CREAM ALWAYS RISES TO THE TOP!!!!

Wow....... what can I say about the 2019 season results, and the way this young driver from Cheshire, handled himself ?? Actually, a hell of a lot. And its all pretty amazingly remarkable.......

Let us start at the beginning, where the best stories start.. and lets start with a video. ;)

The FIRST race of the British F4 Championships for both Team and Driver, and the FIRST race in a Single Seater racing car for Luke.. you would expect quite a few learning curves to be learned throughout the season, and there was. An unfortunate qualifying session saw Luke placed 10 on the grid, with only 2 other cars behind him. But, with the weather conditions exactly in Luke's favour ( he's a bit of a wet weather expert ;) ) , his position on the grid clearly was not bothering him.. 1,2,3,4,5 drivers were behind him, after the first few corners.. The other 4 drivers got picked off, one by one, putting Luke into P1 and letting the rest of us watch a rather lonely, uneventful rest of the video, if I'm brutally honest.. ;) AMAZING START and something I've been told, that has never been done on the INDI track at Brands in F4. WOW!

The "new kid" on the block, with the new team, up against some of the best funded teams in Motorsports, had carved up the competition like a hot knife through butter.. but there were a few people, "umming and arring" about a potential fluke. A lucky start maybe, in terrible weather. The rest of the season would go on to show, that this was NO fluke... !!

As with many, if not ALL, Motorsport teams across the land, technical and mechanical issues are always bound to be present. Especially with a new team in a new Championships, having to learn the new car, get to grip with the circuit "set ups" and also, some of the rules within the series, plus a fraction of the budgets other teams have.

2019 saw, what seemed to be, a rather extraordinary amount of such issues, that hindered Luke, mainly in practice and the qualifying rounds but occasionally on the track - He even lost a wheel at one stage....!!! None of this seemed to phase Luke though. Not in the slightest. And, if I was honest, the further back on the grid that Luke started, the more determined it seemed he was to win.. !! I don't think he likes doing things the easy way :)

Numerous "fastest laps" were clocked up throughout a thrilling season of racing. 3 more overall wins, several podium finishes and some absolute stunning driving that impressed a lot of people, including quite a few professionals, higher up in the Motorsports ranks and bigger championship series across the globe.

It wasn't until the Silverstone leg of the Championships, that Luke and I had a proper "real" moment and things seemed to seriously change up a gear..

Somehow, we are not quite sure exactly what happened but disaster struck - and through no fault of his own, Luke was sitting in 15th place on the grid, after very disappointing practice and qualifying sessions. DEAD LAST !!

Luke is probably one of the most likeable people you'll ever meet, and has always been upbeat and super positive. As I've said before, in other articles and reviews, it's one of the reasons why I took him on as a ROUX Helmet ambassador, when he was only 14. Humble and grateful for all that his family, friends, team and sponsors do for him.. BUT.. that day, his head had dropped a little too far. I think maybe he was embarrassed to be last on the grid. Maybe he thought people were thinking it was his fault as a driver.. Never the less.. He wasn't a happy chappy..

On the Saturday, we'd had some chats and I'd done the usual motivation speech, and asked him to do his "eyes closed" visualisation routine, where he overtakes all the drivers in his head and see the checkered flag 1st,..just before the race. Race 1, on the Saturday, saw Luke go from 15th to 8th.. Overtaking 7 other drivers ( yeah, I'm great at MATH too ;) ) .. Which alone, was pretty impressive and positive..

Sunday, his head was still a little low and Race 2 saw him gain 2 places from 8th to 6th on a reverse grid system. Great.. 2 more gained places.. !! We were in the F4 hospitality tent after lunch and before the last race of the day, one of the F4 girls came across and put her hand on Lukes shoulder and said, with solemn looking face, "aaah Luke, you ok?"

Luke politely nodded and she left... !!

"Did you see that Luke"? I asked him... "That was a little bit of pity".

A HUGE light seemed to come on in his head, and we discussed positivity, and the benefits of walking around the circuit with a head held high and a smile on ones face, EVEN if he was in last place. That show of positivity could only benefit him, and show other teams, other drivers, and especially potential new sponsors, that he wasn't phased by the situation.

He had gained 7 places in Race One and 2 places in Race Two (reverse grid) and was back on "dead last" again for Race Three.. He'd done pretty OK as far as I was concerned and ALL I asked of him, was to beat Race One's result by 2 places.. !! If ANYONE on that track could do it, it was him. And he knew it..

As we watched, in the intermittent rain showers, I must have blinked.. because within the first minute or so, Luke was already up into 7 or 8th ........ It was crazy..

Slowly but surely, with some fantastically mature and skilled driving, holding back and letting the lesser experienced drivers fall by the wayside, he picked up more and more places, to finally come through with PODIUM 3rd place. He almost went for a P2 and was close, but his wise head, decided not to push it , and took the P3. BRILLIANT.... A silent assassin.. Check out the highlights below..

21 PLACES GAINED.... in ONE weekend.. ;) That's more than some F4 drivers did all season.!

The final at Brands Hatch, brought even more solid and skilled driving from Luke, against the BIG TOP THREE teams bringing 3 more podium places with 2 x P2's ( almost 3 ) and one P3..

Obviously, I'm am seriously bias but, we know, along with many, many others, that the best driver doesn't always take the championship, especially the 1st time around. But... mark my words.. Its a matter of time and this young Motorsports "BOX TICKER" is THE one to watch in any future Championships and IS the driver for everyone else to look out for, 100%..!!

Don't be looking in your rear view mirrors though guys and girls, because if you see him there, he's probably already lapped you.. !!