Katia Loggie battles adversity to claim double top-20 finish at Donington Park

Katia Loggie overcame technical issues to secure two top-20 finishes at Donington Park in the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy, highlighted by a 17th place finish in race three and a top-10 result in the Graduate Cup, showing improved performance despite a challenging start to the weekend.

Photo credits: JEP

Excelr8 Motorsport driver Katia Loggie overcame technical issues to secure a pair of top-20 finishes at Donington Park in the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy. After a challenging day to start the meeting on Saturday, Loggie raced well on Sunday and enjoyed a number of close midfield battles. Securing a best result of 17th in race three, Katia also claimed a top-10 result within the Graduate Cup classification.

During the first half of the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy season, Loggie has shown much improved pace from her rookie campaign last season and this has seen her consistently challenge for positions within the midfield.

Beginning the year with an excellent opening meeting at Snetterton, the Excelr8 Motorsport driver was able to contend for top-15 positions overall, while contending for top-10 results within the Graduate Cup sub-division for second year drivers.

Following a ten-week summer break, the drivers were looking to get back up to speed quickly with two free practice sessions held on Thursday at Donington Park. On her first visit to the circuit last season, Katia showed good speed but suffered from misfortune during the races and therefore she was determined to secure a trio of good results this time out.

Completing 24 laps during the day, Loggie ended free practice in 23rd position and was looking ahead to improving further in qualifying.

A further challenge was posed for qualifying with a change in conditions from Thursday testing. The track was wet and ambient temperatures were significantly lower than earlier in the week. It was a challenging session for Loggie who also dealt with a technical issue during the second half of the session which limited her running. Qualifying in 24th position overall, 12th in the Graduate Cup division, Katia was aiming to move forward in the three races to follow.

Further rain had fall between qualifying and the first race, however conditions were predominantly dry as the drivers lined up on the grid. Starting from 24th position courtesy of her second fastest time from qualifying, Loggie made a clean start and held her position after the opening lap.

It was a challenging first half of the race for Katia who was still managing a technical issue which restricted her overall performance, nonetheless she continued to build up her confidence.

The Excelr8 Motorsport driver maintained a consistent pace during the middle portion of the race and worked on her sector times in light of the challenges. On lap nine, she moved into 23rd following the retirement of Leo Purches and was showing improved pace in sector three especially. Setting her quickest time on the penultimate lap of the race, Loggie took the checkered flag in 23rd position, 12th in the Graduate Cup, to bank valuable championship points.

Photo credits: JEP

Track conditions were fully dry for the second race of the weekend with the grid formed based on the results of race one. Loggie lined up 23rd on the grid and made a superb start as the Excelr8 Motorsport driver gained six positions to end the first lap in 17th position.

The safety car was then deployed which neutralised the race, however the technical issue which restricted Katia’s progress on Saturday appeared to be resolved as her early race pace was strong.

As the race resumed, Loggie set her fastest lap of the entire event to date and this speed allowed her to enjoy some close battles in the midfield. On lap six, Katia overtook Mick Fitzgerald to move into 16th position and she was targeting a return to the top-15. The racing was close in the midfield and although losing out to Leo Purches and Paul Manning, Loggie was still inside the top-20.

Riccardo Monti also moved ahead on the final lap with Katia taking the checkered flag in 19th position, however Monti had a penalty for a false start which promoted the Excelr8 Motorsport driver to 18th in the final classification, tenth in the Graduate Cup.

Conditions were challenging for the final race of the weekend with light rain falling prior to the start. Loggie lined up from 24th position courtesy of her qualifying result and was aiming to move forward. As the drivers approached the Old Hairpin, a multi-car incident led to a red flag bringing the race to a halt. A lengthy cleanup was required and therefore due to timetable constraints, the race was postponed until the end of the day.

Track conditions were dry for the restarted race, although some light rain remained in the air. Loggie made a fast start and gained four positions on the opening tour to move inside the top-20. Although a recovering Ashley Gregory moved ahead on lap two, Katia was able to settle in behind and set a series of consistent lap times. As the race reached the halfway point, Loggie was running in 20th position with light rain now falling once again.

Despite the challenging conditions, Loggie set a personal best time on lap eight while moving ahead of Callum Eason as he retired from the race. The following lap, Katia overtook Tommy Watson on track while also benefiting from an issue for Luca Marinoni Osborne. Taking the checkered flag in 17th position, Loggie completed a tough weekend of racing with a positive third race at Donington Park.

It was a challenging weekend for Loggie who battled technical issues during the first portion of the event, before showing improved performance in Sunday’s two races. Katia showed her determination by securing a best result of 17th in race three while dealing with changeable conditions.

The Excelr8 Motorsport driver will be targeting further improvements when the Vertu Mini Challenge Trophy returns at Croft on the weekend of 7th/8th September.