“Everything is going to be different”
Sacrificing pre-season track time to prioritise the wellbeing of her team, Lydia Walmsley is doing everything she can to ensure a safe, but well-prepared return to competing
Fireproof gloves are the final piece of racing livery a driver will put on before turning over the engine in anticipation of the green light, but in response to the risk posed by coronavirus and new regulations set out by Motorsport UK to ensure a safe return to competing, Morris Lubricants has equipped ambassador Lydia Walmsley with an additional layer of protective kit.
“To keep us safe, Morris Lubricants have supplied me and my team with the anti-bacterial hand sanitiser they developed and distributed to key workers during lockdown,” explains Lydia, who will return to competing in August.
“After winning the final race of 2019, it has been a long wait to try and carry that momentum into this season. I’d like to be a championship contender at the end of this year, but at the moment, we are just making sure everything is ready to go.”
Prioritising the wellbeing of her team above all else, Lydia decided against booking track days for pre-season shakedowns when the circuits reopened in June. “It was a little bit too soon in our opinion,” she says.
Instead, Lydia is ramping up a lockdown routine she devised that combines disciplines which benefit her racing; including keeping fit, watching videos of previous competitions to find areas that can be improved, and getting behind the wheel of a professional level racing simulator – which the 18-year-old confesses to pressing the ‘reset’ button on from time to time.
“There was a point this year when it didn’t look like we were going to be racing at all, but there was no point dwelling on what should have been. I think when you relax, you are more able to do your best,” she says.
Supportive, but mindful of the long-term impact new regulations could have on the industry – which largely relies on the income generated by spectators attending events – Lydia’s season has been reduced from seven rounds to five, three of which will now support the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).
“Everything is going to be different, even down to how we sign on for the race meeting has changed. Instructors are banned from sitting with us in the car, there will be a limit on the number of team members able to attend, and podium rituals are not going to be quite what they were,” says Lydia.
“My hope is that spectators will soon be allowed as the loss of income will likely be reflected on driver entry fees next year – and nobody wants that! I also don’t think it will be quite the same atmosphere without the crowds.”
The reformatted season now sees Lydia take part in three weekends of racing which will be shown on TV, rather than the previously scheduled two. It’s a welcome antidote to the possible absence of the general public and a reduced media presence.
“The Thruxton event has been moved to the 19th and 20th of September, and although the Silverstone one was cancelled it’s been replaced with two more high profile events on the TV at Oulton Park and Croft – which means that we’re actually getting more time on the TV than we would have in the normal circumstances, which is a bonus!”
A week ahead of her TV debut, Lydia will be opening the envelope that contains her A Level results, which are being calculated using work completed before lockdown. Disappointed to have missed out on the final few months of sixth form, but anticipating good grades, Lydia is happy to report that because her Cooper Pro Mini performed exceptionally in 2019, there was little room for improvement to be ready for 2020.
In the future, she hopes to progress to a John Cooper Works Mini, but until then Lydia and her team are expanding their fleet with a race truck she built at home in the garden with her dad, as well as a new pit buggy that wears the team colours.
When the moment comes for Lydia to finally put a set of 2020 championship decals on her Mini, she will truly believe things are back on track, and promises “I’m not going to take any moment for granted.”
Interview by Charlotte Vowden
To see Lydia's updated calendar, please click here.