“A weekend of mixed emotions" Finn Groom reflects on difficult weekend at Pembrey
Last weekend from June 20th - 21st we saw the Mini Challenge UK return to the South of Wales at the home of Welsh Motorsport, Pembrey Circuit for round 3 of the series. Pembrey is known as a technical 1.46 mile race track located in Carmethenshire, Wales. The track which was originally used as an RAF WWII airfield notoriously has historical motorsporting heritage, even being used as a test track for top Formula 1 teams in the late 1980s and 90s, and although is not used for the pinnacle of motorsports now, it has remained a test to those who race on its tarmac.
The Friday saw a long day of testing and for our brand ambassador Finn Groom, the day had panned out well with positive results on track even getting some advice and coaching from the series’ 2024 champion Harry Hickton who provided some great insight. Through his experience they said “the team were able to learn more about the car, racing on slicks and the different style of driving that is required” being a rookie this season, there is a lot of room to learn and what better way to learn than from a champion of the series. Qualifying took place on the Saturday and unfortunately for our driver, Finn and All Groom Motorsport had been struggling all morning on their set up, inevitably meaning that they were unable to secure the qualifying position that they would have liked to for any of their races that weekend. However, the determination to deliver results still remained and the team knew there were plenty of positives to take away from Friday's sessions that they would implement into the upcoming races. Race 1 started well for the team, making up multiple positions and seeing themselves jump from 21st to 16th in the opening laps with Finn relaying how comfortable the car felt. Unfortunately, the back luck returned for an appearance when some contact on track had caused an undetectable coolant leak and the car had overheated just 2 laps later.
All Groom Motorsport focused all their efforts that night rebuilding the front of the car and replacing all the cooling system components that were damaged ready for Sunday' s race. Alas, Sunday was an even unluckier day for the team after an incident on lap 1 caused the car to get T-boned, damaging the door, sill and drivers window and though the car itself managed to keep itself going, it once again overheated causing yet another retirement. Once again, they went on to spend the rest of the day repairing the car, fitting a new door, and straightening out the sill and door hinges just for the car to overheat yet again in race 3. This puts Finn at the bottom of the championship order however the spirits at All Groom Motorsport are high with Finn ready to take on the next race “The car will be fixed. Bring on Thruxton”.
The race at Thruxton will take place between the 25th - 26th of July so be sure to tune in to watch on ITV4 and ITVX or if you are unable to watch it live then you can head to the official Mini Challenge UK youtube channel where all coverage and highlights from qualifying and race day are showcased. We wish Finn and the rest of All Groom Motorsport the best of luck for Thruxton.