How did you get into racing cars?
My love for cars goes back as long as I can remember. I have a history of hearing-related problems, and when I was a child I became obsessed with the distinctive sound of VW Beatles. There was something about the flat 4 burble that struck a chord with me, and I’d get extremely excited whenever one went past. As a result of this, my parents started taking me to VW festivals all across the country. Even driving from Germany, where we lived at the time, to the UK so we could attend the legendary Beetle Bash at Santa Pod!
Drag racing was, and still is, a big part of the VW festival scene. With its friendly family-orientated atmosphere I was able to get up close to these immense machines, and quickly became very interested in how they worked. Watching a top fuel dragster finish the quarter mile in 5 seconds is still impressive today, let alone when I was 5 years old!
Over the next decade my love of motorsport branched out into Formula One, Rallying and British Touring Cars. Luckily for me, my Dad was also a keen motorsport enthusiast and took me to see a number of motorsport events, including the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. Fast forward to the summer of 2004 when I was 16 years old, when I had just moved back from boarding school to attend college in Telford. My Dad had started a new job at DCAE Cosford, and quickly discovered some of the old disused aeroplane hangars had been converted into clubs for employees and their families.
Coming home with a list of the available clubs, we shortlisted gliding and karting. After a quick dabble with flight, I decided driving was a lot more exciting, so I passed on the ability to fly and joined the Karting club. I would spend two nights and one day a week at the club learning how to maintain, set up, and more importantly, how to drive the karts.
I learnt a lot about motorsport during my three years at the club. With it being an RAF based activity, the attention to detail, protocols and processes used to maintain aeroplanes could be transferred across to the karts. This is the main reason why I insist on checking every aspect of my car before every race!
Without realising, I was developing the right attitude and learning skills that would eventually give me a head start when pursuing a career in motorsport. I gained valuable race day experience with the club, and was lucky enough to win two out of the three championships I entered.
Fast forward again to 2014 and after 5 years working as a Ski Technician between New Zealand and France, I have returned to the UK to study Motorsport Engineering at the University of Derby. The beginning of a new era in my love of all things motorsport!
What inspired you to have your own race car?
Frank Williams. Once you’ve read the story of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, you can’t help but be inspired. Here was a guy with little to no money, doing anything he could to go racing. I remember reading about how Frank used to leave school on a Friday afternoon and hitch hike from Nottingham to Kent just to watch the racing. He would watch the qualifying on the Saturday, sleep anywhere he could find on the Saturday night, including the occasional bus shelter, then hitch hike back to Nottingham on Sunday after the racing had finished. Just in time for school on Monday morning.
I learnt a lot from Frank Williams about the importance of sponsorship and team support, and without it, I would not be able to compete as I am today. I won’t go too much into stories about Frank Williams, but I will say that whenever I’m having a hard time with the car or the business side of things, I think ‘what would Frank do?’. It always seems to work out!
If you have the chance, I recommend reading one of the many books published about the beginning of Frank’s motorsport career. It is truly inspiring, and the lessons learnt can be applied to a wide variety of careers, not just motorsport.
What do you enjoy most about racing?
Pushing myself and the car in a competitive environment is what I enjoy the most, but racing isn’t just about driving. The actual race weekends are only a small part of the overall picture. Car preparation, driver preparation, sponsorship deals and marketing strategies are all incredibly important, and all take a lot of time.
I’d say that a race weekend is only about 5% of the overall amount of work put in, maybe even less. It’s nice to go away racing, it almost feels like a holiday!
For me, the bringing together of all these elements gives me an immense amount of satisfaction.
What challenges have you had to overcome so far?
Apart from the obvious mechanical challenges that go hand in hand with motorsport, I’d say that the biggest challenge I’ve faced is the one that all motorsport enthusiasts face… finance! Trying to run a race team whilst at University and on a student budget has not been, and still isn’t, particularly easy.
I’m very lucky to have a group of friends who are always keen to pitch in to help at events and with the maintenance of the car. I wouldn’t have made it through the engine and gearbox changes without them! I’m also incredibly lucky to have a very supportive family. I’ve never been told I can’t do anything, not in a spoilt childish way, but in a ‘go and get what you want’ kind of way.
I know it sounds cliché, but with the right attitude and support from your friends and family, you can achieve anything.
What did you like most about working at Tignes Spirit and what skills do you feel cross over into the car racing industry?
When I think about it, the Minty Fresh Racing story is not too dissimilar from that of Tignes Spirit. Working from humble beginnings, putting in the man hours, believing in the product you have so lovingly created and making it a success.
The Tignes Spirit story is incredibly inspirational, and I’d advise anyone that gets the chance to sit down and have a few beers with Kieran. He can tell you a tale or two, that’s for sure. Anyone that has five out of five stars on Tripadvisor must be doing something right!
For me, the thing I liked the most about working at Tignes Spirit was the respect that Kieran showed everyone, and his willingness to give everybody a chance. He is a great judge of character, and the teams I’ve worked with over the years have not only been extremely hard working, they have also been extremely fun.
There are many skills that cross over between Tignes Spirit and Motorsport. I could sit here and say the usual things like working as part of a team, gaining hands on experience in a professional environment, time management etc etc, but I think things such as taking pride in your work and learning how to attain a good life balance are far more important life skills.
Working hard is absolutely imperative in order to achieve success, but if you don’t occasionally let loose and spend time with your friends, you will forget that success is not measured just by bank balance or trophies on your wall.
Tell us about any future projects you have planned...
Right now we are preparing the car for the 2015 season, but I can tell you I am already setting plans in motion for 2016 and beyond. I can’t give a definitive answer to this question as plans can change at the drop of a hat. But what I can say is that we are looking to run multiple cars in the next few years.
We hope to be able to offer drivers the complete package. We want to prepare them for the next step in their motorsport careers. By teaming up with the University of Derby I hope to run a program that will involve subject areas such as: sports science, psychology, graphic design, marketing, media and law. Arming our drivers with the necessary skills and the best possible chance of success for their professional careers.
There is currently a similar programme being run by the MSA (the governing body of British motorsport) here in the UK. They hand select the top achieving drivers in the UK's most prestigious motorsport disciplines, which is definitely a formula for success, but leaves a lot of talented individuals firmly out of the picture.
Just to put it into perspective, the drivers currently competing at the required level to be considered by the MSA have annual budgets more than 35 times our projected budget for 2015, leaving an enormous gap between novice drivers and the help they so desperately need. I have a vision of bridging that gap and providing as much help as possible to those who both need and deserve it.
Talks are currently underway with the University of Derby about this project, and I hope to be able to provide you with some good news in the not too distant future. These things do however, take time.
Who else have you worked with to make Minty Fresh Racing a success?
During my first season of competition I was extremely grateful for the support I received from Tignes Spirit and my other sponsors Central England Vehicle Logistics, Abshot Signs and mdiane33. Without it I simply would not have been able to compete, and I would like to take a moment to thank them for all they have done for me.
Being around motorsport for the last year has really emphasised the importance of creating good business partnerships, as racing is a business after all. Over the last few months I have worked hard to come up with sponsorship plans that not only benefit companies with general advertising, but include them as much as possible in the day to day activities of the team. I would like my sponsors to be included in the action, and experience first-hand how their contributions have enabled the team to be such a success.
For the 2015 season Minty Fresh Racing (MFR) have teamed up with:
Tignes Spirit – www.tignes-spirit.com
Central England Vehicle Logistics. For all your car transporting & storage needs. - www.cevl.co.uk
The University of Derby: Mechanical, Manufacturing & Motorsport Engineering. Providing future engineers with the necessary skills to achieve success within the engineering sector. - www.derby.ac.uk/engineering-technology/
Abshot Signs. Bespoke car graphics - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/ABSHOT-SIGNS
Power Maxed. Providers of high quality, bio degradable car cleaning & detailing products, and sponsors of the Power Maxed British Touring Car Team - http://www.powermaxed.com/
mdiane33. Photographer. Available for all occasions - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mdiane33
High Paradise Tea Room. Walkers resting and refuelling stop in the hills of Thirsk and surrounding areas. Soon to offer holiday walking holiday packages including B&B style accomodation - www.highparadise.co.uk/tea-rooms.html
massive thanks to Adam for taking the time to chat to us and for working so hard during his time at Tignes Spirit!
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