Racing at the circuit for the first time, Martina Ward continued her positive return to the Massimo Tyres 5Club Racing MX-5 Cup at Cadwell Park, enjoying excellent battles in all three races and showing good speed and racecraft as she claimed a pair of top-20 finishes.
Martina Ward continued her positive return to the Massimo Tyres 5Club Racing MX-5 Cup by scoring a pair of top-20 finishes at Cadwell Park. Racing at the circuit for the first time, Ward qualified inside the top-20 and enjoyed fantastic battles in the midfield throughout the event. Martina’s strongest performance came in race two where she finished 20th, while improving on her best qualifying time by over a second.
Ward made her season debut in the Massimo Tyres 5Club Racing MX-5 Cup at Snetterton after missing the first two rounds after recovering from injury. It was a positive reintroduction to racing for Martina who qualified 19th, before finishing inside the top-20 in two out of the three races. Ward was able to battle confidently in the midfield and display her overtaking skills in typically hard-fought Mazda MX-5 races.
Cadwell Park would be a new challenge for the BS Motorsport driver as it would be a new track to learn, with little margin for error around the tight and twisty circuit.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and would be a vital session with Cadwell Park being a challenging circuit at which to overtake on. Martina’s early lap times were strong as she sat inside the top-15 of the 28-car field. Ward’s fastest time was set during her fifth lap of the session, with the 1:51.179 placing her 19th overall and just one second away from the top-10.
Martina lined up 17th on the grid for the opening race of the weekend following grid penalties for two of her rivals. The BS Motorsport driver made a solid start on her Cadwell Park debut and dropped just two positions on the first lap. On lap two, Ward had to negotiate the faster drivers coming back through the field and as a result, she was shuffled down to 23rd position. Momentum is particular important around the tight confines of Cadwell Park and Martina was able to regain this speed during the middle portion of the race.
Settling in behind Stephen Robinson, Ward began applying pressure to her rival on lap three, before setting a personal best time on lap four. Martina was now lapping faster than multiple cars ahead and was aiming to regain a position within the top-20. After Jack Lawrence entered the pits on lap five, Ward was up to 22nd and further closing in on Robinson.
At the end of lap seven, Ward was less than two tenths of a second behind her rival and although she was unable to make a move, a 22nd place finish was an encouraging start to the weekend.
The second race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with Ward lining up from 22nd following her race one result. It was a challenging start to race two as Martina fell to 25th at the end of lap one, however she was able to display her overtaking skills as the remaining fifteen-minutes unfolded. Moving into 24th at the end of lap two following a moment for David Williams, Ward was immediately applying pressure to the drivers ahead.
After moving ahead of Matthew Short, Ward overtook Andrew Robinson on lap four while also setting her personal best lap of the race. As her confidence continued to grow, this resulted in greater speed and on lap five she set her fastest lap of the entire weekend to date.
This also saw her overtake Paul Barnard while now lapping quicker than the next eight drivers ahead. Two further personal best laps led to Ward moving herself into the top-20 in the closing stages of the race as she overtook Mary Barnard while continuing to search for a way past Jack Lawrence. Taking the checkered flag in 20th position, Ward had found over a second of lap time improvements from Saturday morning’s qualifying session.
For the final race of the weekend, the grid positions were once again based on the results of the previous race with Ward lining up from 20th position. Gaining positions on the opening lap for the first time during the event, Martina moved up to 18th at the conclusion of lap one and was showing the strong pace which she displayed to close out race two. After falling behind a fast-starting David Williams on the second lap, Ward regained 18th position on lap three as Jack Lawrence entered the pits.
The BS Motorsport driver was engaged in thrilling midfield battles during the middle portion of the race and despite Matthew Short moving ahead, Ward defended well from Stephen Robinson to maintain her position inside the top-20.
Soaking up the pressure well, Martina set a personal best time on lap five while moving back into 18th position. Both Robinson and Mary Barnard were able to claim position in the closing stages, however Ward took the checkered flag in 20th position to end a positive debut event at Cadwell Park.
Racing in just her second event of the season, Ward showed good speed and racecraft as she claimed a pair of top-20 finishes at one of the most challenging circuits in the country. Martina enjoyed excellent battles in all three races and was able to improve her lap times during the second race especially.
She will now be looking to build upon this momentum when the Massimo Tyres 5Club Racing MX-5 Cup returns at Silverstone on the weekend of 17th/18th August.
Comments