|
Kent racer James Dixon is fired up for
what he hopes will be his first podium result in car racing as he heads to the
challenging venue of Oulton Park in
Cheshire next weekend for the latest round
of the BARC Formula Renault Championship.
The Candy Carriers backed
teenager has been knocking on the door of a podium finish in the series since
the start of the season back at the end of March. A fourth place at the last
round at Rockingham meant that he was just denied his first silverware, but he
is confident going into the weekend that he can go at least one step further and
possibly even sample the victory champagne.
“I’ve been working really
hard, both with my driver coach and with the guys in the team learning about the
car and I’m going up to Oulton confident I can break onto the podium,” said
James. “I know that the track will be pretty new to me. I’ve done a couple of
test days there and it’s a brilliant place.
“But I’m not going to worry
about it being my first race weekend there, I’m aiming to improve my performance
at every round this year and this weekend it’s going to be getting onto the
podium,” he added.
As well as getting to grips with the fast and
twisty layout of the Oulton Park track, James has also been spending
time with his team to learn more about the set-up and mechanics of his Formula
Renault race car, to understand how to help them give him the best set-up
possible on race-day.
“You have to be able to feel
what the car is doing and be able to understand what changes you can make and
what they do in order to make it as fast as possible,” said James. “There is a
huge amount to learn, especially as it’s my first season in cars from karts last
year. But I want to be able to help the tea, know what I want from the car and
make me and them faster in the races.
“I’ve been spending a lot of
time with my mechanic and it’s helped me a lot. At the start of the year I
didn’t set myself too many goals as I wanted to ease into my first year in cars.
But after the first two rounds and the pace I’ve had in testing, I want to go
out and win this season and I’m hoping I might be able to achieve that at
Oulton. I know it’s not going to be easy, but I’m doing everything I can to
break onto the podium,” he added.
James will take to the track
on Saturday for free practice, before going back out on Bank Holiday Monday for
the race around the 2.26 mile circuit.
|
News 
