Nicole Drought Wins on Britcar Debut

Nicole Drought Wins on Britcar Debut

Nicole Drought made a stunning Britcar Endurance Championship debut last weekend at the high speed Croft Circuit in Yorkshire.
Despite minimal testing, Nicole and her CJJ team mate Sean Doyle were on the Class 4 pace all weekend, with Doyle setting a lap in qualifying fast enough to secure class pole position and an impressive seventh overall.
Sean started the race and led the class, despite pressure from a SEAT TCR car and a BMW M3 GTR. Just after half distance, the CJJ car pitted with Nicole being tasked with bringing the 425bhp machine to the finish on her series debut. As Nicole resumed though, a safety car was scrambled and the second placed car immediately headed for the pits for their driver change, emerging in the class lead, almost a lap ahead. Nicole closed the gap down in the closing stages but ran out of time and crossed the line in second place.
In race two, Doyle once again grabbed the lead and when a safety car period was called, he headed to the pits to hand over. Nicole quickly resumed with minimal time lost but the winning car from Saturday was close behind. A series of consistent laps was enough for her to ease away though, and to the delight of the vocal CJJ team on the pitwall, she crossed the line to take the class win, some 30 seconds ahead of her closest challenger.

These results meant that the Irish CJJ duo not only lead their class championship, but are joint second in the overall Britcar Endurance standings ahead of rounds two and three at Brands Hatch in two weeks time.

Nicole Drought, CJJ Driver:
“It was a great weekend and to bring home two trophies on our first weekend was more than I could have hoped for. We started the weekend on the back foot when testing was cut short and I only had twelve laps of a circuit I hadn’t seen before. Sean (Doyle) was great though, as was Simon, our engineer, and we worked hard on data all weekend. Sean knows the circuit well and his experience was invaluable. I have already learnt so much in the last few weeks and even though it was great to get a win, I am keen to move forward in terms of both knowledge and pace. We have made great progress each time I have sat in the car so I am really looking forward to my next test, ahead of rounds 2 and 3 at Brands Hatch”

John Campion, Principal – CJJ Motorsports:
“What a start to the season. Nicole and Sean delivered everything we asked them to this weekend and for Nicole to take a win and a second place on a track that she hadn’t seen until Friday morning is an incredible achievement. Britcar is a tough championship, our aim for the race was to go there and learn. At CJJ Motorsports we are back in the US next weekend where James Roe Jnr is racing at Virginia International Raceway in Formula Regional Americas, then bring on the next Britcar round at Brands Hatch on 1st August.”

Action Image from Britcar Endurance Championship

Nicole Drought Wins on Britcar Debut

Nicole Drought CJJ Motor Sports Driver from Roscrea Co Tipperary© Michael Chester087 8072295info@chester.ie – Image from Michael Chester

About Nicole Drought:

Nicole Drought, 25, from Roscrea in Tipperary, is Ireland’s top female racing driver. In 2016, she became the first woman to win in the Irish Touring Car Championship, taking victory in the Production Class in her Honda Integra. She has subsequently raced in Global GT Lights, Stryker Sportscars and Nicole is the only Irish Ambassador for the International Sean Edwards Foundation, with whom she tested a Porsche GT3 Supercup in Le Castellet in 2016. In 2018 and 2019, Nicole raced in the Irish Stryker Championship, running at the front all year with a number of podium finishes. She is also the reigning Class 1A Endurance Trial Champion, having taken the title in 2018 and sucessfully defending it in 2019, with six wins from six starts. In May 2019, Nicole became the first woman to win in the UK C1 Endurance series, when she partnered Colin Lewis to victory in a 4 hour race at Anglesey in Wales.

In August 2019, Nicole drove a Formula 1 car at the Mondello Park Historic Festival, when she demonstrated the ex Derek Daly March 811 for CJJ Motorsports and in February 2020 she travelled to Palm Beach in Florida to drive the team’s Jordan 192 F1 car.

For 2020, Nicole has joined the CJJ Motorsport team. The initiative, set up by Irish expat John Campion, supports Nicole as she competes in the UK Based Britcar series.

She is also an Ambassador for Formula Female, the initiative set up by Irish Hockey Star Nicci Daly to attract more females into Motorsport, WISP, and the International Sean Edwards Foundation.

 

About CJJ Motorsports

CJJ Motorsports was founded by Irish entrepreneur and philanthropist John Campion to provide opportunities for the next generation of Irish motorsport talent and to continue the growth of Ireland’s racing legacy worldwide.

The CJJ Motorsports Driver Programme currently supports three drivers; James Roe Jr, Nicole Drought and Sean Doyle in race categories in the United States and across the United Kingdom, under the leadership of Ferrari GT driver Matt Griffin.

CJJ Motorsports also supports a number of innovative grassroots programmes in Ireland including Formula Female and their Go Girls Karting Initiative, which aims to introduce 1,000 young females to motorsport via STEM education, and the F1 in Schools Ireland programme.

A notable collector of historic racing cars, John Campion’s collection includes examples from Ireland’s prestigious F1 history, including the 1981 ‘Guinness’ MARCH 811, the Jordan 192 and the iconic 7up-liveried Jordan 191.

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