Donington 2019 – A look behind the camera

Chris Level Headed After Going Quickest in FP2

After a weekend of action at Donington in April we take a look at some behind the scenes action with Chris Smiley.

This first clip is Chris chatting about the morning practice sessions and topping the times in FP2.

Chris feeling good about the start on Sunday after qualifying in 4th position.

Being a racing driver in the BTCC is a dream for many people and the series resonates with most of us as the cars look similar to the everyday family hatch back or saloon.

This season sees BTC Racing in the new Honda Civic FK8 and Chris loves this car, he has had some fast lap times and good races already this season and this includes topping the timing charts at Thruxton during the test day in March.

Being a top driver and finishing higher up the grid brings media interest and we often see Chris being spoken to by Louise and ITV4.

In and around the garage can be hectic at times and the drivers need a great bond between themselves and the crew. You can see in the following shot how close the guys and girls are, team spirit really helps.

Another common question relating to racing drivers is how they are with their team mate. Clearly motor racing is about the win and driving fast and being very competitive but does this come at the expense of your team mate?

Chris and Josh (Josh Cook – BTC Racing) are often discussing parts of the track and looking to see how they may be able to gain a little edge over the other teams. Debrief and tactics are a big part of motor racing and a lot of time out of the car is spent looking for the 10th of a second which could make all the difference.

We can see Chris and Josh here having a chat mid afternoon on race day.

Getting ready to leave is an exciting time for everyone, yes including the drivers. The exhilaration and thrills of driving around a race track in a car which is so finely tuned is an amazing feeling, dangerous yet safe!

A few images now from the weekend at Donington from in and around the garage and team truck.

Race day can be hectic, really hectic, with adjustments to be made and sometimes fixes to the car. When there has been some ‘rubbing’ often the cars can be going out again looking a little worse for wear. At Donington we were lucky enough to have Prolific Graphics there for the day and after Chris had a coming together the car was in urgent need of a patch up.

Is it all worth it then? Of course it is, even if the team can’t get the result they wanted there are always positives to take out of practice sessions and races.

Chris is having more success as time passes and Donington was no exception topping the times in FP2, qualifying in 4th, picking up points in the championship, winning the Independents in the first race on Sunday and after an action packed weekend BTC Racing are still top of the Team Championship.