Strong result at Croft after two months out of the car
After spending two months out of the car, Kasper had the difficult task of going straight in to qualifying one on Saturday without so much as a warm up due to the restricted testing at Croft circuit. This proved to be a big advantage to the more experienced drivers in the series, having raced at Croft before. Kasper handled this pressure well however, qualifying in a slightly disappointing but solid P9.
After a thorough analysis of where there was time to be found, Kasper set out to improve on his grid position for race 2. He got progressively faster as the session went on, and spent most of it running in a very respectable P6 until the final two laps. He was pipped by only a tenth of a second, and dropped to P8 as the chequered flag fell. Despite only having improved by one grid slot from qualy one, Kasper was now much closer to the pace of the front runners. He was in fact the only driver to match his time from the first session on new tyres, with everybody else slowing by at least four tenths of a second.
The racing on Sunday was threatened by rain, which Kasper and the Antel team were desperately hoping to avoid due to Kaspers limited experience in the wet. Thankfully the showers came at the right time, and the circuit was dry again for both races.
After making some adjustments to the car after qualifying, Kasper looked immediately more comfortable in the car from the moment the lights went out for race one. He made a solid getaw
ay from the line, and then proceeded to pick off the cars infront of him one by one, starting with a great move on the exit of turn 2.
He was lapping 3rd quickest on his way through the pack, and shortly after taking 6th position from Championship leader Mitchell Hale, the safety car came out. This was perfect timing for Kasper to close on to the back of the leading pack. When the safety car came back in, there were four laps of the race remaining. Kasper then began pressurising the cars in front, with only the race leader lapping quicker than him in free air. As the two drivers in 4th and 5th scrapped with each other, he capitalised and passed the both of them to leave him just one place away from his first podium. Although he was catching 3rd place, there was not enough time left for him to make a move. He crossed the line to grab 4th place, his best finish so far in BARC Renault, and a fantastic drive from 9th on the grid.
Kasper was delighted to have made such progress through the pack;
The race was one of my best with a lot of exciting battles as I made my way through the field. Obviously I was not very happy starting 9th but we had improved a lot already for the second qualifying so I knew that the pace should be good for the race. I certainly enjoyed the race very much and was very comfortable in the car which felt fast and easy to drive at the same time.
The team had high hopes of a possible podium for Kasper in race two, but again it would have to be a storming drive from P8, but now he was fully in tune with the Croft circuit, they knew he had the outright pace to achieve it.
After making another strong start to the race, and lapping very quickly in 6th place, Kasper had some disappointing misfortune which would put an end to his hopes of a podium. W
hilst battling for 5th place, Kasper had the slightest of touches with the rear end of the car in front. This damaged his front wing to such an extent that his front end grip was gone. He could no longer set the impressive pace which he had been previously, and he began to drop through the pack and outside the top 10 with an almost un-driveable car.
The ups and downs of motorsport had hit Kasper once again at Croft, but there were many positives to take from the weekend. He and his team now look forward to Round 4 of the Championship at Snetterton, with all fingers crossed that he can return with his first of many podiums!
