Proud day for Max!
Hart wins final stage and takes second in championship
BALTINGLASS driver Max Hart was in celebratory form when discussing the spectacular end to his first year in saloon car racing, after recovering from a shaky start to win the final stage of the TCR UK championship this past weekend, meaning that he finished second overall in the TCR UK Saloon Car Championship.
Last weekend saw the conclusion of the seven-round championship in Donington Park, near Derby. Hart had initially finished fifth in the qualifying stage in the first of the final set of races, on Saturday morning, following a troubling test session, during which his car had developed a gearbox problem that required fixing.
Later that same day, Hart rebounded to finish third in the opening stage of the three-race weekend. He started and ended third in the second stage, earning a place on the podium once again. It all came down to the last race on Sunday. Despite starting fourth, he produced an electric performance to take the lead going into the final lap. After successfully holding off a late charge from Lewis Kent and Henry Neal, he passed the chequered flag to end the year on the highest of highs.
‘I’m super happy. My family, my sponsors, and I have put a lot of work into myself and the car all year. It is overwhelming. It is an indescribable feeling. I was full of joy and happiness and all sorts,’ the Baltinglass prodigy said when jubilantly reflecting on the championship that, at times, he doubted would be completed, given the current health crisis.
We had an understanding that, if we were going to be racing, you need to maximize every year you have while you’re young, so we were kind of worried that if we
didn’t get out this year, it would be the end of me finding a career in motorsport and climbing to the top in motorsport.’
As alluded to earlier, this was Max’s first season behind the wheel of a saloon. Having previously made a name in single-seaters, it represented quite the change for him, and one which required him to adapt as the championship wore on over the past few months.
In addition to this, the new system meant that his own personal style will have had to have been slightly tweaked, although he did not surrender his exciting, ambitious approach to being behind the wheel. While the new surroundings
made for an inauspicious start for him, he quickly came to grips with the new system in time to cap off his year in the best possible way, having already won his fair share of podium finishes throughout his maiden season.
‘The weight of the cars is a really big difference, for me. These are front-wheel drive cars, so that’s all different. The single-seater cars are rear-wheel drive cars, so it’s very different. When you’re in a single-seater, you’re in the middle of it and it’s all open-wheel, whereas the car this year has been lefthand drive and you have a whole chassis around you.
‘I still haven’t learned the car or anything, but I was thankful to have great engineers Kevin (Bacon) and Tom (Owen). They’re great engineers and have really helped me develop the car. After every test session, we would sit down and discuss what’s wrong with the car; what it’s not doing and what I could do better. That’s how we would get a better performance out of the car and ourselves.
‘A lot of people, at the start of the year, were asking me which do I prefer: single-seater or saloon cars, and at the start, I was saying single-seaters probably, just because the lack of knowledge about the cars and I wasn’t comfortable in them, but now, I would say I really enjoy this type of racing.’
While his normal season is
finished for the year, Max may well get the chance to race again in 2020. Should he be successful in raising the required sponsorship, he is in with a chance of competing in the final stage of another saloon championship next month, thus giving him another chance at furthering his expertise. In the meantime, he can be happy in the knowledge that, whether it be in November or in 2021, his star will have plenty of chances of shining ever brighter.