A mixed weekend at Buggyra’s home track of Most for Aliyyah Koloc.
Koloc endured an up-and-down meeting in terms of results, as a variety of incidents meant that the safety car was deployed in every race. Despite this, Koloc can take with her a degree of positivity, having scored encouraging results on a challenging and demanding circuit such as Most.
Speaking about the weekend, Martin Koloc said: “This weekend could have been good, could have been worse. Aliyyah did a great job across the four races but was unlucky with a couple of mechanical issues with her car, but the pace was there and we are already looking forward to the next races.”
“Overall, it was an OK weekend, but there were too many safety cars. But it was still a good experience for me to take into the future,” said Aliyyah Koloc.
NASCAR Pro
Having qualified 21st on the grid for the opening race of the weekend, progress forward was naturally the aim for Aliyyah. As the field negotiated the tricky first chicane, Aliyyah did superbly well to drive around chaotic scenes to emerge sixth by the end of the opening lap.
“The first race was really chaotic, there were a lot of accidents and I managed to avoid them. I started from P21 and ended the first lap in P6. In the end, I had some contact and lost many positions but finished P12 and first in the Junior category, so I was very happy with the result,” explained Aliyyah. A careful restart meant Aliyyah dropped back to 15th, but a clean run thereafter ensured she came home in the same position at the finish and, more importantly, first in her class.
For Race Two, Aliyyah was seventh on the grid but suffered mechanical issues from the very start. This ultimately led to her retirement from the race, ending the weekend on something of a downbeat note. “We noticed a problem with the gearbox on the formation lap, and we tried to continue but it wasn’t possible, so unfortunately, we had to pull off before the start,” explained a disappointed Aliyyah.
NASCAR 2
Race One on Saturday didn’t have quite the same level of chaos as the NASCAR Pro opener but Aliyyah still had to keep her wits about her as she moved up two places from her starting position of 12th during the first lap. Several cars went off the road in front of her and the safety car neutralised the field.
Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse for Aliyyah as, after the second safety car restart, she suffered front-end damage following contact. The safety car came out for the third time, extending the race distance to 16 laps with Aliyyah able to finish eighth at the chequered flag.
“This was a very long race, with a lot of safety car laps and not much actual racing laps. It wasn’t the most enjoyable race to be honest, but I finished in the top 10 and was first in the female class, so that was a good performance,” said Aliyyah.
Aliyyah again started 12th for Race Two but fell to 20th after a spin under braking for turn one while trying to pass a competitor. Despite this setback, she worked her way back up the order to finish 13th at the end. “I had some contact at the start of the race and then I lost the brake cooling, so I was always locking the brakes and it was really hard. But we had a few safety cars again, so I was able to secure a good result in the end.”
Aliyyah will already be back in action this weekend at Lédenon, the penultimate round of the French GT4 series that she is also competing in the Silver category.
More info: https://www.buggyra.com/news/a-mixed-weekend-at-buggyras-home-track-of-most-for-aliyyah-koloc-2393
