twelve places overall from her starting position. This resulted in a third place finish in the MK7 class, with the 20Ten Racing driver ending her season with a solid sixth in class in race two.
After a campaign featuring a fair share of bad luck, Jasmine was aiming to end the year on a high at Brands Hatch. The 20Ten Racing driver has displayed flashes of brilliance during her second season in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship and converting this into a podium result was still a realistic target.
Saturday’s free practice session was held in extremely wet conditions and was disrupted by a number of red flags which meant that finding a rhythm and consistent pace was difficult. Shaw kept it clean and gained vital experience to end the session seventh among the MK7 class runners.
Qualifying was held in equally challenging conditions and although the track was drying, decisions surrounding tyre strategy and setup remained vital. Jasmine continued to gain confidence and completed the most laps of the entire field. Placing seventh in the MK7 class with both her fastest and second fastest laps, Shaw was in position to gain further positions in the pair of races to come.
Lining up from seventh in the MK7 class, Jasmine made a fantastic initial start and navigated a start-line incident superbly to move up to the fringes of the top-10 overall. This incident led to the race being red flagged, and with one full lap not completed, Shaw would line up on her original starting position for the restart.
Jasmine made another good getaway following the restart and held seventh in the MK7 class, while moving up to 15th in the overall classification. Gaining a further overall position on lap two, her progress was once again interrupted by a second red flag.
The second stoppage led to the third restart being for just six minutes and with a sizeable amount of oil and cleaning products on track, visibility was challenging. Jasmine made another clean start and by lap two, she was up to sixth in the MK7 class and 11th overall.
After exchanging positions with James Pope, Shaw then moved inside the top-5 in class by lap five. An action-packed final lap saw the 20Ten Racing driver gain two further positions to cross the line third in the MK7 class to claim her first podium finish in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship.
Encouraged by her first ever podium finish, Jasmine was aiming for another strong race to close out her season. Shaw held her seventh position after the opening lap and was quickly fighting amongst the MK6 drivers, gaining two overall positions by the conclusion of lap four.
On lap six, the 20Ten Racing driver set the fastest lap of her weekend and this allowed her to move into sixth in the MK7 class. Following an overtake on Joshua Watts, this became on fifth on lap nine and although her rival found a way back through, Shaw remained in hot pursuit.
Taking the checkered flag sixth in the MK7 class, fifth among the points scorers, Jasmine had gained five overall positions in race two to finish 16th overall to round off a promising end to the season.
Jasmine displayed fantastic character to bounce back from multiple setbacks throughout the season and was rewarded with her race one podium at Brands Hatch. Showing excellent speed at Croft and Silverstone especially, her race pace indicated the significant potential she has and this was finally rewarded in the season finale.
Shaw will now be hard at work over the off-season in order to finalise plans for 2024 as she takes the next step into senior racing.