Our First Test…and a Museum Visit

Corby, England (October 17, 2013) — Well, the adventure has started. I arrived at the London Heathrow airport on Tuesday, around 12 noon. After being met at the airport by Michelle Dempsey, Jake and I went straight to the Cliff Dempsey Racing shop. It was the first time I had met Cliff, and I could tell right away that I would have no problem adjusting to the team. That afternoon, we began the process of making a seat for the Ray chassis Jake and I will be driving. After we were done at the shop, we went to the Dempseys’ home in Brigstock. It’s a small village and really gives you a sense of being in England, which I really enjoy a lot. That night, we all went home for a dinner, provided by Michelle, which was delicious 🙂 and then got to bed early. The next day, we went back to the race shop, and finished our seats for the cars. We went back to the house for dinner and some rest for the following day – our first test at Donington Park .

I was very anxious to get to the track, and start getting seat time in the Ray chassis. We arrived at the track and immediately got to it. The first session the track was quite damp, I slowly tried to bring myself up to speed. This was my first time ever being on a wet racetrack, and I found it to be a quite a different experience. I have quite a bit to learn about driving in the wet, but I’m sure I will gain experience from the days of seat time that lie ahead. We had to sort out a few issues with the car, but it’s best we take care of these issues now than later. At the end of the day, I learned a lot from reviewing the data and video with Cliff and Jake.

Now onto the highlight of the day: A trip to the Donington museum. Jake and I got to see Formula One cars from the early days, right up to the modern era. It was literally a dream come true, to see, in person, so much Formula One history. One of my favorite parts of the museum was the McLaren hall, which housed just about every Formula One car McLaren has ever built. It was an awesome moment to stand within a foot of the great Ayrton Senna’s championship winning McLaren F1 car. I love the history of Formula One, and so touring the Donington museum was an unbelievable experience for me, I really didn’t want to leave that McLaren hall.

I am looking forward to testing at Silverstone tomorrow, and hopefully getting some more experience running in the wet. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time so far in England and I’m sure the future holds more great experiences. I’m happy to keep you all posted 🙂

Joey