Megan Bruce achieves career best GB4 Championship finish

Megan Bruce achieved a career best finish in the GB4 Championship with a sixth-place result at Snetterton, where the Fox Motorsport driver bounced back from a testing setback and enjoyed a positive weekend in which she maintained her 100% finishing record while banking valuable championship points.

Photo credits: JEP

Following a thrilling reverse grid race at Snetterton, Megan Bruce achieved a career best finish in the GB4 Championship with a sixth-place result. The Fox Motorsport driver enjoyed a positive weekend in which she maintained her 100% finishing record while banking valuable championship points.

After finishing 11th and 12th respectively in races one and two, Bruce started on pole position for the reverse grid race three. Megan made a great start before falling down the order, however she made a superb late recovery to achieve her best finish in the series.

Bruce arrived at Snetterton as one of only eight drivers to complete every lap of the season to date, a significant accolade in her debut single seater season. Fresh off the back of a top-10 result at Donington Park, Megan was aiming to consistently contend for top-10 finishes during the second half of the season, with Snetterton a circuit she had fond memories of while racing her Caterham.

The first on-track running took place on Thursday with the Fox Motorsport driver eager to get some laps under her belt in the pre-event test session.

Completing 52 laps across the day, Bruce made good improvement throughout the days, but a big accident in the final session proved to be a big setback.

"Mentally this has been the toughest round for me, made good progress in testing through both Thursday and Friday, however in the last session on Friday I went heavily into the barriers at turn 3", she explained. "Unfortunately this really knocked my confidence and was pretty shaken up."

Conditions were cooler for qualifying on Saturday morning and although some damp patches remained off the racing line, the track was dry and all drivers fitted a new set of slick tyres. Bruce was back in the car for the first time after her crash and focused on getting her condifence back. The Fox Motorsport driver qualified 12th fastest and was aiming for further improvements during the races.

"With the first session back in the car being qualifying, bruised and not feeling well afterwards, I couldn't match my pace in testing, qualifying P12", she recalled.

Bruce lined up 12th on the grid for the opening race of the weekend which was held in fine conditions at Snetterton. The Fox Motorsport driver got off the line well and was able to gain one position on the opening lap as she capitalised on Jack Taylor’s slow exit from the final corner. Bruce and Taylor then enjoyed a fantastic battle with the Fox Motorsport driver defending stoutly from the Australian racer.

The pair continued to run side-by-side at the start of lap three, before Megan pulled out a gap of over half a second on lap four. However, Taylor fought back and closed onto the tail of Bruce and this allowed him to move back ahead on lap six. Megan remained in 11th position following the retirement of Chloe Grant and although experiencing an off-track moment on lap eight, she was able to take the checkered flag in 11th position to bank valuable championship points, later promoted to tenth following a penalty for a rival competitor.

Photo credits: JEP

Race two of the weekend took place early on Sunday afternoon with Bruce lining up from 12th place on the grid. The Fox Motorsport racer made a good start as she moved ahead of the stalled Callum Baxter, before the Graham Brunton Racing driver passed Bruce on the entry to Brundle. It was a challenging first half of the race for Megan as she attempted to close in on Dan Hickey in his Fortec Motorsport machine.

By lap four, Bruce was making small gains on her rival with her sector two pace particularly impressive. As the race progressed, she continued to gain experience and following a personal best time on lap nine, Megan was reducing the deficit further. On this lap, Bruce’s middle sector was just three tenths of a second away from race leader Alisha Palmowski which underlined her speed in this part of the track. Taking the checkered flag in 12th position, it was another solid result for Bruce at Snetterton.

The final race of the weekend was the reverse grid race and this saw Bruce line up on pole position. The Fox Motorsport driver made a fantastic launch on her new tyres and this saw her hold the lead during the first half of the opening lap. Although losing the lead into Brundle, it was a good opening lap for Megan who held second position.

On lap two, Bruce was shuffled back to fifth but began to string together some fast sectors to maintain her track position. Championship leader Linus Granfors overtook the Fox Motorsport driver on lap three, before Bruce defended smartly from Alisha Palmowski.

The fifth lap of the race was challenging for Megan as she dropped to tenth, however she gained back one position following an incident for Leon Wilson which saw the safety car then deployed. The race resumed with one lap remaining and a chaotic opening turn saw Bruce take to the grass to avoid an incident ahead. Nonetheless, she was able to move up from ninth position to finish in sixth, her best result in the GB4 Championship.

It was an extremely positive end to the weekend for the Fox Motorsport driver who secured her career best finish in the series bouncing back from the testing setback. She worked hard throughout the weekend to improve her times and enjoyed good battles in all three races.

"In race 3, got my confidence back, had a good launch of the line and finished P6, my best result so far", she commented. "Big learning moment this weekend, but showed some good racecraft in race 1 and 3."

"Most importantly a massive thank you to Fox Motorsport for their hard work to fix the car overnight ready for the weekend", she concluded.

Bruce will be aiming to continue this form when the GB4 Championship returns in less than two weeks’ time as the drivers tacked the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.

"Back at Silverstone next, learnt a lot last time there, I'll be giving it everything to make sure to get some good results."

Photo credits: JEP