My first race.

Having passed my ARDS test successfully, I was lucky enough to be offered a seat in a 1969 Corvette Stingray, which is looked after by the team at FS Racing. 

To say that I jumped straight in at the deep end would be an understatement! My first ever race in an American muscle car worth in the region of £90k, in the pouring rain, on period cross ply tyres. It was a 40 minute race with an obligatory pit stop/driver changeover. Joe did the first 20 minutes, and I did the last 20, slipping and sliding all over the place. It was a real struggle to keep the car under control, but luckily I managed to bring it home in one peice, and even more surprising was the fact that my fastest lap was only 2 seconds slower than Joe's, which I was really pleased with.
A massive thanks to Adam, the owner, and also to Paul and Joe for having great faith in my driving which was novice at best!

The route to racing

Since passing my bike test in 2001, I got involved with a friend up
the road who raced an R1 in the Bemsee Powerbike series.  He was the
one who taught me to "get my knee down", and we used to embark on
rides to local bike haunts with some of our mates. More often than
not, my friend would be recognised as the local track racer, and as
we'd go to leave, others would follow us out and before you'd know it,
things would descend into all-out road races. I remember sometimes
getting home after those rides and thinking I'm lucky to still be
alive.

With the feeling that riding fast on the road was going to get me into
trouble in one form or another, I started doing track days. This was
where I really started to enjoy myself, and after a few years of bike
track days, I decided it was time to give it a go in the car. I
booked a beginners day at Brands Hatch and opted for some one to one
tuition for a few of the sessions. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even
though I was driving my Audi A4 and booked my ARDS test to get my
racing licence.

As if I wasn't busy enough already........

So, I've decided it's about time I recorded my progress on various commitments in my busy life.

This blog will primarily be focused around my recently acquired racing car, and the trials and tribulations associated with racing it, fixing it, and the ongoing effort to reach a size and weight wheras I will manage to fit in it!

I am very lucky to have support from some very special people, first and foremost my wife, who is a very tolerant and patient woman to put up with my "Say yes-to-everything" approach to life.  I also have greatly appreciated assistance from my good friend Joe, who between himself, Stu and Paul at  fsracingltd.com have given me a place to store my car, access to any tool I could ever need, and more advice, enthusiasm and encouragement I could ever ask for.  I should acknowledge both my mum and my brother (thegecko.org) too for the same reasons as my wife, and lastly, our beautiful little baby boy.  He may only be six months old, but he's the centre of my universe, and he can hold a spanner!