Linda Noble and her Mission Motorsport teammates enjoyed a strong showing at the 12-hour Race of Remembrance at Anglesey, finishing third in class after completing 286 laps in changeable conditions, after being in contention for a runner-up result until the final hours.
Linda Noble and her Mission Motorsport teammates enjoyed a strong showing at the Race of Remembrance at Anglesey. Finishing third in Class A after completing 286 laps, the quartet of drivers battled changeable conditions in the 12-hour event and held the runner-up position for the majority of the race. Linda made great progress during the event alongside her teammates Alistair Scott, Ryan Curl and Daniel Turnbull.
The Race of Remembrance has been the traditional season-ending event for British Motorsport in recent years. Held at Anglesey Circuit in Wales, the event is a multi-class 12-hour endurance race with 45 teams battling for overall honours in 2023. After the first seven hours took place on Saturday, with a sizeable portion in darkness, teams took an overnight break.
Two further parts of the race were held on Sunday, with a remembrance service held in between. As a result, strategy was key and the timing of pit stops crucial to success.
Competing in Class A for cars up to 85BHP/Tonne, a Citroen C1 was Linda’s machine of choice as she lined up on the grid for Mission Motorsport. Sharing the car with Alistair Scott, Ryan Curl and debutant Daniel Turnbull, the team were targeting a podium finish in class while also battling against the similar specification Class AC1 cars.
Mission Motorsport is now a well-established charity which provides opportunities for military personnel to become involved in motorsport. The team is experienced running a range of cars in the Race of Remembrance and has an excellent track record in bringing novice drivers up to speed, while fighting for honours in their respective classes.
The competitive running at Anglesey began on Friday with the quartet of drivers first taking part in a free practice session. Finishing the session second in class, it was a positive start to the Race of Remembrance for the Mission Motorsport team. Qualifying was held in two parts, with a total of four-and-a-half hours of running in both daylight and nighttime.
Completing a total of 79 laps, all four drivers were able to gain good experience of the Citroen C1 as the team qualified third in Class A, 43rd in the overall classification.
Alistair took the start of the race for Mission Motorsport and made a good start, quickly lapping within one second of the team’s best lap in qualifying. Racing around other Citroen C1’s, he continued to improve his times and with a smart strategy play and an incident for a rival, Scott moved into the lead on lap 39. Five laps later, he handed over to Linda and with a fast pitstop, this enabled the team to rejoin in second position.
Linda’s first stint got off to a promising start as she showed competitive pace, with her second flying lap faster than her best effort from qualifying. Noble dealt with two safety car periods smartly during her stint and this allowed Mission Motorsport to assume a position within the top-40 of the overall classification, while comfortable holding second place in Class A. With one hour in the car complete, she handed over to Daniel Turnbull for his first appearance in the race.
Daniel ran consistent lap times during his stint and although conditions were now fully dark, this did not stop him from also improving upon his qualifying times. This resulted in the team maintaining their strong second position before Ryan Curl took charge of the Citroen C1. Ryan quickly asserted himself as the fastest driver in the car, setting a number of personal best lap times with over two seconds of improvement from qualifying. As a result, he was able to match the pace set by the Class A leader and elevated Mission Motorsport as high as 38th overall.
After an excellent stint behind the wheel, Ryan handed over to Linda for her second stint of the race and her first in total darkness. Noble was able to maintain a consistent pace and once again ensure that the team maximised the speed of their Citroen C1. The final stint of part one of the race was driven by Alistair and although the team picked up a penalty, he was able to build up his lap times and ensure Mission Motorsport completed Saturday’s running second in Class A.
A change of conditions saw an extremely wet track for Sunday’s initial running, with Alistair remaining behind the wheel. Steering clear of any incidents, Scott completed the resuming hour with no major issues which ensured Mission Motorsport maintained the runner-up position in Class A. Ryan drove either side of the remembrance break and acclimatised well to the challenging conditions, holding a two-lap advantage over their nearest rivals.
With a little under three hours remaining, Linda got behind the wheel for a short final stint in which she experienced wet weather racing at Anglesey for the first time. This was useful experience as she battled treacherous track conditions and successfully navigated a safety car period before Daniel Turnbull took the car to the finish.
Although the team were excellent in performing fast driver changes throughout the race, their main rivals were able to make their final pitstop under the safety car which dropped Mission Motorsport to third in the closing stages. Despite it being Daniel’s first ever race weekend, he drove a long final stint well to ensure the team stayed out of trouble and took the checkered flag third in Class A and 37th overall, an improvement of six positions from their starting spot while completing a total of 286 laps.
Linda and the Mission Motorsport team fought hard to claim a well-deserved podium finish in the Race of Remembrance. Competing in changeable conditions at Anglesey, Noble completed laps under the cover of darkness, as well as in the wet, developing her skills as a rookie racing driver. The team performed superbly during the course of the 12-hour race and were in contention for a runner-up result until the final hours.
All four drivers gained valuable experience from the race, with Linda showing great improvement throughout the weekend.