About Matt

Rookie of the Year

MINI Challenge UK 2014

MINI Cooper Pro Class Champion

MINI Challenge UK 2017
9

Fastest Lap MINI Cooper Pro Class

MINI Challenge UK 2017

RACING CAREER PROFILE

Race Wins

Pole Positions

%

Race Wins

Podiums

Fastest Laps

%

Podium Percentage

MY STORY

My passion for driving was sparked when, aged 15, I went go karting for the first time. These indoor single engine 4-stroke karts (with a max speed of 30mph!) got me hooked.

A few years later, I was driving on the real roads when I gained my driving license and got a little H-reg 1.1 Fiesta LX. My first car wasn’t about speed but it did teach me about car control. Before long though, I was keen to get back on the track and started working for a local go kart track. It was here that I spent hours practising, getting quicker, improving my lap times and also how I found out about the ‘Be A Racing Driver Scholarship’.

Due to limited funds, scholarships seemed to be the best way to start the journey to becoming a racing driver. I entered the Clio Scholarship where I finished in the top 17 from over 600 others; then in the Formula Ford scholarship I finished second place.

To enter the MINI Challenge in 2014, I saved for 4 years to raise the £30,000 required to race. Despite never actually racing before, I qualified third on the grid and over the season, took two second places and two thirds – earning myself the title ‘Rookie of the Year’.

I briefly raced in 2015 but as the car wasn’t quite on pace, I decided to save up and build my own car.

2017 saw me back on the track for my second ever full season of racing. After a phenomenal season, taking seven race wins, seven fastest laps and two pole positions, I won the MINI Challenge 2017 Cooper Pro Class.

As a reward for winning, I was privileged to be invited to a test day in the Shredded Wheat Motorbase Ford Focus British Touring Car.  An incredible experience!

I am now looking to 2018 and the future, where I am hoping to race in the MINI JCW Class.