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GETTING TO KNOW BTCC ROOKIE, CHARLES RAINFORD
GETTING TO KNOW BTCC ROOKIE, CHARLES RAINFORD
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About this episode
Charles Rainford, a rookie in the British Touring Car Championship, shares his journey from classic car restoration to racing. He discusses his unexpected early successes, including a pole position and a win, while leading the Jack Sears championship. Rainford reflects on the challenges of securing sponsorship, the competitive nature of BTCC, and his aspirations for the future. He also shares insights on the differences between racing Porsches and touring cars, his racing rituals, and his dream team of drivers. The episode offers a personal look at a rising star in motorsport.
Topics:
rookie experiences
sponsorship challenges
classic car racing
porsche vs touring cars
jack sears championship
racing aspirations
driver comparisons
race weekend routines
dream team
future regulations
AT DONINGTON WE CAUGHT UP WITH A CURRENT BTCC DRIVER WHO HAS ALREADY HAD SUCCESS THIS SEASON AND IS STILL AIMING FOR MORE. WE ASK HE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BTCC HIS PERSONAL LIFE AND OTHER RACING SERIES.
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All right, hello, and welcome back to the British Touring Club podcast.
Today, we have a very special guest, as some of you may already see.
A rookie to this year's grid, but already taking his maiden career pole position and a maiden
victory and currently leads the Jacksears championship.
It is, of course, Charles Rankford.
Hello.
How are you?
Hello, yeah.
I'm a great listener of this show.
So have you had me on?
Oh, the pleasure is all yours.
You are the first official driver special to be on the show.
Really?
Amazing.
You are the first full-on.
Oh, well, I'm honored, though.
Thank you, guys.
If you don't win the Jacksears, that is a trophy.
That's a trophy in itself.
That's the highlight of my year so far.
Absolutely.
Now, we've got many questions for you today, some about your career, time in the BTCC and
before that as well, and getting to know you as a person.
Yeah, amazing.
So I'm sure plenty of analysts want to know what you're like as a person as well.
So we're going to ask some more serious ones and then some more funny ones and ones
like that.
So first of all, congratulations.
You've already achieved your first win, the pole position already this season.
And you're currently topping the Jacksears standings.
Have you already exceeded your expectations for the year or is there still more that you
want?
Yeah, there's still definitely more that we want.
Obviously, I wasn't coming into this championship immediately thinking I'm going to start getting
podiums, winning a race, getting a pole position, especially with pretty nuts, if
I'm honest.
Yeah, absolutely.
But yeah, we've still not quite achieved everything yet.
I've got certain points, Tally, I'd like to hit, qualifying yesterday is not going
to help with that for an 0-4 I own.
But that's fine.
I'm pushing today if I can score, well, the idea initially was 280 points, it's looking
quite tricky now.
But really main goal now is to try and get six in the driver standings.
That'd be really, really good.
That's cool.
Obviously, in today's standards, every driver comes in at age four, basically, you're
similar age to us and kind of got into motorsport quite late in comparison to some of the
drivers.
How was your entry into motorsport?
Was it like for yourself?
Yeah.
So basically, we boom restore classic racing cars as a family business, lower end
stuff, not like your super high net worth individuals.
It's all like MG Midgets, 50s, 60s saloon cars, Group 1 cars, stuff like that.
So some classic touring cars and a few little small sports cars, not like your crazy AC
Cobras and your multi-million pound Ferraris and stuff like that.
You've got some own carbon potential, haven't you?
Yeah.
I work for a classic car dealership.
Oh, very good.
I work for Triumph, mainly.
Amazing.
So yeah, I'm well used to being around classic cars.
Yeah, definitely.
Some of the more modified ones as well, which is really cool.
Yeah, that's it.
Oh, very good.
So basically, we do that as a family business.
As my dad's mechanic, I grew up inside the family business.
Did a very small amount of go-karting, never went racing.
I was quite good in the go-kart, apparently, but I was quite young.
I was cadets.
So I would have been between eight and 10.
Then there was a big gap.
My mum said that basically, karting is too dangerous.
So that's why there was a big gap.
Mum's really different in terms of safety.
My mum's great, but her nickname for my dad is the handbrake.
That's quite entertaining, really.
So yeah, so had a big gap.
The idea was then that she agreed that I could race an MG Midget when I was 16.
So I helped with my first race car with my dad and then started from there, really.
You know, it's like the classic racing.
You only do a race every so often.
It's not like a big championship, like the British during car championship.
So yeah, that's how I got into it, really.
Started racing with some of our customers and all kinds of different things.
And then got the opportunity to career a Cup Great Britain in 2021,
which is when you would have seen me with the King Dick livery.
Yep.
Which I think children like us everywhere.
Suddenly we're very interested in watching the porpoise.
Most definitely.
That's the funny story in itself,
because we weren't actually allowed to technically have the livery.
I think we didn't realise when we rolled up to media day,
because it was kind of hard to find sponsorship,
because I was a no-one.
We were going to do it as a family team.
We didn't have the money to just go and do it.
We needed the sponsorship to be able to do it.
So we managed to find through a customer of ours.
He was good friends with the owner of King Dick Tools,
a chap named Griff, ex motorbike racer,
like proper just old school racing guy, you know?
He loves...
His general road car is a Holden Commodore, you know?
It's mega.
Yeah, it's just awesome.
Yeah, literally, yeah.
So he's a great guy.
And basically we got in contact with him.
He was able to fund the first part of the season.
And then we rolled out with King Dick Tools on the car.
And Porsche said,
you know you've got to pass stuff past us first.
So they were okay with it.
They saw it as a bit of a joke
and they let us run with it.
But yeah, first season was a good one.
It was, yeah.
I've got something so minor as that didn't hold you back
from having that kind of sponsorship.
Porsche were really kind to me the whole time
through my Porsche racing, you know?
Yeah, it's an amazing brand to work with.
It really is.
That championship is definitely, I think, grown
in both talent and popularity in life.
100%.
We've seen some of the drivers now
that have been in it or are in it again.
We've seen journeys racing in this weekend.
For example, you've had Camys in recent years
and Sherwood has been...
Yeah, Camys was back in 21 when I did it.
So that was interesting to race against him.
It was now, it's interesting to see my progression
in terms of how much quicker he was over one lap
but how he'd just completely outdo me in the races.
He'd put the car in a position like,
ah, I didn't know you could do that kind of thing.
And then now actually racing with him
on a level playing field,
you know, we're racing properly.
So it's good to see my progression there as well.
Yeah, absolutely.
And was it always the touring cars
that you wanted to then go into after Porsche
or was it a spare of the moment kind of thing?
Yeah, I mean, with the British Touring Car Championships,
obviously it is in an incredibly cool championship.
And when I first,
when we first announced that we were going to be doing it,
it wasn't the first initial plan.
Basically the initial plan was to go try and do GTs
like a lot of Porsche drivers do.
But the budget is pretty crazy
and I have really good relationship with the guys
and girls at West Surrey.
And then, yeah, the opportunity came up for a seat.
I initially saw it as a side step
to get into popularity
and then move on through to international GTs
and hopefully try and get to WEC is the main goal.
But now I'm here.
I've won a race
and I've got a pole position.
I'm like, I could win this.
So I'll be here for a while now
because this is an amazing championship.
I caught the bug for him.
I have, I absolutely love it.
I watched this championship growing up, you know.
My time was kind of like 06, 09, 010 kind of thing.
Yeah, it was one of what was watching it massively.
We want to jump ahead to a question there.
So who was your here?
Yeah, Colin Turkin too.
Who I see now mostly in most days.
It's amazing.
That's really cool.
Yeah, I literally sit in the truck
and I've got his data in front of me
from the last couple of years.
Oh, okay.
And then I overlay mine at the top
and then it's weird to think
like in some places I'm quicker.
It's like, oh my word.
Like literally,
like I know the cars are a bit different this year
but we're looking at the speed traces
and stuff from last year
compared to this year in like an FP2.
It's like my lap was like mega
and I'm like, put that's Colin Turkin too.
It's just unbelievable.
Yeah, that is really cool
to work with your heroes
and then be able to compare yourself to them.
Yes.
Yeah, that's awesome.
100%.
So we've seen this season
many different drivers grace
and depart the grid unfortunately
due to various reasons
and we are fully aware that sponsorship
is such a big element
to be able to race in the BTCC.
How have you found it
trying to gain sponsorship
and build those relationships
to give confidence to people
to give you that money to go racing?
Yeah, it's really, really tricky.
I'm very lucky
that I have a major sponsor
in Cognition Land and Water.
Richard Hoskin and Suzy Hoskin
like they're amazing to me.
They've been a part of my career
since the end of 22
and they're just so
such a forgiving family
towards me.
It's amazing.
And obviously I've got 10s material as well
but it's a really, really expensive hobby
technically.
We're not getting paid to be here
and it's tricky.
I didn't quite have the full budget this year
so I put my house deposit in.
You have to back yourself.
But I'm lucky in a way
that I also drive a coach
as a daily job.
So I'm a racer
it's pretty much every day
coaching whoever
if they're a very experienced racer
or want to get into racing for the first time
or take your racing license
that kind of thing.
So I meet the right people
a lot of the time
and then end up coaching them
and then something normally happens
on the side of that
is a nice way of doing it.
Because putting a sticker on the car
even in a championship
as big as this
makes absolutely no difference whatsoever.
There needs to be some kind of return investment
and how you capitalise on that return investment
is tricky.
But some drivers are better than others
and I'm kind of somewhere in the middle.
I was stunned by how much
a couple of years ago
just took the drivers to the sponsor week
in quite a bit.
We put the podcast on the helmet
and the cost that came back
sort of made us go
yeah, no.
It's a lot of zeros involved.
A lot of zeros, yeah.
I think my first package starts at five
because it has to
because otherwise it's nothing
like a headlight on my car is £1,100.
I'm trying not running into people.
You said that but yesterday
someone flicked gravel at me
and it did one of my headlights.
I've got that bill next week, people.
And that's the thing is that
I remember largely of Ingram
and the stone through the radio.
Yeah, exactly.
You can drive the perfect race
and be the cleanest
and then a cone goes through the front.
That did no damage.
That was amazing.
No damage at all.
Absolutely hilarious.
That really was.
What is the best part
and the worst part of the weekend?
It's having a bad party
or a bad race out there.
Generally, what's the best part?
Oh, gosh.
I do my race weekend
is a bit different to other people.
Normally it starts
depending on the work schedule
like this one
had to start a little bit late
because I was working away
on Monday, Tuesday.
I was where I was.
Silverstone Monday
and then I was on Tuesday.
I've forgotten now, Goodwood.
So Prep had to start a little bit late.
So we start to prep on Wednesday
and then we were doing
Shakedown on Thursday.
So straight after Shakedown
I came up here
and then just helped the boys
with the flooring out.
We went for dinner, that kind of thing.
Then a Friday is normally
all media in the morning
like we did a commercial
for Optimal.
Optimal premium filters.
It's still in there.
And then, yeah,
then we have our engineering briefing
and that goes through to the evening.
Normally we then go through our trackwalk.
I then record my trackwalk podcast
and then we get through to Saturday morning.
Saturday morning is really, really fun
because there's no pressure driving the car.
You're doing FP1, FP2.
We all want to be at the top.
Of course we do.
But it doesn't matter.
You could try different things
and different lines.
Totally, exactly.
I tried something different in the car
for FP2 at the start
and I hated it.
But at least you do it in a practical way.
You never roll that out and go,
right, never touching that again.
Totally.
Do it.
Exactly.
That was awful not doing that again.
And then, yeah,
there's pressure starts coming and qualifying.
The biggest bit is to get through Q1.
Once you get through Q1,
you can kind of relax a little bit,
especially when you're in that far six.
And then, yeah,
something's always a strange one
because it's the busiest day
in terms of, like,
there's the most amount of people here,
but we have the smallest amount of time
because we've got three races.
We've got still media duties
with engineering briefings afterwards
as well as Q&As and stuff like that
with the hospitality stuff.
Yeah, of course you do.
So, yeah, it's a condensed day.
So, you know about it in the evening
once you get home.
So, obviously, you've come into the BMW
this season.
What are the major differences
that you've seen between that
and racing the Porsche
for the last couple of years?
Oh, gosh, it's how good everyone is.
Like, obviously, we're just saying
about how good the Porsche Championship is,
but it's really hard to overtake
because you get quite a lot of error
washing the cars.
They're big cars, you know.
It's why it's unfortunately
quite processional at times
just because the car's so quick.
You get the error wash
and it's really easy to lock up.
So, it's one of those things.
Whereas with the touring cars,
you know, like today,
like, all right, yes,
I'm really disappointed
starting 15, but I know
I can still have a good day
if I play my cars right
and we get the strategy right
and all these things.
So, it's the racing itself
and how hard it is
generally as a championship.
Like, you've got a fight
for every single position.
Like, it's madness.
And of course,
like the crowds love
you can have a bit more push
and shove, which is
both good and bad.
It's good in terms of
spectating
and it's fun
because, you know,
touch a car a little bit.
It's not the end of the world
as long as you don't take
the mickey with it.
But then the damage bill
comes at the end of the week
and that's not so great.
So, every driver's got
their different limits.
It's all where they'll push
the envelope and where they
won't and obviously that's
totally important.
I think you're right.
You see generally less contact
because consequences are
generally a lot bigger
and bigger crashes
isn't pretty bad.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's been some big ones
this year, isn't there?
Yeah.
I remember the one at Brands
which went over the
Marshal.
Oh, yeah.
Angus white side.
No.
Yeah.
He still gets big smashes
but it's not necessarily as
big or cashed off
because a Porsche crash.
Totally.
Yeah.
Sorry.
Yeah.
The one that went over the
over it lands in the tree.
Yeah.
That was that was Will Martin
and that was Theo Edgerton
literally giving him the
smallest touches.
Yeah.
And they just flew up.
Boom.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So it looks quite
it looks quite under control
until it goes wrong.
Yeah.
And then you realize how fast
everyone's going.
Just a NASCAR
so I can do a race around.
I hate it.
It's so loud.
We'll see how we go.
I don't know if I like it.
Yeah.
We'll wait for that for everyone.
Yeah, they're so quick.
They are.
Those Porsches are ridiculously fast.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lap time wise, they're
near enough equivalent
if not a little bit faster
than these at some places.
Yeah.
Most places to be fair
it's between three
and four seconds sometimes
five is long circuit.
So it's a
in some places like
for instance,
where there's no big
curves that we could take
to try and tidy that
up and get an uptime there.
And then they could be up
to five seconds quicker
on the right day.
Yeah.
They're rapid.
So coming to the season,
who did you
so like pinpoint as
possibly going to be
your biggest rival?
Yeah, I think
in a rookie as well.
So it was really tricky
like firstly,
I wanted to be
best of the rookies.
I think that's happened.
Yeah.
I think
so that's really,
really good.
We see my expectations.
I think now I'd like
to be
the
this year.
I think I would like
to be
the best
second person in the team.
If you know what I mean.
So like Jake is our number
one driver.
He's the quickest.
He's the most experienced.
He's the man.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Jake's the man.
He's been in the sport
a long time as well.
Totally.
But then you've got like
you've got the same
at like virtue with Tom.
Yeah.
Obviously Napa's a bit
of a thing in its own
because all the drivers
are, you know,
really any three of those
can win the championship.
We've seen robots
and take a massive step
up this year.
He's done a lot better
than every other year.
He's done that kind of
like Adam Morgan kind of area.
Yeah.
I'd like to be, you know,
a good solid second
at the moment.
Yeah.
And then, yeah,
if we can get the boys
to do it next year,
then certainly we'd be trying
to kick it from the office
that's hard to contender.
Absolutely.
When you get to a race weekend,
do you have any like
superstitions or rituals?
I know there are lots of
drivers out there
that have to put
their certain gloves
or gloves on a certain way
or their overalls
in a certain order.
Is there anything that
you think goes bad?
They talking to us again.
Exactly.
They go as well.
As long as I listen
on a Thursday
or sometimes a Friday morning,
depending on
when I can listen
to the podcast,
if you guys haven't called me
as Jack Sears winner
for the weekend,
that'd be right.
But, um,
no, you know,
not too superstitious,
if I'm honest,
in terms of like
put my gloves on a certain way
or anything like that.
I get in the car very early
and that's one thing
and then I visualize
what I've got to do
in the car in terms
of the lap,
if it's qualifying
or how to overtake
in the races.
There's no real like
proper superstition so much.
But, yeah,
maybe I should have one.
I've got to help.
I think you've done pretty well
about what you've done.
Although I did find
that actually
a fan at Not Kill
gave me a plastic duck
in my racing suit
and it basically
part of one of the badges
fell off.
So I had to
take it back to the factory
and then they got it
clean for me.
And then yesterday
I found this duck
and I was like,
I was on pole with this duck
so I tried it again.
I didn't work.
I bet it was raining yesterday.
Yeah, that's true.
I thought the rain.
Yeah, the rain
with my name,
Alan Duck,
and he still didn't work out.
It's a joke fault, really.
With the change of regulations
coming in in 2027,
are there any,
and they're
removing the restrictions
on the cars
that teams can use,
are there any brands
or models that you'd like
to see come into the championship?
Oh, that's interesting.
You know,
any manufacturers coming
into the championship
would be fantastic
because it has been
a steady decline
for the last couple of years
when I've been watching
and now that I'm in it,
there's not really many brands,
many manufacturers
really doing this.
So, yeah,
I mean, I would love it
if we could do a two series.
I think that'd be
really, really fun,
short of wheelbase.
There's a special,
there's German one as well
which has,
basically,
a slightly different back axle
and that'd be quite fun
to use in the championship.
It'd also be really fast
which is why I like it.
But yeah,
I'm very excited
about 2027 regs.
As long as I can find
the budget to still be here
at that point,
then yeah,
that'd be really, really cool
to be trying those regs.
It looks really exciting.
I'm certain from a fan's point of view,
stale might be the wrong word,
but certainly to try as you said,
bring more sponsorship,
more manufacturers,
more brands of car in.
The minute is very,
half the grid is
one of three cars,
let's be honest.
Totally.
Yeah, exactly.
I don't know it necessarily though
whether it would change too much
because obviously
you can still use
on the same shells
and it ends up being,
sorry, we have a small cut.
Come on, Jake,
we have raining champion
Jake Gill
on the podcast.
Here we go.
I have legit crushed your car.
You're all good, mate.
So, yeah,
I'm not sure whether
we would see that many cars
initially in 2027 come in
because you can still use
fundamentally a lot
the same shells
and it costs a lot of money
to develop a new car.
I was already asking
we're sorry about
what we might be doing
and they gave me the cost
of what it is
to build a new car
and it's bonkers
because it's so much R&D
and you go to the track,
you don't even know
if it's going to be competitive yet.
So, yeah,
I think we'll see
probably quite a few similar cars
in 2027
but then onwards
we should hope
that you start seeing
some new shells come in.
That's always ways
that the manufacturer will
see the lie of the land
and go, actually,
that looks quite interesting.
Maybe we should think about putting
that in.
Hopefully.
Yeah, that'd be really,
really good if that's how
it works out.
It'd be fantastic.
Absolutely.
So, given that you listen
to the podcast,
when we don't pick you
for a Jack Sears win,
does it spur you on
a little bit more?
No, not really.
Oh, we have Dick Bennett
this morning, Dick.
I said,
you're the real legend around here.
No, not so much.
I always find it
interesting to see
what you guys kind of
come up with,
what cars are going to be good
on what circuits
and that kind of thing.
And normally,
you guys get it pretty right
to be fair.
It's quite interesting
hearing your thoughts.
But, yeah,
not so much.
Yeah,
no,
everything you guys
have said about me
has been very nice
so far,
which is why I contacted you.
I heard you were a few drivers.
That's it.
Yeah, if you haven't already subscribed,
then do like this video
down below
because hopefully
with Charles coming on,
we might have a few more racing drivers
getting in contact with us.
Or not.
Or not.
Well, I've certainly
spread the word anyway.
It'd be cool to have more drivers on.
Should we go to the more fun part?
Yeah, go on to the lighter side.
OK, go on, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You are a similar age to us.
I know.
Younger.
Yeah, that's it.
I look so young.
Yeah, I know.
You are younger.
I am 27, yeah.
Yeah, you won't hit 30s.
Absolutely.
Obviously, you've said
you've been sort of
watching touring cars since
like the mid-2000s.
Yeah.
If you could build
a BTCC dream team,
so two drivers
and a car from any era,
what would you choose?
Oh, that's so tricky.
Who would you choose?
You know what?
I would go to 2009
with the RAC-sponsored B&W.
Yeah.
Obviously, you've got
to put Colin Tarkington in there.
Yeah.
That's just amazing.
Are we saying
drivers of the period
or any driver we can take?
Same age, same ability now.
Any driver in the driver.
Yeah.
Right, in that case,
I would go for that B&W
with Colin Tarkington
and Andy Preer.
OK.
Because, wow, what a combo.
Yeah.
I would like to see
Preer have more in the
obviously, he's the one
that's in the World Tour
because obviously,
I would like to see
a bit more of him
there.
I think he would have
pretty much cleaned up.
I mean, he is a fantastic
driver.
I've had a really good chat
with him at Goodwood
on the day
and we were both
sharing a car
almost for hot rides
and even though he's
so much older than me,
he's still right on the pace.
I think he was like
10 and a half off me.
I'm like, that is so
quick.
He's unreal.
It's a shame
he didn't get to
see him so much
in this series,
but I think he'll
probably take his
World Tour.
Yeah, exactly.
With no restrictions
on the championship,
we might loosen them a bit.
Which circuit
would you add to the calendar
and why?
Oh, gosh.
It could be
international.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
We're going to get
token permission for this.
We are.
Right.
Okay.
That's interesting.
See, a lot of the major
circuits that people think
of are all big circuits.
You could say
Imola, for instance,
but straight is too long
for us.
So that just wouldn't
be any good at all.
Where would we go?
You know what could
be really fun
is because of
around the LaMambou Gatti
circuit.
Oh, yeah.
That could be quite cool.
Especially with the
massive big curves
through before she's
paying everything.
That could be really,
really interesting.
A little bit more of a
bike circuit, but
it'd be worth a go,
certainly.
We go racing around
Norton and that's
tight enough.
That's true.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, that's
very true.
I've gone
Zandvoort personally.
I've done.
See, that's good.
But again,
such a long straight,
we need such a long
sixth gear.
It's not spinning.
It's just like the wind
to power is gone.
That's it.
I missed the
banking of rockiness.
I'd like to have some.
That's it.
Yeah, I know.
I never got to drive
that circuit.
Real shame.
It's such a good
circuit.
Yeah, amazing.
So we know that
you've driven classics
at Goodwood.
What other race cars
do you dream about
driving?
And are there any
specific events like
the Bathurst 1000?
We've seen Matt Neal
go off and do that
before.
Yeah.
That you would like
to drive.
I'm like, okay, what era?
What type?
Single seat?
Are we talking sports car?
Are we talking touring car?
What kind of year span?
Because I'm a
massive, massive,
massive motorsport fan.
Yeah.
I'll get home
from work normally
and then just jump straight
on the simulator.
I just love it.
Not just for driving.
I build models at home.
I love it.
So yeah,
it's tricky.
When you then say
in terms of racing,
if I'm doing well
in this championship,
I feel like I could
probably do okay in most
things.
So I'd like to go try
like V8 Supercars,
a massive one.
Yeah.
You know,
is say like do some GTs
like Bathurst 12 hour.
You know,
that's really cool as well
or some fanatec stuff.
See,
eventually the main goal
was to try and get to
the Warren Jewish Championship
somehow.
So it's
there's so many different
things to go and explore
out there.
But first,
you try and win this.
Absolutely.
So we finish off
some very quick
this or that then.
So the real fun
is five racing,
five normal.
Okay.
We'll start the racing
now.
Oh,
slick.
No matter what
oversteer or understeer.
Oh,
oversteer.
Yeah.
Hate understeer.
I like to flag victory
or a race long battle.
Oh,
I like to flag victory.
Yeah.
If you're in the lead,
I love a massive gap.
It's just nice.
You can just chill
and enjoy it.
Yeah.
Long circuits
or short circuits.
This week,
we're at Donington GP,
which is that longer loop.
Do you prefer the shorter
iterations of circuits
or longer?
That's really tricky.
More out of a long circuit.
Yeah.
So generally,
I tend to do really well
in the long circuits,
but then I've got a pole
and a front row star
around short circuits.
Yeah.
So I prefer a long circuit,
but I seem to be right both,
which is great.
BMW or Porsche?
Oh,
neither give me any money.
So
that's really,
really tricky.
Are we saying race cars
or road cars?
Both.
Both.
Okay.
So the way that
Porsche do their cup pyramid
is amazing
versus
BMW's long history
in touring car racing
is amazing.
Like,
I would love nothing more
than to have a go
in a
M,
well,
a E30
M3
Group A car.
Like,
oh, my word.
So, yeah,
if you're talking GTs,
100% Porsche,
because obviously you've got
the full program there.
BMW a little bit as well,
but the way that Porsche
take it from cup onwards
is amazing.
They have to talk to touring
cars.
Got me BMW.
Right.
So,
General Winsor.
So take away on the sofa
or a dinner out.
Oh,
that's tricky.
See,
I like a sparkling wine
and sparkling wine's
really expensive.
Excuse me,
if you go into
the restaurant.
So,
yeah,
take away at home
the girlfriend,
not bad,
nice little bottle
of sparkling wine
or something.
Lovely.
A bit Netflix,
yeah,
exactly.
Cats or dogs?
Oh,
I love both.
Massively love animals,
beach or sightseeing holiday?
Oh,
sightseeing all day.
Cannot sit on the beach.
I'm full on ADHD,
mate.
There is no way
I could be doing that.
Drive
or be driven
outside of races?
Oh,
yeah,
no,
I drive everywhere.
Yeah,
I much prefer it.
I like to be in control
of my own destiny.
Exactly.
Oh,
yeah,
exactly.
Because also as well,
I drive so slowly on the road,
I just stick
bang on the speed limit
everywhere.
And I'm always like
just calm down,
mate,
a little bit.
Use the race car driver.
Yeah,
literally,
yeah.
And finally,
sweet or savory?
Oh,
sweet.
Chocolate is my go-to.
It's my guilty treat,
especially after a big day
of training.
Yeah,
a bit of dark chocolate
after a big training session.
Can't beat it.
The final question was
what's going to be
your guilty pleasure,
whether it be food,
music,
films?
Oh,
gosh,
I love video games
in general.
Yeah,
it doesn't have to be
racing games.
I just love video games.
Terrible Call of Duty
and infinite that.
But like GTA 6,
I'm there with a bit of dark
chocolate.
A week ready to take off.
I think we all have.
I don't think the servers
are going to work.
And finally,
yes,
did you keep the cone
that came for a ride
with you across?
You know what?
I should have done.
I didn't.
I should have done.
So the cone went back
to the workshop.
It didn't take it from
the workshop.
And then it went to
not kill.
It got put down,
and then unfortunately
it went in the bin
and not kill.
And now,
literally what I should have
done,
I didn't even think about it.
It was literally my brother
told me,
why don't you sign it
and give it away?
And I was like,
I didn't even think
someone would want it.
It's weird.
Yeah,
totally.
Like what I should have
done is I've done it
for a raffle for charity
or something.
But it just didn't
even come into my head
because like to me,
I'm just a normal lad.
None of that
even comes in.
It's like still
when people ask me
why don't you sign it?
Well, thank you
ever so much for your sign this
time.
I really, really do appreciate
it.
Thank you.
Best of the day.
A hair down for the rest
of the season.
We sincerely hope to have you
back on the grid
not just next year,
but for many years to come.
Appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Lovely.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Lovely.
Thank you.
Lovely.
Lovely.
Lovely.
Lovely.
Lovely.
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