Sherrie-Ann Powell wraps up rookie season with double top-20 finish

Rookie racer Sherrie-Ann Powell completed her debut season in the Junior Saloon Car Championship with consistent top-20 finishes at Brands Hatch, making significant progress across the course of the season as she has adapted to the challenges of the one of the most competitive junior championships in Britain.

Sherrie-Ann Powell concluded her debut season in the Junior Saloon Car Championship with a pair of top-20 finishes at Brands Hatch.

The racing rookie has made significant progress across the course of the season as she has adapted to the challenges of the one of the most competitive junior championships in Britain. Powell battled changeable conditions at Brands Hatch, together with safety cars and red flag periods, while securing a best finish of 20th.

Entering the season as a circuit racing rookie, Powell has taken significant strides forward in her debut campaign racing with experienced team Orex Competition NW. Sherrie-Ann arrived at Brands Hatch sitting 19th in the overall standings and has achieved a best result of 14th coming at the high-speed Thruxton circuit. Now arriving at a track for the second time, this was an ideal opportunity to put the knowledge she had gained to good use.

After making the move from karting in the off-season, Powell joined the Junior Saloon Car Championship field for a full season in 2024. The cost-effective one-make championship has sustained large grids in recent years and has proven to be the perfect stepping stone to drivers looking to progress up the motorsport ladder.

This season’s calendar has seen the young racers visit some of the most iconic circuits in Britain such as Brands Hatch and Oulton Park, while also visiting more unique layouts such as Cadwell Park and Castle Combe.

The season began in spectacular fashion for Sherrie-Ann who rolled the car during testing for the opening weekend of the season at Brands Hatch. Nonetheless, she showed great determination to bounce back and improve throughout the weekend. After finishing race one in 21st position, Powell improved significantly in a wet race two to take the checkered flag in 16th position.

Round two of the season was held at Cadwell Park, a fiercely demanding circuit even for the most experienced drivers. Therefore, it was a challenge for the young racers to get to grips with the tight and narrow track. After qualifying in 19th, Powell found over one second of lap time improvement during race one, despite managing a slight technical issue. Misfortune then struck as the fine margins of Cadwell Park caught her out in race two.

Powell unfortunately crashed in tough conditions and was unable to take any further part in the weekend, however a superb job from Orex Competition NW ensured she returned to the grid at Pembrey.

At Pembrey, Powell delivered one of her strongest qualifying performances to date by setting the 17th fastest time while beating a number of competitive drivers. Despite once again battling changeable conditions, Sherrie-Ann closed the gap to the midfield runners and finished all three races without incident. Two 17th place results underlined this improvement in pace where she was also able to find a further half a second of performance from qualifying.

The first of two back-to-back high-speed circuits came next, with Castle Combe hosting the fourth round of the championship. It was a weekend of progress for Powell who improved her lap times in each session. The highlight of the event came in race one where the Orex Competition NW driver finished in 16th position.

However, it was at Thruxton where Powell delivered her strongest performances yet. Immediately from the first race of the weekend, Sherrie-Ann was involved in close midfield battles and competing with drivers who were regular top-10 contenders. Her speed in challenging conditions has been a particular strength of her rookie campaign and she displayed her adaptability by securing a season’s best 14th in a wet final race.

Into the second half of the season, Powell battled a number of technical issues which limited her progress. At Snetterton in August, she had made an encouraging start to the weekend by finishing race one in 16th position, before she was unable to score championship points in the following two races. A good qualifying performance at Anglesey in September saw her close the margin to the leading runners, however it was an unfortunate remainder of the weekend where she achieved a best result of 20th.

The penultimate event of the campaign took place at the challenging Oulton Park circuit with Powell successfully able to regain her mid-season form. After qualifying in 20th position, Sherrie-Ann was able to confidently race in the midfield with results of 17th in race one and 18th in race two not representative of the improvements she had made. The Orex Competition NW driver was able to run a competitive train of cars while both attacking and defending her position.

Looking to close out her rookie campaign on a high, a second visit to Brands Hatch gave Powell the added confidence of returning to a track for the first time. Conditions were set to be changeable for the weekend and therefore Sherrie-Ann was aiming for an event of consistent progress where she could demonstrate the skills she had learnt over the course of the season.

Saturday morning’s action got underway with a free practice session held in damp conditions. Powell showed good speed early on, before a technical issues brought her session to an early conclusion. Her fastest lap of a 1:10.391 was not representative and Powell was the 20th fastest out of the 21 drivers who set a time.

Qualifying took place shortly after with the track remaining damp, although slightly drier than in free practice. A great job from the Orex Competition NW team allowed Sherrie-Ann to join the track for the whole session as she improved on her lap times during qualifying. At the conclusion of the fifteen-minute session, Powell’s fastest time placed her in 23rd position and she was looking to make progress in both races which followed.

Conditions were dry for the first race of the weekend with Powell started from 23rd on the grid. Sherrie-Ann made a good start and gained two positions on lap one before the safety car was deployed due to the stricken car of Louis Austin. When the race restarted, Powell ran directly behind Ollie Smith and she began applying pressure to her fellow rookie driver.

Two laps later, Powell set a personal best time and this matched her best lap from the opening round of the season at Brands Hatch. After Harvey Cursley suffered a mechanical failure on lap seven, Sherrie-Ann moved inside the top-20 while continuing her duel with Smith and Francisco Howitt.

In the closing stages, Max Scharfegger made a mistake and this moved Powell up to 19th with Scharfegger rejoining just behind the Orex Competition NW machine. Scharfegger was able to pass Sherrie-Ann on the final lap with Powell taking the checkered flag in 20th position to open the weekend.

For the season finale, Powell lined up from 22nd position and was aiming for a clean end to the season. Conditions remained dry and Sherrie-Ann made a good start to gain two positions on the opening lap.

After running side-by-side with Max Scharfegger to start the second lap, their battle was interrupted by a safety car with Wilf Butler beached in the gravel. The race resumed for just one lap before Ben Smiles rolled his Citroen Saxo on the exit of Clearways. Fortunately, the young driver was able to walk away from the incident, however the race was red flagged.

Good work from the marshals allowed the race to be restarted for a revised duration of six minutes. It was another good start from Powell who was continuing to race well in the midfield while holding down a top-20 position.

Will Crewdson then found the gravel trap at Druids and this necessitated a further interruption with the race red flagged for a second time. Due to timetable constraints, the race was unable to restarted for a third time and thus Powell was classified in 20th position.

Although the races were disrupted at Brands Hatch, Powell was able to showcase the progress she had made across the course of her rookie season. Her race starts were strong and she displayed good confidence as she learnt a number of new circuits throughout the campaign. Sherrie-Ann will be targeting a return to the Junior Saloon Car Championship grid in 2025 where she can build upon a strong debut season.