Motorsport News

BRITCAR’S YOUNGEST CHAMPION YET

- Youthandla­ckofexperi­enceproved­nottobeaba­rrierforbr­itcar’syoungestw­inner.by Stefanmack­ley

T

he Britcar Endurance Championsh­ip is not the most obvious destinatio­n for drivers emerging straight from the junior car racing ranks.

But that hasn’t stopped 16-year-old Matt Greenwood from becoming the youngest winner of the title in just his first season of senior car racing.

Even with the help of team-mate and driver coach Sarah Moore, the first female to win the crown, Greenwood’s achievemen­t is remarkable.

The teenager has previously spent just two years racing cars, the Fiesta Junior Championsh­ip in 2017 and Junior Saloon Car Championsh­ip in ’16, and only started karting seriously a year before that in the European Pro-kart Endurance Championsh­ip.

It was in karting that he first became team-mates with 2009 Ginetta Junior champion Moore, and the pair joined Moore’s familyrun Tockwith Motorsport team aboard a Ginetta G50 for this season’s Britcar campaign.

“I didn’t see it [age or lack of experience] as a barrier, I saw it as a challenge,” recalls Greenwood, who had the added challenge of studying for his GCSE exams during the year.

“You’re up against some great drivers and you have great battles against these drivers but it’s always been more [about] trying to catch-up with all their racecraft.

“Tockwith has got a great heritage in developing young drivers and it has helped me a lot.

“I’ve always been confident I could adapt to the car, it was such an amazing opportunit­y to drive it.”

Not only would Greenwood be racing against older and more experience­d drivers, he would be in a car more powerful than what he had been used to and he would be driving it for longer periods than before, courtesy of a 50-minute and two-hour race per weekend.

“The team told me before the season it can be physically demanding so I was training hard in the gym,” says Greenwood.

“Throughout the summer we had quite a few hot weekends. Oulton Park, that was a really warm weekend but we ended up getting third place overall.”

There were other barriers to overcome, such as adapting the car’s set-up for both drivers instead of ideally suiting just one. Learning to manage the tyres across a stint was imperative as was time spent in the pits with driver changes, with Greenwood usually taking over from the smaller Moore to save time.

Having Moore alongside, who had done three Britcar races last season, as well as support from Tockwith Motorsport with its experience in the series, proved crucial to Greenwood.

“I think Matt’s biggest learning curve was getting used to rear-wheel drive as other than karting he’d only raced front-wheel drive,” says Moore.

“One of the challenges was Silverston­e when it started throwing it down with rain and with the new track surface it was an absolute nightmare. He was really in at the deep end.”

Despite having a relative novice in the car it only retired from one race all season, the first race at Oulton Park due to a problem with the leftrear wheel several laps from the chequered flag.

The duo took class wins at the first four rounds at Rockingham, Silverston­e on the Grand Prix layout, Oulton and Donington Park and started to believe that a tilt at the overall crown was achievable.

“I would say probably after the second round we took a step back and said ‘we can win the championsh­ip’,” says Greenwood.

“And I just tried to keep my head and mindset in the same place throughout the season.

“It didn’t really dawn on me I could be youngest endurance champion.”

Double class wins at the next two rounds at Snetterton and Silverston­e Internatio­nal meant they only had to finish the first race at the final round at Brand Hatch’s Into the Night Race to all-but guarantee the title.

But there was a potential stumbling block. Greenwood had never driven in the dark.

“Friday’s test session was extremely foggy and dark, so going into Saturday’s race was probably easier for him [Greenwood],” recalls Moore.

Greenwood says: “The guys came up with a great quote, ‘even though the grass is black doesn’t mean it’s Tarmac’.”

“All season they have done a great job, they gave me lots of advice like remember your braking points from the day[light].”

A second-place finish in class was enough to give them the title which at the very start of the year seemed like a distant dream.

“It’s always nice to see the juniors coming up and winning the championsh­ips,” says Moore.

“Having him come in and get him where he is proves a point that driver coaches these days are worth it.”

Greenwood’s success is also further proof that young drivers are able to compete and even win in endurance racing, previously often seen as a category for older drivers.

It’s another significan­t shift as more and more young drivers look towards endurance racing as a viable career option, instead of going down the single-seater path in an almost futile attempt to reach Formula 1.

Stuart Middleton and Will Tregurtha are prime examples. Both enjoyed success in Ginetta Junior before making the jump straight into British GT for 2017 where together they won the GT4 title.

And series are beginning to take note, with the JSCC understood to be considerin­g endurance races next season which would only further encourage drivers down that route.

For Greenwood, the sky is seemingly the limit having become a member of Motorsport UK’S AASE programme, which focuses on developing a driver outside the cockpit.

And he’s already planning an assault on Europe for 2019, and ultimately the Le Mans 24 Hours.

“Ever since I did karting it was endurance karting so it’s something I’ve always been interested in,” says Greenwood. “My dream is to win at Le Mans one day.” ■

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