Reigning F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling finished in an impressive fifth place in her debut race in the GB3 Championship at Silverstone.
The Rodin Motorsport driver had already shown her speed in qualifying with a strong fourth place, meaning she lined up on the second row of the grid for her first race behind the wheel of the all-new Tatuus MSV GB3-025 car.
Pulling got away well off the line and immediately attempted to challenge for the podium positions going into Maggotts and Becketts, and used her experience to avoid making contact during a potentially risky move on the inside of the fast complex of turns.
Pulling avoided any further drama on the first lap, settling into fifth, where she then switched her focus on to managing her tyres as she crossed the finish line just over a second behind her Rodin teammate, Alex Ninovic.
Reflecting on her first race in the GB3 Championship, Pulling hopes she can replicate her strong pace throughout the rest of the weekend’s races.
Pulling said: “Yeah a great debut. I tried to go for the podium at Maggotts and Becketts on the first lap, stuck my nose up the inside but dropped a position because of it. I gave it a go and it was a really fun race but dropping off a bit while managing my tyres, trying to be a bit strategic. I then caught up at the end but wasn’t quite enough.
"Tyre management is huge, we only have two sets over the weekend and so we’re using set one, that we just used, in race three which is the reverse race as well, so if you looked after your tyres today you’ll be in a good position for the last one. There was a little bit of strategy in play there.”
Pulling will start from sixth on the grid for race two on Sunday morning, which is set to get underway at 10.02am.