Spencer Pigot – Fantastic Experience

Silverstone, England (November 7, 2010) – The Walter Hayes Trophy and the Team USA Scholarship are unfortunately over. My time here in England has been a blast and not only have I had a lot of fun but I have learned a lot as well. Overall it has been great, but the final day didn’t go quite as well as it could have.

I started the Semi Final in fifth position. It was a very difficult group; I was in the faster of the two Semis. I got a pretty good start and maintained my position. After a few laps I was up to fourth. It’s a lot harder to pass here because there is so much blocking allowed. The leader had gotten a big lead early on in the race so it was a battle for second between five of us. Felix and I were working together but it took a few laps to get to the front of the group. The next lap we were drafted by; it was a lot like a Skip Barber National race. Going into the final two corners on the last lap I was fourth and Felix was fifth but then the two in front out braked each other and I went through into second! Then they touched and spun and Felix came through to finish P3. It was great to both be on the podium at the same time!

For the final we didn’t make any big changes to the car, other than new tires, which everyone was putting on. I lined up third for the final, which was a great spot. I knew that I needed to keep in touch with the leaders and not lose the benefit of the draft. I kept third on the start but got passed before the end of lap one. I was still right behind the lead group in a good position for the rest of the race. Unfortunately the next lap a driver put a late out-braking move on me and it didn’t work out. He locked his rear tires and spun right into me. I only lost a few positions but there was something bent in the front of the car where he hit. The car was still handling OK but not as well as it was. But it gets worse. A few laps later I caught back up to the group that was battling for fourth position when the driver in front of me went off the track and then came back on and hit my rear wheel which made me spin and come to a complete stop. I fell back to about 11th and worked my way back to seventh at the end of the race. It was a disappointing result because I had the pace to run right with the leaders if it wasn’t for the multiple collisions.

I want to thank Jeremy Shaw and everyone involved in the Team USA Scholarship and everyone at Cliff Dempsey Racing, I have learned so much and had so much fun this month in England and I couldn’t thank them enough. It has been a fantastic experience and I will bring everything that I’ve learnt back to America and be a better driver.