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My first race weekend & my first ever victory

I’m well aware that I haven’t posted in over a month and it’s not something I want to make a habit of. The truth is, the last month has been utterly mental! In the space of one month, I’ve managed to: buy a race car, get a medical, get my racing licence, join BARC, join CTCRC, apply to enter the first round of CTCRC at Silverstone, prepare the car for Silverstone, spec up sponsorship logos and get them printed, book hotels, buy a trailer from Sheffield, collect the trailer for Sheffield, sort out insurance for borrowed tow vehicle, go testing at Silverstone, enter 2 races at Silverstone – and bring home 2 trophies!

And they are just the things I can remember of a 4 week journey that brought tons of joy and stress, all at once but with a great end result. I’m now officially a racing driver, and unbelievably a race winner!

The opening 2 rounds at Silverstone saw 3 championships (3 races), all on the same grid. As well as racing against my fellow Pre05 competitors, we also had the Pre03’s and Pre93’s on track as well.

In my first race on Saturday, in wet conditions, I managed to finish 3rd on the road in Pre05’s, which would later be bumped up to 2nd due to a DSQ of another driver for failing post race checks. A cup on my first outing – brilliant! But the best was yet to come on Sunday…

A dry race, and a chance to push my new car in a way I was unable to in the damp conditions of Saturday. No more tip toeing around! Just 30 seconds into the race and I was pinched on the entry to Becketts, causing a 2 car crash up ahead, and ripping my passenger mirror off into a thousand pieces on the track! I managed to avoid the 2 cars spinning down the track, only to be met with another car in the middle of the road and about to cut off my life. A bit of rally-cross later and I was back on the circuit, 3rd from last!

The next 14 minutes were utterly incredible. After feeling my car was OK to continue, I knuckled down and started to come back through the field. Before long I could see I was reeling in the leader. Slowly but surely I knew I would catch up with him and hopefully have enough time to pass. I tried a few times, on the left, on the right, but he fended me off each time. This needed some focus and brain power to work out a move that would stick…

With 2 laps to go I struck down the outside of Brooklands corner – in front of all my homies in the grandstand! Braking much deeper and dabbing the throttle to keep my nose ahead. We almost touched going into Luffield but I’d done enough and was now ahead. Two laps later and I crossed the line knowing I’d won. It was an epic feeling, and you can see my joy and relief in the on board video. I’d fought so hard for it and to make the P1 stick felt so satisfying.

Laurels round the neck, a trophy and two media interviews ensued – what a dream come true! I’m now counting down the days before we can do it all over again at Croft for my next race weekend.

People I must thank

I was inundated with support over the weekend, from people who weren’t there but contacted me by phone, to the friends and family who made the journey to the circuit to be by my side. There’s more information on my partners page – but in breif, thank you so much to: Kate, Dad, Colin, Gary M, Gary F, Gary P (you can never have enough Gary’s in your life), Barry, Leila, Alex and Ian. They really all made the weekend that little bit more amazing!

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