MOTOR racing star Hannah Chapman is aiming to “move forward” after three top-20 finishes in the season’s opening rounds.

The 27-year-old was among nearly 30 entrants on the starting grid in the opening round of the Mini Challenge JCW Championship at Snetterton.

Despite not being her favoured track, Chapman impressed over the weekend and took two 20th-place finishes, either side of coming 19th in the second race.

She spoke briefly to the championship’s social media channel after the first race and said: “It’s been a good weekend so far.

“Every time I have been out on track, both free practice sessions on Friday, I set personal best lap times and then again in qualifying.

“It was only enough for position 25 in qualifying but we are keeping our heads held high and just working our way forward.

“Race one was good, I got a good start off the line, I got stuck in, had a really good race with Stephen James, which was really good fun, and as the result of a few casualties I moved forward by default in the race.

“I finished 20th, which is a good start to the season; a good solid start.”

The former Dunbar Grammar School pupil, who started out go-karting at Raceland, near Macmerry, described the wheel-to-wheel action in the opening race as “really good fun”.

Now, her attention will turn to three rounds at Brands Hatch this weekend, screened on ITV.

Chapman, who now lives and works in Aberdeen, said: “Technically, it is my second season but it is my first full season.

“We were thrown in at the deep end last year – we only did three rounds. This is our first proper run at it.

“I’ve purposefully not set any specific targets or numbers – I just want to keep improving, work my way up the grid and get so comfortable with the car that I can really push it to the limits. I just want to keep improving, keep moving forward and that is the main thing for us.”