Inside Stock Car World Magazine | Page 31

My interest in stock cars dates back to childhood when my dad Andy used to mechanic for F1 Stockcar drivers Rob Cowley and Rob Pearce back in the 80s. For a young kid growing up and being exposed to such an exciting sport, it's inevitable I'd aspire to be 'just like the grown ups' and I was always a huge Peter Falding #33 fan. As a youngster I travelled the country and into Europe racing remote control stockcars, winning just about everything there was between 1996 and 2006. In 2007 my dad bought his first stockcar from Matt Heap keeping his race number #909. He raced for five years until the end of 2011 as a yellow grade and had three race victories to his name. I started in 2010 and my first race was at Brisca F2s in June at the Taunton benevolent fund Speed weekend. Everyone remembers their first time at everything and I'll certainly never forget my first. However, My best racing moments has to be my first Final and heat win August 18th & 19th Weekend www.insidestockcarworld.co.uk 2012. Prior to that, in 2011, I Came 3rd in a final at Arena Essex and scored places in all three races at the Birmingham World Qualifier. More recently I came within .066 seconds of my first race win at Birmingham. A funny story from my F2 racing career would be the first race I had with my Dad. He was an established yellow grade and caught me up pretty fast. As he went in for the hit on me he must have had my mums voice ringing in his head, “don’t you go hurting my boy!” but he never did manage to pass me! My favourite tracks are Birmingham for tarmac and Stoke and Kings Lynne for shale. I race an RCE Chassis on tarmac tracks and an RCE modified HCD on shale. I use East Lincs engines for both cars. My aim is to become the best driver I can be, to win races and be a part of the stockcar legacy. It's been my lifelong ambition to win a big title and as everyone knows the saying, 'All things are possible to him that believeth." I just have to believe I can! I'd like to give a special thanks to my dad and my mechanic Alex for helping with the cars in the workshop and at meetings. Thankfully, I've been blessed with a girlfriend who is a big fan of the sport so I have to thank Tasha for her patience and support everytime I race. As with all sports, participants would not be where they are today without the backing of businesses, and there's probably not a single competitor who would be here without some sort of sponsorship. So last but by no means least, without the following guys I would simply not be able to race: so a massive thank you for the support of Aquapurge, J.Roberts Painters and Decorators and Stoopidstu Productions. Ryan Cattell 31