Interview
Bruce admits points ‘all we could really do’ after limited Zandvoort running
Megan Bruce was in two minds after struggling for speed on Saturday but was in high spirits by the end of the Zandvoort weekend after finding pace and finishing sixth in the Feature Race.
After missing two days of in-season testing in Zandvoort due to injury, Bruce started Round 4 on the back foot. This was exacerbated by a limited number of push laps in Practice and then the unfamiliar wet-to-dry conditions in Qualifying, nevertheless she delivered a lap time good enough for eighth.
She was subsequently promoted to P7 after Wild Card Zoe Florescu’s disqualification. Taking the front row start for the Reverse Grid Race, Bruce fell into the clutches of the pack behind and dropped to P7 by the chequered flag.
Fortunately, the Feature Race was a much stronger performance by the 22-year-old. Bruce overtook Rachel Robertson around the outside of Turn 1 at the start. However, she was unable to make any further overtakes, finishing sixth with a train of drivers behind her.
“The Feature Race was definitely better than the Reverse Grid Race,” she emphasised. “In the Reverse Grid Race, I just struggled a bit to find the pace quickly. Obviously, I hadn't done any long running here compared to everyone else in testing.
“That's also tricky to have your first dry running in the first race. We struggled a bit to find the speed. We got there in the end, but obviously you need to be there from the start and consistent.”
She continued: “The Feature Race was better. We were fast from the start, and I think just from the knowledge we have only taken over the weekend, obviously not from testing, that's all we could really do. We moved up a position at the start on Turn 1, so that was good and then just held it from there.”
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Bruce acknowledged that her limited running had held her back in Zandvoort and said she needed to pay closer attention to detail to compensate for the lack of testing references.
“Just to keep working, keep hitting all the apexes, making sure the throttle is right and everything,” she explained. “We learnt a lot in the Reverse Grid Race because that was the first long practice that we had.
“I was just making sure that I was doing everything right, like the brake pressure and everything. As long as I had all the exits, they weren’t going to have a chance to attack.”
After the highs of her double podium in Montreal, Bruce has struggled to match those results in Silverstone and Zandvoort, with two P9 finishes, a P7 and a P6 across the two rounds.
Locked in the Rookie of the Year battle with Payton Westcott, the TAG Heuer driver is optimistic that the unfamiliarity of Austin next time out could play more to her strengths.
“I think it will definitely be better, hopefully” she said. “We have been fast at Montreal when it was a new track for half the grid, so hopefully again we can adapt quickly in Austin because it's only one Free Practice and it's a tricky track.
“It’s a bit more winding, maybe a tiny bit like Silverstone. We had strong pace at Silverstone testing and it’s that kind of fast, flowy track. I think we can be strong there and just keep aiming and knocking on the podium.”