Maggie Webster secured a hard-fought runner-up finish in the MK6 class at the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship at Silverstone, achieving two class podiums and narrowly missing out on an overall top-ten despite overcoming early challenges.
Maggie Webster displayed her determination to achieve a hard-fought runner-up finish in the MK6 class of the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship. Racing on the Silverstone National circuit, Webster finished two out of the three races on the class podium, achieving a best overall result of 11th.
Finishing third in the MK6 class during race one, an early-race spin led to a recovery drive to fourth place in the second race. A superb defensive drive in the final fifteen-minute contest secured her a runner-up finish in class, while narrowly missing out on an overall top-10 result.
Webster arrived at Silverstone looking to continue the positive momentum she had built up over the past two events. After a pair strong rounds, Maggie sat just outside the top-15 of the overall standings, while holding third in the MK6 classification. More notably, she was aiming to build upon her excellent position in the Champion of Silverstone classification following a superb performance in the non-championship round to open the season.
Webster sat seventh overall prior to the weekend, while being the leading MK6 contender heading into the second of three Silverstone events which make up the parallel championship.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and was held in bright and dry conditions, with consistent weather remaining throughout the event. It was a good session of progress for Webster who set the 14th fastest time overall, third among the MK6 drivers with a best time of a 1:12.850. This was a good position to fight for a top-10 spot in what were set to be three closely-contested races at Silverstone.
Webster lined up from the seventh row of the grid and was targeting progress in the opening round of the weekend. It was a good start for the young racer who held her position on the first lap, before receiving contact and running wide at Becketts which dropped her five overall places to 19th, while falling outside the provisional podium places in the MK6 class.
From there, Webster got back into her rhythm and was running well until the race was red flagged on lap five when the cars of Daniella Sutton and Callie Clifford required recovering at Brooklands.
The race resumed for a duration of eight minutes with Maggie running in 17th position overall, third in the MK6 class. After passing Aaron Beattie on lap two of the restarted race, Webster’s pace was strong as she was lapping quicker than half of the drivers ahead of her.
On lap five, she was able to pass Hayden Grey and with Joshua Watts retiring from the race, Webster was now into 14th position overall. A strong finish looked on the cards until a moment on the final lap saw her lose a couple of positions before taking the checkered flag in 16th position, third in the MK6 class, before being promoted to 14th overall following post-race penalties.
Grid positions for race two of the weekend were based on the finishing positions from race one with Webster lining up from the seventh row. Maggie made a good initial start before spinning at Becketts and therefore she fell to the rear of the field. Now in 19th position, fourth in the MK6 class, Webster was targeting a strong recovery drive for the remainder of the race.
By the halfway point, Webster had caught Atalanta Le Breton and was able to pass her fellow female racer on lap six. Setting a series of personal best sectors, Maggie was now catching the two drivers ahead without the full benefit of the slipstream effect. A superb final lap pass on Aaron Beattie saw Webster cross the line in 17th position overall, fourth in the MK6 class, with improved pace and consistency compared to the opening race of the event.
Webster was looking to end the weekend on a high and started the final race from 17th position overall. Maggie made a good start and gained two overall positions on lap one, before a spin for Joshua Watts moved her into 14th overall at the end of the second lap.
Despite struggling with an ABS issue, Webster was still looking to move forward and drew alongside Hayden Grey on lap three before clearing her rival. After Jenson O’Neill-Going and Finn Leslie pitted with issues, Maggie was into 11th position overall and now holding the runner-up position within class.
George Foxlow was the leader of the MK6 class and although there was a sizeable gap ahead, Webster did her best to close in on her rival while defending from Grey. In the closing stages of the contest, Maggie defended superbly from Grey and this allowed her to take the checkered flag in 11th position overall, while claiming a runner-up finish in the MK6 class.
It was an excellent end to the weekend for Webster who battled through technical issues to claim a runner-up finish in race three. Maggie did a superb job to finish all three races at Silverstone and therefore bank vital championship points, while continuing her positive momentum from the previous two events.
The next round of the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship will take place at the high-speed Thruxton Circuit on the weekend of 21st/22nd September.
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