Powell Post - Volume 3

Here's the third volume of Alice Powell's JLF1 Blog series, detailing what has been a fantastic start to her campaign in the F3 Cup. The year is looking very bright for Alice, keep up with all the goings-on with Powell Post, exclusively to this blog.

Hello JLF1 Blog readers, I hope all is well!

A lot has happened since my last Powell Post...I've had two race weekends, done plenty of coaching and several interviews!!

I shall start with my first race weekend at Oulton Park (1^st April) in the Formula 3 Cup which is the series that I am competing in this year. It was awesome to return to driving at Oulton Park as I love it; not only as a circuit but also a venue. It was also my first race weekend driving in F3 machinery, my Dallara F305. That was something that I was also really excited about. If you don't know the result already then I could say it was a perfect weekend.... Actually, it really was! I qualified on pole and won both races for Mark Bailey Racing, getting the fastest lap award too. So I left the weekend leading the championship, happy days!!!

(c) Octane Photographic

Alongside my F3 campaign I have also been travelling up and down the country driver coaching for a local team who race in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship this year, Sean Walkinshaw Racing (SWR). I haven’t driven the F4-013 but I have to say, it does seem like a lovely car.

Driver coaching is something that I really love and enjoy. I have learnt so much over my 4 years driving in single seater series and driving on British Circuits (this is my 4th year), that I love to pass it on to up and coming drivers and share the things that I have learnt, all of the SWR drivers have come from karting (apart from our Chinese driver Zou Sirui). I also get the opportunity to work and interpret the data as well which is also very handy!! I really do believe that the coaching helps me with my racing too because I can learn things from what I see when watching from the side lines. 

The first F4 race was at Silverstone last weekend (27-28 April) and it was excellent! I witnessed some fabulous racing and to top it all off, two of our drivers from SWR were on the podium. It was their first single seater race weekend too, beating plenty of more experienced drivers! Jack Barlow took SWR's first ever win in their only 2nd ever race and Matty Graham finished 3rd in race two. I was one happy driver coach and I’m so proud of all of them!

I was also racing that weekend myself. It was the second round of the F3 Cup but I knew it was going to be a difficult weekend in comparison to Oulton Park. That was purely down to the engine. I run a Toyota engine (only 4-5 out of the 22 runners do) with the majority of the others running a Honda. The Toyota is 30kg heavier than the Honda and slightly slower down the straights. This is something I have never experienced before as all the series that I have raced in previously have had equal engine power or the same engine in every car. So why have I got the Toyota engine I hear you ask? Well, it's simply cheaper to run as it lasts longer and doesn't need rebuilding as much as the Honda. 

(c) Jakob Ebrey

Qualifying was tricky. There was a reasonable amount of traffic but I was struggling to get heat into the tyres. I ended the session P2 and I was only 0.047 seconds off P1! When we checked the tyre pressures after the 25 minute session they were down, which we were surprised off! So we increased the pre-race pressure before Race 1.

I got a reasonable start in the first race, not dropping back but not getting a good enough drive to challenge Henry Chart out front. I managed to stick with Henry for most of the race with the gap varying each lap. We crossed the line only 0.20 apart, with Henry taking the win and me settling for second. Again, the tyre pressures were low after the race! We were surprised as we had put them up and it was only two laps from the end of the race that I felt the tyres were working. So again, we pumped them up to try again! 

I knew what I needed to do for Race 2; I had to get in the lead of the race before the end of the first lap. It wasn’t going to be easy but it had to be done for me to have any chance of winning the race due to my engine power. I made sure that I got plenty of heat into my tyres on the warm up lap. Alex Craven was starting on pole position, with me just behind in P2 and Henry Chart in P3. I managed to get a good start, pressuring Craven through the first turn and it was through the fast Becketts turn that I saw the opportunity to dive up the inside... Which I did! I made the move stick to take the lead and got my head down to try and pull a gap! I focused on each corner, one at a time, but also keeping a close eye on my mirrors as Henry Chart had passed Craven. However, Henry's race was cut short as his engine blew on lap 3. I was still struggling with tyre temp up until 8 minutes to go where they found temperature and I built a good gap of 5.5 seconds. That was my winning margin at the end of the race. It was great for my sponsors, my team MBR and for my championship lead, which has now increased! 

(c) Octane Photographic

So Silverstone was a successful weekend for me! Now I look forward to my next F3 Cup race which is on the 1-2 June at Brands Hatch. 

Today is Tuesday, which is the day that I am writing this piece and a day before it will be posted on Jack’s blog. It is the day of the Women in Motorsport show on BBC Radio 5 Live. It features myself, Jennie Gow, Susie Wolff, Claire Williams, Sir Stirling Moss and many more!! So, if you haven't listened to it already then check out the iPlayer and let me know your thoughts! 

All the best :-)

Alice xxx

You can listen back to Jennie Gow's Women in Motorsport show on BBC Radio 5 Live here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01sfnhx/5_live_Formula_1_Women_Drivers/

Follow Alice on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alicepowell
Like Alice's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/alicepowellracing
Check out her website: http://www.alice-powell.com/
For Sponsorship Queries: http://www.alice-powell.com/sponsorship 
Powell Post - Volume 2: http://jackleslief1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/powell-post-volume-2.html