Liona Theobald leads the way for Wera Alliance Racing Academy at Snetterton
- LIAM REDFORD
- 3 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Liona Theobald led the all-female Wera Alliance Racing Academy squad at Snetterton with three top-15 finishes in the Mini Challenge Trophy, while Lexie Powell continued her progress with a best result of 16th and sisters Beanie Reece and Ellena Reece battled through a challenging weekend to secure finishes in P17 and P21.
Liona Theobald continued her strong start to the season in her debut Mini Challenge Trophy season by securing a trio of top-15 finishes for Wera Alliance Racing Academy at Snetterton.
Lexie Powell achieved a best result of 16th in a weekend of progress for the young driver as she continued to battle in the competitive midfield.
It was a more challenging weekend for sisters Beanie and Ellena Reece who fought through adversity on their second outing in the series with Beanie achieving a highest finish of 17th, while Ellena took the chequered flag in 21st position in race three.
It was a positive start to the season for the quartet of Wera Alliance Racing Academy drivers as they adapted to the challenges of the Mini Challenge Trophy at Silverstone. Holding down a top-15 position in the overall championship standings, it was Liona Theobald who secured the largest haul of points in the season opener as she finished all three races inside the top-15. However, it was Beanie Reece who achieved the best individual result of the quartet as the car racing debutant finished race one in 12th position.
Consistent points finishes were achieved by both Lexie Powell and Ellena Reece with Powell securing one top-15 finish at the home of British motorsport, while Ellena Reece completed all three races without incident as she banked valuable experience on her series debut. Now arriving at Snetterton, all four drivers were looking to collect further championship points while pushing towards the overall top-10.
The quartet hit the track on Friday for a pair of free practice sessions to work on car setup ahead of a triple header of races. Theobald was the leading Wera Alliance Racing Academy driver as she ended the day in 15th position overall, just a second away from the top-10. Powell was the driver to improve the most from the morning to the afternoon session as she completed the day in 17th position. Sisters Beanie and Ellena Reece were closely matched on the first day of running as they ended Friday in 20th and 21st positions respectively and were separated by just a quarter of a second.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning with a thirty-minute session held in order to determine the starting positions. All four drivers immediately improved upon their free practice times in the early stages of qualifying with Theobald and Powell leading the way for Wera Alliance Racing Academy. Powell in particular was showing impressive pace with the former Junior Saloon Car Championship driver using her prior knowledge of Snetterton to good effect.
In the second half of the session, the times improved further with Beanie Reece jumping up to 18th position with just six minutes remaining. Improvements were difficult in the final stages of qualifying with Theobald retaining a solid 16th position with a quickest time of a 2:21.366 ahead of Powell in 17th spot on a 2:21.517. Beanie Reece secured 18th position with a 2:21.639 while her sister Ellena Reece set a new best time in the closing stages to qualify in 20th position on a 2:21.941.
The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon and the grid positions were based upon the second fastest times from qualifying. As a result, Theobald lined up from 15th with Powell in 16th, Ellena Reece in 18th and Beanie Reece in 19th position. Theobald made a good start from the eighth row of the grid as she moved into 14th position with Beanie Reece gaining two positions as she climbed to 17th. Powell lost two spots on the opening lap, while it was a challenging start to the race for Ellena Reece who fell to 23rd position.
Theobald was enjoying a strong early portion of the race as she remained in contention with the top-10 drivers in pursuit of a season’s best result. Powell’s difficult start continued as she fell to 21st position by the end of lap three with Ellena Reece now behind after she overtook Blair Dryburgh. After losing out to Giovanni Santora, Beanie Reece was improving her lap times as she closed in on the Team Avago machine of Louis Fleet.
On lap four, Theobald was up to 14th position after Alex Keens went off the circuit while battling for a podium position, with the reigning champion rejoining just behind Liona. After a good spell of pressure, Beanie Reece overtook Fleet on lap five with Ellena Reece passing Powell for 21st spot. A close fight then broke out between Theobald and Daniel Patterson with the Wera Alliance Racing Academy driver completing the pass for 13th position on lap seven.
Although Keens passed Theobald on his recovery drive, Liona was able to learn from the Graves Motorsport driver as he looked to push towards the top-10. An issue for Ellena Reece on lap eight dropped her to 23rd position with Powell finding some late-race speed as she moved back to 21st spot.
A strong run to the chequered flag saw Theobald finish in 14th position as she secured her fourth top-15 result in as many races. Beanie Reece completed a solid opening race in 17th position with Powell crossing the line in 21st while setting a personal best time on the final lap. Ellena Reece ended race one in 23rd position as all four Wera Alliance Racing Academy drivers finished on the lead lap without any significant incidents.
Race two at Snetterton was held on Sunday morning with the grid positions based upon the results of race one with a partial reversal at the head of the field. Theobald missed out on reverse grid pole by just two places as she started from 14th with Beanie Reece in 17th, Powell in 21st and Ellena Reece taking the start from 23rd position.
All four Wera Alliance Racing Academy drivers made an excellent start with Theobald holding 14th position while Beanie Reece completed lap one just behind in 15th spot. Powell gained four positions on the first tour to move into 17th position while two places were gained by Ellena Reece as she climbed to 21st. After an issue for Joshua Wilby on lap two, both Theobald and Beanie Reece moved up a position before the pair were overtaken by Jonathan Wild on lap three.
The battles for positions on the fringes of the top-10 were remaining close and on lap four, Theobald and Beanie Reece both overtook the Excelr8 Motorsport machine of Jorrell Julius. Following his earlier issue, Wilby was now battling with Powell who was displaying stronger pace in the second race of the weekend. Meanwhile, Ellena Reece was enjoying a quiet race while she remained in contention with the group ahead who were battling just inside the top-20.
As the drivers completed lap five, Theobald was up to 12th position as she ran side-by-side with Wild as the duo continued their close battle. After a good fight with Julius, Beanie Reece fell back 15th while sister Ellena Reece rolled her car over a kerb after avoiding an incident involving Curtis. Fortunately, Ellena was unharmed and she was able to climb from her car unaided. Beginning lap six, a technical issue for Beanie Reece saw her retire from the race with the safety car then deployed to retrieve the cars of the Reece sisters along with Curtis.
Due to the long lap at Snetterton, no further green flag racing could be completed and therefore the race ended at a reduced pace. Theobald lost out to Wild and Julius prior to the safety car period as she secured another solid 14th place result, before a penalty for Chris Doble elevated her to 13th. Powell took the chequered flag in 18th position, before later being promoted to 17th following a false start penalty applied to Louis Fleet. After unfortunate retirements for Beanie and Ellena Reece, the team were hard at work in attempt to fix their cars for the final contest.
The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon and the grid positions were based upon the results from qualifying. Theobald led the way for Wera Alliance Racing Academy as she lined up from 16th position with Powell starting from 17th on the grid. A great job from the team allowed Ellena Reece to take her position on the grid in 20th position. Unfortunately the short turnaround between the races meant that Beanie Reece was unable to start in race three.
As the lights went out, it was another excellent start from Powell who climbed to 14th position at the end of the first lap with Theobald directly behind in 15th. In a repaired car, Ellena Reece completed lap one in 21st position as she aimed to bank valuable championship points to round out her weekend.
After the positions remained stable on lap two, a slowing Josh Selvadorai allowed the Wera Alliance Racing Academy drivers to gain ground with Powell completing the third lap in 13th position. After briefly being shuffled back to 16th, Theobald also passed Selvadorai to begin lap four, before catching Powell as the drivers entered Brundle and Nelson. Using her racecraft to good effect, Theobald made a superb move as she climbed to 13th while Powell slipped to 15th with Louis Fleet splitting the two female drivers.
Despite a recovering Richard Jepp dropping Ellena Reece to 22nd, she was back into 21st position after Selvadorai pitted his MRM machine. As the second half of the race unfolded, Jepp caught the pack including Powell and Theobald and by lap eight, the PRO-AM Racing driver made his move. In a close final lap, Theobald took the chequered flag in 14th position with Powell enjoying a strong showing in 16th. Despite being hindered by some damage as a legacy of her race two incident, Ellena Reece completed a clean race in 21st position.
It was another exciting weekend of action for the Wera Alliance Racing Academy drivers as they all continued their adaptation to the competitive Mini Challenge Trophy. Theobald once again displayed her consistency, while Powell took good steps forward in performance from the season opening round. Beanie Reece consistently challenged for top-15 results while sister Ellena Reece gained further knowledge as she adapts to modern circuit racing.
The next round of the season takes place at Pembrey on the weekend of June 20th/21st.
