DRIVER Toby Owen achieved a lifelong dream by taking part in his first motor race at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent last weekend.
A number of set-backs were not enough to stop Owen from taking positives from his racing debut, which started with a frustrating Friday practice.
His race car had failed to start for most of the day, limiting the Rednal-based driver to just 30 minutes to adjust to the track.
The problem was rectified with the car by Saturday ahead of qualifying, before the issue recurred after a 20-minute stint.
Nevertheless, he was able to qualify for the first race.
On a packed grid of 31 cars, and with a high risk of an incident once the lights went out, a contact in the midfield involving a number of cars in the midfield took out a number of cars.
Fortunately for Toby, he was able to skirt around the outside of the pack, but in the meantime was tagged by another competitor’s car – pitching him into a spin.
Upon rejoining the group, he was able to finish the race to tick off a first significant milestone in his racing career.
The contact from the first race had knocked the car’s tracking out of alignment, meaning Toby’s number 42 car was lacking pace, but still managed to race home with two more finishes.
Taking a 100% record from his opening weekend, he spoke of the thrill of finally taking to the track and realising his dream.
“It’s not the debut I was hoping for, but it’s important to look at the positives.
“Given the problems we were having with the car on Friday, to get to the end of all 3 races this weekend is a fantastic achievement.
“There are a few issues to sort out with the car so I hope to be more on the pace once that’s all been sorted, ready for the next event.
“I’ve massively enjoyed myself nevertheless. I’ve achieved my lifelong dream of taking part in a proper motor race, and the only way is up from here!”
Owen is set to have a number of weeks to prepare for his next event at the BRSCC MX-5 Championship at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire – which is described as the Mini-Nürburgring, on May 11/12.
