DOWN THE PUB
It started in New Zealand
“I managed to come out of university with a bit of money and used that to get into a racing car. My dad Trevor had decided to stop racing and had a car sitting in New Zealand, so I went out there after I finished university. That was in the national Formula Ford series so there were some serious young guns there. We had no money and were using their throwaway tyres but you could learn so much. That helped pick our pace up quickly.”
He went to Classic FF2000
“We came back and went to Donington Park and met Chris Levy who talked us into buying a Classic Formula Ford 2000. We bought the Van Diemen RF82 from Paul Burt and we’ve been made up ever since. For a driver like me without much experience, it’s a good learning car. Last year
I just did Silverstone and Brands and then we went back out and did half a season in New Zealand.”
He’s doing a full season
“We came back to the UK in spring with the intention of doing the URS Classic FF2000 season. We turned up at Donington with no testing and did OK. We set pole at Snetterton and the coil went in the first race. Two wins at Anglesey was a really good weekend for us.”
There is a charity angle
“Dad’s done a fantastic job of getting the car running and the pace is there. I did the XL Aurora races at the Brands Superprix as a charity event for Chestnut Tree House. Six people bought a weekend of hospitality at an auction. My mum does quite a lot of charity work for them.”
He’s enjoying URS
“It took us 10 hours to get to Anglesey but I loved it. The camber and the banking of the corners makes it really interesting and a couple of fast corners suit my driving well. I like the fast stuff. There is a great group of guys to race with in URS.”
Money is tight
“Funds are a big struggle and we’re running on throwaway tyres from other teams. But it’s what we have to do, otherwise we wouldn’t be racing. You make sacrifices to be out there, but it is my life. Over the last two years, racing has taken such a hold on me. I never did any karting and it has been quite a steep learning curve. I’d love to do whatever racing I can.”