JACK YOUNG HITS THE INTERNATIONAL HIGHS
How a Northern Irish teenager ripped up the Paul Ricard circuit. By Jack Young
Lewis Hamilton’s French Grand Prix win last month was one of the most dominant performances of his Formula 1 career. But his 18.056-second winning margin was not the largest of all the races at Paul Ricard that weekend.
That honour instead went to Renault UK Clio Cup title contender Jack Young, who destroyed the opposition in two
Clio Cup Open races – winning by
22.561s and 21.370s.
It wasn’t the first success for Young at the venue, either. He had also triumphed in the Clio International Final contest last November.
But what was it like taking a convincing double win at an F1 event? Here’s Young’s diary of an incredible few days.
Wednesday,june 19
I flew out of Dublin straight to France on the Wednesday morning, with just my dad, brother and girlfriend Kerry. I was all hyped up ready to enjoy a few days off in the south of France before the Friday first practice as it had been busy in the run up to Croft with our announcement of the Eddie Stobart deal to sponsor me.
The plan was to just try and distract myself from the circus of the paddock and keep a cool head as I feel that’s what works best for me. When we arrived in France, I was instantly blown away by the heat and I knew I was going to overheat in the car. That was a concern at that point for me.
Thursday,june 20
We helped the Eddie Stobart Racing team set up, took a nosey about and then laid back. I tried to stay away from the track as much as possible to be honest, because it can take energy away from you. I knew staying away would help me keep my head in the right place. We also spent some time planning the logistics of getting in each morning and how we would cope with all the traffic getting into the circuit early in the mornings. In the end, we hired mopeds and shuttled ourselves in on those each day. This way we could jump the queue.
Friday,june 21
We had an early start with briefing first thing in the morning which wasn’t so hard as I was just so excited to get back out on the circuit in the free practice later that day. In practice, we came out 0.6s on top which for me was a massive confidence booster. This gave me a good feeling and settled any anxiety of what our pace would be like against the pack. It was unbelievable to see how many people were there and the amount of stuff going on up and down in the paddock. I still can’t believe the numbers of people about the circuit on a Friday of a race weekend.
Saturday, June 22
We had another early 0400hrs start for qualifying on the Saturday, which was the part of the weekend where I felt myself getting tired and feeling worn out from the heat. Luckily Kerry was with me and she was getting me all hyped up and in the zone by playing music and saying the right things.
We went into qualifying with a plan of a tyre change in the middle, but my two times in that first run were taken off me for track limits infringements. So, after that tyre change, I had just eight minutes to get back out and register two qualifying times. That point I would have had to start 44th!
I kept my head and found a clear space on the track and just went for it, managing to qualify yet another 0.6s ahead of second place who was my team-mate Brett Lidsey.
After qualifying I knew if I could keep focused and in control, I would have a chance of winning the races. To do this I split as soon as I got in from qualifying and went straight back to the villa and slept until the first race that night. I emerged re-energised and ready to go. This helped me massively in terms of focusing on winning.
Race one came, and I thought back to race one in November [where Young won the International Trophy race] where I stalled on the line so this was something I needed to improve on and make sure it didn’t happen again. I maxed out the revs and dropped the clutch and got a good start. The others behind me soon started to battle and I managed to extend my gap over the race to 22 seconds. I was so overwhelmed and couldn’t believe it actually happened to me. I loved every lap of the race and had a right old grin behind the helmet.
The cheering and congratulations I received all weekend was on another level. Jackie Stewart was congratulating me on the podium, and when I came into parc ferme so many people were lined up clapping. It was crazy. We couldn’t move for people coming up to us, and with some of the bosses from Eddie Stobart there, this was best thing we could ever have hoped for.
I tried not to let the first race make me complacent, so I settled down again that evening and went for a swim to cool off, had some food and was straight to bed for another 0400hrs start the next day. It was so intense once you got to the circuit, I knew I needed to get some down time.
Sunday,june 23
I woke up on the Sunday completely wrecked. I was running on empty feeling like I hadn’t got much sleep and my energies were low. Everyone else also noticed this and made sure to keep an eye on me. I started drinking lots and lots of water to keep me hydrated for race two because I knew what lay ahead.
Before the race I did some warming up stretches and things so I could try and wake up and get the blood pumping around my body. I lined up for race two completely focused again and just had it in my head that I was going to do exactly the same as yesterday, max revs and dump the clutch. This start strategy got me away nice and cleanly and from there on every lap for me was a qualifying lap and I just kept pushing and pushing trying to put together the ultimate lap. I ended up beating my qualifying time by 0.1s on busted tyres and this was easily the stand out moment of the weekend for me. Hands down that feeling was unreal.
By the end I had built up the gap to second place to 21 seconds and brought it home. The feeling over the finish line was a surreal feeling – one that I find extremely difficult to explain and one I may never feel again, but hope I will.
Racing in front of the F1 paddock was something very special indeed and I am still getting people congratulating me on the double win. News travelled very fast and I was blown away by the messages from people in motorsport that I didn’t even know had my details. We’ve had so many things come out of the weekend already and I am satisfied I did my job.
On Sunday night, we had a celebration party before travelling back to Dublin on the Monday again. This was well deserved for the team and I am thankful for all the family and friends that were there who came together to make a brilliant and once in a lifetime experience. I can’t wait to go back again very soon.