Consistency the key to progress for Liona Theobald

LIAM REDFORD

Jun 22, 20233 min read

By completing three trouble-free races, Liona Theobald showed maturity in her driving to collect both points and experience at the demanding Snetterton, as she continued her progress in the Ginetta GT Championship with three seventh place finishes.

Liona Theobald continued her progress in the Ginetta GT Championship with a positive weekend at Snetterton. The SVG Motorsport driver finished all three races in seventh position in the GT Pro class, gaining further experience as one of the youngest competitors in the championship. These were valuable results for Theobald who develops her skills with each passing weekend, edging closer towards her first podium finish.

Liona’s transition to the Ginetta GT Championship has been full of promise, learning new circuits while racing a more powerful car has led to significant development in her racecraft. With a best finish of fourth arriving at Snetterton, Theobald knew the podium was within reach and her times from Friday’s pre-event test were encouraging, setting the second fastest time in the first session before ending the day in seventh.

Qualifying on Saturday morning brought further encouragement for Liona who set the sixth fastest time in the GT Pro class, improving on her best time from testing by one and a half seconds. Setting three lap times within half a second highlighted her consistency which would provide useful in three hard-fought races.

Starting from the opening race from the third row of the grid, Liona settled in behind Colin White in seventh following the first few corners. The SVG Motorsport driver did a good job to maintain contact with both White and Carl Garnett, pushing hard in an attempt to force her rivals into a mistake. It was a quiet race for Liona who successfully dealt with a light rain shower in the closing stages to end the race in seventh, collecting valuable championship points and gaining experience with a damage-free race.

Race two took a similar pattern to that of the opening contest with Liona ending the first lap in seventh, this time settling in behind Garnett. Setting her fastest lap on lap five, she stayed within touching distance of her rivals during the first half of the race. Despite a lack of wheel-to-wheel action, race two provided a good learning opportunity for Liona who was unfortunate not to pick up any late positions to once again finish in seventh. Theobald’s consistency was nonetheless impressive and can be highlighted by the fact that her fastest lap in race two was within one tenth of a second of her best lap in race one.

Lining up seventh for race three, Liona enjoyed a close battle with Bal Sidhu on the opening lap before maintaining her seventh at the conclusion of lap one. Moving into sixth on lap four, Theobald was running in her best position of the weekend and put up a good fight to defend from Ruben Hage before the Breakell Racing driver found a way through on lap eight. Once again driving smoothly, Liona secured her third straight seventh place result to round off an encouraging weekend at the circuit at which she secured her best Ginetta Junior Championship finish at in 2022.

With each progressing race Liona’s margin to the race winner reduced, indicating her development as a driver across the race weekend. By completing three trouble-free races, Theobald showed maturity in her driving to collect both points and experience at a demanding circuit where high temperatures led to increased physicality inside the car.

"Snetterton was a tough weekend for me, but as always I had the best team supporting me throughout", said Theobald after after the weekend. "I enjoyed the racing so much out there on track and I gained lots of experience in the car which I look forward to taking into the final 3 rounds on the season!"

Liona remains sixth in the GT Pro championship standings and will look forward to tackling a new track on the weekend of 22nd/23rd July, the tight and undulating Cadwell Park circuit in Lincolnshire.