Karen attended the first ever Power Nights event at Silverstone, which consisted of a day of practice sessions and then two evening races. For this particular event there were enough MR2's to ensure they had their very own qualifying and races. Race 1 grid positions were determined by the qualifying times and Race 2 starting positions would be a reverse of the Race 1 results!

Given that there were twelve MK2 cars competing and only two MK1 cars, Karen and Richard had figured that Karen would likely qualify and finish last in Race 1 and possibly therefore get pole position for Race 2.

The practice sessions went fairly well and Karen was pleased with her improvement. Within only a handful of laps in the first session she'd already easily eclipsed Richard's Time Attack record for the National circuit of 1:22.964. By the end of all the practice sessions she'd recorded a 1:19 by Darren's timing. We'd figured she was about a second behind the other MK1 of Jon Grimes #79, whilst the MK2's were just incredibly fast in comparison.

There were a few minor incidents during qualifying which began at 3:45pm. Andy Woodvine #44 beached himself in a gravel trap and Richard Weaving #86 was experiencing clutch problems. Karen seemed to be driving really well in spite of her car bouncing a little too much down the main straight. She managed her best time yet at 1:19.408 which put her in 12th position, behind Jon but ahead of Andy and Richard.

Race 1 began just before 6pm in glorious sunshine. Karen got a pretty good start, outdragging David Weaving #89, but Andy Woodvine #44 got in front at Copse. Thanks to the speed of the MK2's Karen got a little left behind and had to concentrate on trying to catch the rear of Andy's car in the distance. Thanks to some offs and technical problems with other cars Karen actually finished 10th, ahead of the MK2 of Richard Weaving #86!

Race 1 in-car video here

With the sun on its way down, there was brilliant sunshine in certain sections of the track and shade in others for the start of Race 2. This began at about 7:15pm. Karen actually started on the second row thanks to the DNFs from Race 1 being placed ahead of the rest of the field. She got a fantastic start and drove past Richard Weaving #86 to chase Adam Litchfield #81. It wasn't long though before the MK2's began to stream past her. This left Karen defending her position from Jon Grimes before she outbraked herself at Brooklands and he got through. Gradually Karen began to reel him back in but there simply werent enough laps left to catch him before the chequered flag.

Race 2 in-car video here

Due to more incidents Karen was classified in 9th place for Race 2. More importantly considering an upcoming MR2 Challenge race at the circuit, she achieved a best lap time of 1:18.513!

Power Nights was a thoroughly enjoyable event from start to finish and we'd like to thank Patrick Mortell of Rogue Motorsport for helping to organise the MR2's involvement.