Sir Chris Hoy, the most decorated Olympic cyclist of all time, speaks about his journey from two wheels to four as he joins the European Le Mans Series.
When Sir Chris Hoy left the world of competitive cycling, he had six gold and one silver Olympic medals under his belt.
Since then he has been indulging his four-wheeled passion by driving for Nissan in the GT3 championship.
His driving exploits gained great attention when he crashed a Nissan GT-R at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed in front of TV cameras and a crowd of thousands, but last month he announced he will move up to the European Le Mans Series. Here we speak to him about his new career path.
- DO YOU FEEL LIKE A RACING DRIVER?
As soon as I get all the kit on when it’s race day I feel like a racing driver. Although I still feel like a novice, as you might have seen at Goodwood…
- HOW DID THAT FEEL WHEN THE INCIDENT HAPPENED?
It was the worst possible place for that to happen, so visible and public. I appreciate that these things happen but for it to happen in such a visible way. It was nice the week after because we were racing at Spa and got my first podium. It was nice to get the confidence back.
- WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE AT THE MOMENT?
The biggest challenge going from cycling to racing… sometimes I was training seven hours a day six days a week on the bike, you could literally train and practice as much as you needed. With driving it’s about cramming as much as you can into the very short periods of time you get in the car, trying to learn as much as possible.
- DOES THAT INCLUDE PLAYING ANY GRAN TURISMO ON THE PLAYSTATION?
Yeah I do actually, I’ve got a wheel at home. I’ve had one for a few years and that was before I even got on the track. We were racing on the Brands Hatch GP circuit and I hadn’t driven it before so I used the Playstation then and the simulator.
- WHAT WAS THE RECEPTION LIKE FROM OTHER DRIVERS WHEN YOU STARTED RACING?
I think it helped that I went in there not thinking I was going to be brilliant at it. I went in and showed respect for the other drivers and what they do.
Everyone was really helpful, in the first couple of races I maybe had a couple of nudges from other drivers, but I think you realise pretty quickly if they think they can intimidate you. You have to show them that you are not just going to step out of the way.
- WHAT CAR DO YOU DRIVE?
I’ve got a Nissan GT-R at home, thankfully they still let me drive one even after hitting the hay bales. I read a lot about it before I drove it for the first time, it is a genuinely unbelievable car and what it can do. You can drive it around normally, nice and steady no problem, and then you take it on the track and it’s incredible.
- WERE YOU A BIG FORMULA 1 FAN GROWING UP?
I was, but we were a big rally family. Colin McRae really got me into motorsport and if it was on TV I’d watch it. I only met him once, at Goodwood just a few months before the accident. When I got asked to do the documentary about him by the BBC it was a huge honour, but quite tough.
The first day we went to the family farm and I hadn’t met his wife or dad before, and you just see his cars and his bikes and there’s the ghost of him everywhere.
It was not an easy thing to do but I became good friends with Jimmy (McRae) and he invited me to come to the McRae stages last year and sit alongside him. They are an amazing family.
When I was at the McRae stage rally we turned the corner and although it’s nearly 20 years since Colin won the world championship and the middle of nowhere but there were thousands of fans, blue Imprezas with Colin’s name on the back. He had such an impact on the sport.