Sherrie-Ann Powell continues her progress at Brands Hatch

Following a strong return to the series at Donington Park, teenage racer Sherrie-Ann Powell secured a top-15 finish in the latest round of the Junior Saloon Car Championship at Brands Hatch.

Photo credits: Sherrie Ann Powell Racing

Teenage racer Sherrie-Ann Powell secured a top-15 finish in the latest round of the Junior Saloon Car Championship at Brands Hatch.

Powell qualified in 13th position and was aiming to add to her tally of top-10 results following a strong return to the series at Donington Park. After finishing race one in 15th, Powell encountered technical issues in race two of the weekend, before the third race was cancelled due to extensive barrier damage.

In the season-opening event at Donington Park in March, Powell drove superbly to score her first top-10 finish in the Junior Saloon Car Championship. Adapting well to both wet and dry conditions, Sherrie-Ann showed good progress from her rookie season as she banked a large haul of championship points.

Now arriving at Brands Hatch, Powell was looking to replicate her good speed from her debut race weekend in 2024. With three races set to take place over the course of the weekend, there would be opportunities for Powell to improve and target further top-10 results.

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and was held in cool, but dry conditions. Powell was immediately on the pace and by halfway through the session, she had already dipped below the 60-second mark.

Improvements were difficult as the session progressed as the tyres reached their peak performance with Powell’s fastest time of a 59.985 from earlier in the session remaining her quickest lap. At the end of qualifying, Sherrie-Ann had set the 13th fastest time, while her consistency was impressive which was beneficial with the grids for races two and three also based on the times set in the short fifteen-minute session.

Conditions were bright and sunny for the opening race of the weekend with Powell lining up from 13th on the grid. When the lights went out, Sherrie-Ann got a good launch and was looking to move forward as the drivers approached Paddock Hill bend. At the end of lap one, Powell remained in 13th position and began coming under pressure from Joe Wood.

On lap three, Wood made the move on Powell and this demoted her to 14th position. Nonetheless, she settled in behind the rookie driver and continued to run a series of consistent lap times. The battles in the midfield were close and Tom Algar then began to close in after he set back-to-back personal best times.

Powell responded and opened up the gap behind to half a second at the end of lap 10. Algar again fought back and after running side-by-side with Sherrie-Ann, he completed the pass and dropped Powell to 15th position. As the race reached the closing stages, a number of drivers received penalties for exceeding track limits, but Powell was doing a nice job to remain with the confines of the circuit.

This enabled Powell to be in position to capitalise on any mistakes ahead, while she also remained just half a second behind Algar. Crossing the line to end race one in 15th position, it was a solid opening race for Powell who drove smartly throughout.

For race two of the weekend, the lineup was set by the driver’s second fastest times from qualifying. As a result, Powell once again started from 13th position and was looking to push towards the top-10.

Misfortune struck on the opening lap as a technical issue slowed her progress. After dropping to 17th at the end of the first lap, Sherrie-Ann pitted at the end of lap two and was forced to retire from the race.

Due to barrier damage from an earlier British Truck Racing Championship contest, the third Junior Saloon Car Championship race of the weekend was unfortunately cancelled. Powell showed good speed and consistency at Brands Hatch and with Thruxton hosting the next event on the weekend of 3rd/4th May, she will be looking forward to returning to the circuit at which she achieved her best results at during the 2024 season.