Silverstone Race Report – Student Motorsport CityCar Cup
SILVERSTONE RACE REPORT - CITY CAR CUP
Another valuable weekend of learning and progression for Pitlane Development as we took on the latest round of the Student Motorsport/CityCar Cup Championship at Silverstone.
SATURDAY:
QUALIFLYING:
We started the weekend with a busy qualifying session after having a 30m practice in the morning for Reuben to familiarise himself with the circuit and work out his breaking points. Reuben put in a strong performance for quali, securing P9 in class. While Reuben and the team felt like there was more pace available, it gave us a solid platform to build from heading into the races.
CAREERS SEMINAR:
Between qualifying and Race 1, we hosted our first ever live careers seminar from the Pitlane Development awning. The session focused on building effective motorsport CVs, understanding how Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) work, and practical advice on standing out when applying for opportunities within the motorsport industry.
The seminar was extremely well received by students and aspiring motorsport professionals, generating plenty of discussion and engagement throughout the afternoon. Following the positive feedback, this will now become a regular feature of our race weekends, with the next seminar already being planned for the upcoming round at Croft.
SUNDAY:
RACE 1:
Moving back to the trackside side of things, Race 1 got off to an excellent start, with some strong opening laps and several great overtaking moves that saw us move forward through the field. Unfortunately, there was minor contact on the penultimate lap which resulted in us losing ground and ultimately crossing the line in P10 in class.
While the result wasn’t quite representative of our pace, there were plenty of positives to take away, particularly for Reuben in terms of honing his racecraft and building his confidence in preparation for the following day. Following the minor contact in Race 1, the team worked hard to reset and refocus overnight. Setup changes were completed to improve the performance of the car and to re-allign the tracking after the contact in race 1. Reuben and Ollie spent some valuable time together reviewing the data from the session. Focusing on racing lines, braking points, and gear selection.
The combination of setup changes, data driven driver coaching and an overnight reset proved to be exactly what was needed.
RACE 2:
The improvements were immediately evident in Race 2. After the race Reuben fed back to the team that the car felt significantly better. Noticeable improvements were made to the entry of Copse (T1) and Brooklands (T4).
The result was a strong P8 in class finish, along with Reuben securing his fastest lap of the entire weekend, knocking off a massive 0.480s off of his quali time. This result demonstrated the progress made between races and highlighting the potential within both car and driver.
LOOKING AHEAD:
While the results only tell part of the story, Silverstone marked another important step forward in the development of the PLD race programme. The pace shown in Race 2 demonstrated what can be achieved through structured analysis, effective coaching, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
Ollie had this to say:
As we head to Croft, our focus extends beyond outright performance. We are continuing to invest in our trackside infrastructure and operational processes, including the introduction of a dedicated data station within the awning to improve the collection, analysis, and review of driver and vehicle data throughout race weekends. Alongside this, we are refining our processes for recording setup changes, documenting driver feedback, and conducting structured pre-event and post-session briefings to ensure every learning opportunity is captured and acted upon.
As always a special shout out to all our partners and team sponsors, We couldn’t compete without the support of each and every one of you. Thank you for helping make this journey possible and for continuing to support our development both on and off the track throughout the season:
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