For Emily Linscott’s second race weekend of the 2020 season in America with the Lucas Oil School of Racing Formula Car Series, she was challenged with a new track that she was seeing for the first time on race weekend, and consistency proved key for her being able to produce improving results in every race of the triple header weekend.
NOLA Motorsports Park in Louisiana has previously hosted rounds of the Lucas Oil School Championship in prior seasons, however in 2019 it was not one of the venues where Linscott contested her first races with the series. With only 3 on track sessions on Friday and no prior testing ahead of the weekend, it was clear Linscott would need to dig deep. She’d not even seen it on a simulator!
A successful Saturday morning qualifying saw Linscott make light of this competitive disadvantage with a 6th place qualifying. Still learning the track as she raced, she then converted this pace into 7th and 6th place finishes in the first 2 races after race-long on track battles with her competitors for position. In the second race she missed bringing home a top five finish by under 1 tenth of a second in a drag race to the finish line.
On Sunday in race 3 of the weekend, weather intervened. Linscott started 9th on the grid but fought her way up to 6th place, battling for 5th when the rain started to fall. Wet track conditions and slick dry weather tires meant the Safety Car was dispatched to control the field until the racetrack was deemed in good enough condition for racing to resume. At the restart in the mixed and difficult conditions Linscott continued to challenge and gained another position in the closing laps to take a top 5 finish in the final race of the weekend.
Emily Linscott is back in action at the Autobahn Country Club circuit in Illinois, USA, at the end of the month; another new track to her but she is planning to test ahead of the upcoming event on August 29/30.
