5 THINGS YOU LEARN FROM A YEAR OF CLUB RACING

How tough is the first year of club racing? our man Rob lad brook shares all

How time flies when you’re having fun... Or stress... Or generally blundering about in a clueless fashion.

This year has been a bit of a blur, and my biggest ever. After a decade of writing about this sport I finally plucked up the courage, and finances, to have a crack myself.

I’ve contested six Ford Puma Cup rounds this year, which run with the Classic Sports Car Club, and I’ve finished the year in much different shape to the way I started it.

I’d done some sporadic racing before, but nothing since 2011, so was essentially a novice again at the first Puma round at Snetterton. Plus this was the first time I’ve been involved in the planning, purchase and execution of a race programme, which is just as complex as it sounds.

After doing a one-off in Ford Racing UK’S Puma at Donington Park last year alongside my friend, and driver coach, Hamish Brandon, we decided to buy our own car for this year from series frontrunner Luke Johnson.

‘Penny’, as she was christened by me almost before we even loaded her into the truck, was run all year by Rob Sims Racing and bedecked in Brandon’s Pandaracing.com business livery.

It’s been quite an adventure, on many different levels.

So, for those of you wondering what a first racing season is actually like, here’s the five biggest lessons I’ve learned from mine.