MY STORY
THE ORIGINS - 2006
My story starts like every other racing-mad kid. At six years-old I would sit with my parents every Sunday to watch the grand-prix, and I knew immediately what I wanted to do with my life.
My genius plan to tell them this was to sit in bed at night and wait for them to come in to say goodnight, which was when I proudly announced that I wanted to spend my life driving a bomb on wheels in circles for a few hours each week.
Understandably, they didn't like this announcement.
I think their exact words were: It’s too expensive, and it’s too dangerous.
Over time, I learnt that my dream was impossible, and I transitioned towards designing racing cars instead of driving them.
WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG - 2014
So now I’m 14 years old – and still dreaming of racing. I’m working hard to start a career as an aerospace engineer, with the goal of designing Formula 1 cars.
Though I’m still spending most of my time daydreaming about racing, I’ve also followed another passion; I’ve become a 2-time national champion in figure skating, represented Great Britain internationally, and I’m starting to plan a Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic run.
One day in June of 2014, I’m training with my partner and we’re attempting a new lift on-ice for the first time. As I lift, I arch my back, force her up over my head, and lock my arms. Suddenly, my back explodes in pain. 2 MRI’s and 6 doctor’s appointments later, they told me I had ruptured my L4-L5 and L5-S1 spinal discs.
This is where it all goes downhill!
MY LOWEST POINT - 2016
The years following my injury are the most difficult thing I’ve ever experienced.
From my first diagnosis I was told the best case scenario was a 2 year recovery time, and in an instant all of my career plans were gone – from Nationals to the Olympics, all of it was slipping away.
Injuries are common in every competitive sport, and you feel like you know what to expect, but you’re never warned about the mental impact. In an instant, I went from chasing a goal and committing myself every day to that goal, to suddenly being confined to a bed, barely able to move. As the weeks, months, and then years went on, my motivation waned, my mental health plummeted, and soon I couldn’t even bring myself to try and get out of bed.
What was the point? I couldn’t skate, I could barely stand with extreme pain, if I was lucky I could sit down for 15 minutes before the pain became too much, so why bother? I didn’t realise until later, but I was fighting with depression, and it was getting worse each day. Even as things improved and I slowly returned to my life, I was in a constant fight against pain.
Finally, in 2018, my luck started to change. A new procedure was suggested to me by my doctor, and I decided to go for it. I underwent a Spinal Biacuplasty and Stem cell treatment in early June of 2018, and they paid off, lowering my pain to a manageable level.
THE TURNAROUND - 2019
So, my back is slowly improving, a figure skating comeback is written off, and I’m lower than I’ve ever been. I’m sick of the depression, the helplessness, and the constant misery. I need to turn things around.
Over the next few months I slowly came to a realisation. Life's short, things go wrong, and nothing is guaranteed. So why wasn't I chasing my biggest passion, my pipe dream, the thing I think about every minute of every day?
Sometime in 2018 I was put in touch with a friend of my father’s – GT3 driver George Richardson. We sat down to chat and I told him about my desire to finally chase this dream. He introduced me to sim-racing, and suddenly the competitive fire that I’d been missing since I’d last skated was back. Finally I had something to push towards!
For the next two years, I threw myself into competitive sim-racing, and jumped from team to team, learning everything I could from everyone I could. I wrote to dozens of teams asking to race, train, even just watch and learn from them. I entered each team as the slowest driver, and left as the fastest, slowly working my way up the sim-racing ladder until I reached the highest rungs, and finally found the opportunity to show my skills in the real world.
RACING DEBUT - 2019
The first time I ever sat in a racing car was at a racing school in Sebring, Florida. I couldn’t afford both the basic and advanced schools, so I skipped the 2-day basic school using a loophole, and I threw myself in at the deep end. After clinging on for a few laps, the skills I had learnt in the simulator started to come naturally, and it all started to flow. My confidence started to build, and soon I was pushing myself with the same intensity I had used to apply to skating. After starting day one four seconds off the pace, I ended day two 0.002 seconds faster than the Indycar driver setting the reference laps.
I was ready.
A month later, I flew to Mid-Ohio sports-car course for Rounds 1, 2, and 3 of the racing school championship.
I booked a flight and jumped on the plane with less than half of the budget for the race weekend, and no idea how I was going to make this work. I started scrambling together my pitch in my iPhone notes, and that’s how I started a business 30,000 feet up.
I arrived at the track on practice day, and went straight to the racing series owner. Over the next 10 minutes, I pitched, begged, offered every cent I had, and somehow, I got the drive.
I jumped into the car elated, signed damage waivers I couldn’t afford to pay, and cleared my mind of everything except racing. I studied every lap, harassed coaches for feedback, and analysed other drivers. This was the chance I had worked for, and I wasn’t going to waste it.
I started the weekend slowly, unable to afford the extra practice time the other drivers had. Come Raceday, I qualified 11th, 6th and 6th, and finished 4th, 2nd and 12th (gearbox issue).
I fought like hell for every second I spent in that car, and I flew home with a trophy to show for it.
I had made it. I was a racing driver.
WORKING LIKE HELL - 2021
Unfortunately, following my debut my season went off track. The only way I could afford to race was through a service deal with the championship, and though I gave everything I could to make it happen, the deal fell through. With my back injury worsening, and an empty bank account, I was resigned to the sidelines for the rest of 2019.
For the next 3 years, I worked like hell to get back to racing. I started businesses, looked for sponsors, and built my network. I was committed to building the foundation and the brand to launch a long-term racing career, but I still couldn't find the money. 2020 threw a wrench into everyone’s plans, and opened up a few new opportunities as well. In 2020, 2021, and 2022 I was lucky enough to lead the Electric Performance Tesla Racing Team to 2 class wins and multiple world records at both the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb and Mount Washington Hillclimb.
During this period I started Sim To Real Racing, a business committed to using eSports to provide an equal, accessible, and affordable entry level training ground for aspiring young racing drivers around the world, no matter your gender, race, or socioeconomic background.
PT AUTOSPORT ASPIRING DRIVER SHOOTOUT - 2022
In August of 2022, the chance I'd been waiting for finally came, in the form of the PT Autosport Aspiring Driver Shootout.
For 73 days I committed myself entirely to winning this shootout, going as far as to condition my body specifically for the cars we were using, tracking down the very cars we were running, and even forcing myself to learn to run again, almost 9 years after my injury forced me to stop running forever.
On November 8th, 8 finalists gathered at New Jersey Motorsports Park for 2 days of gruelling testing, both on and off-track. Over the course of the event we were evaluated on our fitness level, marketing and promotional abilities, mindset, race craft, pace, setup feel, consistency, and more, I was crowned as the winner.
As winner of the shootout, I was awarded a scholarship and a Driver Development contract with the PT Autosport team, giving me the opportunity not only to race consistently in 2023, but also learn from the team's professional driver in Porsche Carrera Cup.
I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity PT Autosport have given me, and suddenly the future looks brighter than ever.
Bring on 2023!
2023
Immediately after winning the shootout, it was time to bring me back down from my high. My back had been worsening throughout 2022, and I made the decision to undergo an Artificial Disc Replacement surgery.
In late december, Dr Richard Guyer of the Texas Back Institute removed my L4-L5 disc, and replaced it with a Centinel Spine ProDisc L Artificial Implant.
6 months later, I was back on track. For my first season, the PT Autosport team set me loose in a Porsche Spec Boxster, competing in various PCA and SCCA races. Over the remainder of 2023, we took 9 podiums from 12 races, and just barely missed out on my first win by a tenth of a second! To cap off my first season I was rewarded with a test day in a Toyota GR Cup car, the potential next step in my career. After two days of hard-work, we were right on pace to compete in GR Cup. Let’s hope it leads to future opportunities in 2024!
