This weekend our new Ignition Driver Brand Ambassador, Esmee Hawkey made her DTM debut at Monza in the ROKiT Sponsored T3 Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3. With limited practice before the event, Esmee impressed this weekend fighting in the midfield against drivers such as Formula One star Alex Albon.
Below are Esmee's thoughts and comments on her weekend but for a full live chat with her and Ignition founder Nick Butcher - head over to our Instagram page @ignitionperform as they caught up on Monday evening to discuss the race and the new Ignition Partnership.
SATURDAY RACE 1 DTM - MONZA - HIGHLIGHTS & FACTS
Esmee Hawkey made her much-anticipated debut in the DTM series at Monza
Despite limited mileage in the car heading into the weekend, Esmee qualified her ROKiT-liveried T3 Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 an excellent 12th on the grid
The 23-year-old held her own in the opening exchanges, running on the fringes of the top-ten
A close battle with Albon and Wittmann formed for 11th before she made her mandatory pitstop early in the race
Rejoining 17th, Esmee pushed on and managed her tyres in the second stint to climb to P15 at the chequered flag
Esmee enjoyed a great battle with current Red Bull Racing Development Driver, F1's Alex Albon in race one
ESMEE'S RACE REVIEW
“I’m so happy with how today has gone. Having had such little time in the car beforehand, there was so much to learn and get on top of and I didn’t really have any idea where we would stack up compared to everyone else.
“To qualify P12 ahead of people like Alex [Albon] and Timo [Glock] was a huge confidence boost and gave me a real buzz for the race. It was an exciting first few laps and my aim was to simply keep it on the track and avoid any possible dramas. I enjoyed my battle with Alex, I did my best to keep him behind for as long as I could but he just had that extra bit of pace. We pitted early in the race and I just kept chipping away in my second stint, managing the tyres. I’ve learnt so much and I can’t wait to get back in the car tomorrow. I’d also like to say a huge thanks to the team for all of their hard work, we’ve got a great base to build on from here.”
SUNDAY RACE 2 DTM - MONZA - HIGHLIGHTS & FACTS
Following an excellent debut performance on Saturday, Esmee returned for the second race of the DTM season
The 23-year-old qualified 16th on the grid for the race
A stunning first stint saw Esmee climb the order, with brilliant overtakes on Arjun Maini and Timo Glock
Climbing into the top ten during the pit cycle, Esmee made her stop on lap eight
Rejoining 14th, the Brit was locked in a tight pack of cars
She took the chequered flag in P17 to round out a successful debut weekend in the series
Esmee racing against Race One winner Liam Lawson, who is also completing in F2 this season
ESMEE'S RACE REVIEW
“After a great day yesterday, I was really looking forward to getting back out on track today. I was a bit disappointed in myself in qualifying as I left some time on the table during the final sector on my fast lap, I think I was just overly cautious and not wanting to push too hard and make a mistake. The fact I was disappointed with P16 today shows how quickly I'm getting to grips with the step up to this level."
“I really enjoyed the first half of the race, I was able to get my elbows out a bit and really push myself. My pace was really strong, I was able to overtake Glock quite quickly and I had a great battle with Maini and Rockenfeller just before my pit stop so I was fired up and really giving it my all. After my stop, I kept pushing but tyre degradation meant our pace dropped off more than we would’ve liked so that’s something we’ll look into between now and Lausitzring. Overall, it’s been a really positive weekend and I’ve learnt so much which I can’t wait to put to good use next time. As always, a huge thanks to the team for their support and efforts this weekend - the only way is forward from here.”
.jpg)
%20Logo%20PNG%20Black%20Background%20%20(1640%20x%20924%20px)%20large.png)
