On Sunday it was the Daniel Ricciardo Series DRS Plate race at Whilton Mill. A very early start for Jess, leaving home at 5.30am, but a nice sunny and fun day of racing. The last time she visited Whilton Mill was also in a DRS kart back in October 2024, and it was great to see her running quicker and further up the field.

After qualifying 9th out of the 19 drivers, her side of the grid for the Heat race seemed to get a much worse start and she was down to 11th by the time she crossed the line. She was able to gain a single place back before an incident ahead gave her the opportunity to jump up to 6th a couple of laps in. She battled with the drivers behind but ultimately fell back to finish 10th.

In the Pre-Final she lined up 10th, but quickly moved up to 9th. A bunch of drivers got in each others way ahead of her and she was unable to avoid being held up by them, finishing the first lap in 12th place. She soon took 11th place, then set about catching the driver in front. Into the final few corners she made a lovely pass before the chicane that she’d been planning from the previous lap and finished 10th.

With the results from earlier, she started the Grand Final 10th. A lunge into Ashby from a long way back by another driver on the first lap slowed her down enough that 3 karts managed to get past, and she was down in 13th at the end of lap one, where she stayed until the chequered flag. She didn’t look particularly comfortable in her kart and was nearly a second off her fastest lap of the day. Her pedals had seemed secure, but they had jumped forward as soon as she left the pits so she was struggling to reach all them race. Pedals aside, it was a very positive day.

She had fun back in a DRS kart, and had clearly gained a chunk of pace since we were last here. Next time out we can hopefully get the pedals fully sorted and she can get properly stuck in and keep improving!