Shawn Rashid: Building up to Success
And we are back racing once again at Brands Hatch. This weekend is the BRSCC National race on the Indy layout. After having run here only two weeks prior, our team is in a great position to perform well.
I am writing this following our Friday test before the main event tomorrow and Sunday. Testing was packed full of action, and you could sense a change in energy among the drivers as the season nears its conclusion. On the track, drivers were pushing extremely hard, even sometimes racing each other! In the first session, the track was in decent shape. Not quite as fast as the previous race weekend or even past test days. Brands Hatch is unique in this way. You can show up one week and be around the track record, and the next be almost a second off the pace with seemingly little change in ambient conditions. Today's lack of immediate speed could be chalked up to the running of motorcycles previously, which put down a rubber that doesn't seem to stick too well to the formula fords. Top times for this session hovered in the mid-50s. The second session was a tad quicker but not far off.
Over lunch, a light shower engulfed the area and put the track in wet conditions. The rain continued into our third session, where we received very little track time due to two red flags. Luckily nothing other than egos and parts were damaged. Following the rain, the track seemed to grip up significantly for the final session, where top times dropped to 50 seconds flat.Our team was consistently among and at the top of the timing sheet today. The cars were blazingly fast, and the set-ups of the cars were on point. I have put in so much work for this weekend and am looking forward to putting it into action. Things seem to be building up to a great race weekend. One much deserved after a series of unfortunate events in the last national outing at Snetterton. I can't thank all my friends and family for all the support. It truly makes a difference and adds to my drive. I also feel so blessed and grateful to be a part of such a competitive series on such an incredible team. Ammonite Motorsport really feels like a family, and I can't wait to get out on track tomorrow to represent!
- Shawn Rashid