A first top-10 finish for Holly and a maiden top-15 result for Caitlyn signalled not only both drivers’ growing confidence, speed and racecraft, but also shone a light on some excellent tactical decisions by the Fox team that proved crucial to the results.
Race winners for the past two seasons, the team from Maldon, Essex, is running two Rookie drivers in 2025, both of whom have made strong progress since the start of the season in April.
After qualifying 22nd and 24th on Saturday morning, both Holly and Caitlyn opted to start the weekend’s opening race on wet rubber at a moment where weather conditions made tyre choice crucial.
As rain began to fall it was clear that both had chosen wisely and they took full advantage to pass 13 and 10 cars respectively to reach the chequered flag in career-best positions of ninth and 14th.
A similarly inspired tyre choice at the start of Bank Holiday Monday’s final race resulted in the bizarre sight of Holly, Caitlyn and only three other cars sitting on the grid waiting for the race to start; the other 19 having dived for the pits for wets of their own.
Finding a rhythm quickly, Chelmsford racer Holly drove well to resist the advances of many more experienced drivers to finish 11th while London-based American Caitlyn suffered an off-track excursion early on and finished 20th.
They were 16th and 18th in a dry second race; the duo scoring in all three races with weekend hauls of 33 and 14 points each also representing best-ever returns.
Holly is just seven points away from putting herself in prime position to win the £50,000 F1 Academy advancement fund that will be awarded to the highest-placed female driver at the end of the season.
The next round takes place at Snetterton on July 13-14.
Paul McNeilly, Team Principal, said: “It’s been our best event of the season and I’m very proud of the job both Holly and Caitlyn have done to score their best race results and highest weekend points totals so far. The team made a great call in the two of the three races to go with wet tyres when the weather looked like it could go either way and both drivers did exactly what they needed to do. Caitlyn had an incident in testing and missed some of the pre-weekend running, so for her to do what she did took real focus, and for Holly, she’s now chasing down the F1 Academy prize fund, which we’re determined to help her win.”
