Gail Hill was back on track last weekend at Silverstone but not in her usual Jaguar.  She was testing the Ginetta G50 sports car and is now working hard to raise enough money to compete in the G50 Cup this season which forms part of the British Touring Cars package.

The car is powered by a Ford 3.5 litre engine developing 300bhp but with the car weighing in at only 945kg there is more than enough power all of which is fed through a Quaife six speed sequential box to the rear wheels. She had not previously driven such a professionally built car and wanted to make sure she wasn’t a complete numpty behind the wheel. ‘I am really looking forward to throwing it around the GP circuit but sadly the slick tyres have been replaced with full wets due to the sopping wet conditions after all the rain last night’ she said prior to going out for her first few taster laps.

The conditions were treacherous and she did admit to turning in a bit late at Vale and spinning onto the grass infield. Once she re-familiarised herself with the circuit layout however and got used to the slip shift system she was flying. The car is an absolute dream to drive with extremely responsive steering and ten times easier than my non power assisted V12 she quipped later. The acceleration is lightning quick and the whole package feels right, very easy to develop confidence even in such bad conditions though I am only driving at around 80% because I haven’t organised insurance, and this baby is worth more than my annual salary she joked after completing several stints in the car.

It was a shame that the track never really dried out all morning so she never got the chance to see how the car performed on slick tyres but she was very happy with the support provided by Ginetta cars who had transported the car down for the day, many thanks to them.

Asked afterwards what the next step was she said ‘I need to arrange to see my commercial partners now and get the money together. I can definitely go well in the car and with more seat time think I could do well in the G50 Cup. The hard work starts now with trying to get all the funds in place and with the current economic climate it could be hard and there is not much time before the season begins. I’ll be spending more time on the phone and travelling around I suspect in the next few weeks but I am hopeful of getting a package together.That said, anyone who is interested in talking to me about what is on offer, the TV and other media exposure, corporate hospitality etc then don’t be shy and do get in touch.’

Lets hope we do see this ex Jaguar champion driver out competing with the mostly male grids that appear on the TOCA calendar.