Asha, who was diagnosed with Adult Autism and ADHD, is pairing up with fellow autistic racing driver, Bobby Trundley from Wokingham, driving a BMW M240i.
Noah, who is paraplegic following a motocross accident, is paired up with 17-year-old Deaf driver, Caleb McDuff from South Wales and driving a McLaren 570S GT4. This is Noah’s first ever full season as a GT4 driver.
On Saturday 5th April the drivers took on qualifying in the morning.
Asha qualified P2 in class with Bobby and Noah and Caleb qualified P3 in theirs’. They then prepared for 2 x 45 minute races.
Race 1 saw Asha and Bobby dominate their class, finishing P1. In race 2, they were unlucky to sustain a puncture, pushing them down the grid, but still finishing in P3. Their points tally leaves them joint first in their class after round 1.
For Noah, race 1 was action-packed. Caleb started the race strong, handing over to Noah in P2. A mechanical issue pushed Noah into an early pit stop, and once rectified he had some challenges which meant they finished P4. In race 2, they pushed hard to get back up the grid, and it worked, with a P2 finish. Their current points tally leaves them third in class.
Noah said: “A baptism of fire for the start of my first full season of GT4 racing! It was by far the most emotionally fluctuating race I’ve ever had.
“From the lows of having unexpected issues in race 1 and losing a podium finish, to the high of coming back twice as hard in the second race and securing a P2 finish – it had everything!
“I’ve learnt so much from this weekend that I’ll remember for the rest of my career in racing. In some ways it hurt that I had to learn these things the hard way, especially in race 1, but on the other hand I’ve got the lessons out of the way early and can now focus on having a successful rest of the season.
“Being back on track with the team and all our competitors reignited the fire in me to go racing and win! I can’t wait for round 2 back at Silverstone - it can’t come quick enough.”
Asha said: “It was such an eventful race for the first round of the season. Thankfully me and Bobby understood the assignment and we fought hard to bring the M240i home on the podium! 1st in the first race and 3rd in the 2nd race.
“Unfortunately, we had a puncture in our 2nd race which pushed us down the order just before a safety car, but despite that, I’m really happy with our result and super excited to be sharing seat time with Bobby. This season is going to be a good one!”
Both Asha and Noah race again at Silverstone on Saturday 3rd May.
