He is already a star out on the karting track, but highly-rated young Sale-based speed demon Jay Goodwin got to experience the full VIP treatment recently when he was invited to go on a tour of McLaren-Mercedes’ F1 facilities at Woking in Surrey – and he admitted it was quite an eye-opener.
Jay earned his place on the trip for having been awarded the Lewis Hamilton ‘True Grit’ accolade in the national Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship at Rowrah in Cumbria in April. FKS is the same series as first set the McLaren ace himself on the fast track towards future F1 superstardom back in the late 1990s, and moreover it now boasts the prestigious official backing of both the 2008 world champion as well as the sport’s influential ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone.
The ‘True Grit’ honour is bestowed in every round upon the driver who has made up the greatest number of places during the course of any one race – and by dint of a staggering charge through the field from 30th to tenth at the chequered flag in the final at Rowrah after finding himself unceremoniously punted out of contention in both of his heat races, Jay was indubitably a deserving recipient indeed.
“I first found out I was going to McLaren a few weeks beforehand,” the 13-year-old reflected. “I was really excited about it, because it was the first time I’d ever been to an F1 factory. They gave us a guided tour, and the sheer level of commitment that goes on there is absolutely incredible – everything on the car has to be so precise.
“There’s an entire room two times the size of a house dedicated to refining a single wheel nut, for example. Everywhere is really clean, and I was surprised by just how much was going on – even after the end of the F1 season, everybody was still working really hard. We saw parts of the chassis they are building for the 2011 car, too; that was pretty exciting, because we’re the only people outside of the team who have actually seen that.”
Clearly impressed, the Ashton-upon-Mersey hotshot was then privileged to be able to get up-close-and-personal with some of the team’s most celebrated and successful creations, from the beautifully-preserved, very first model campaigned by its eponymous founder Bruce McLaren almost half a century ago through the nigh-on invincible MP4/4 of 1988 and right up to Lewis Hamilton’s title-winning car of 2008.There was also the pioneering, never-raced six-wheeler of the 1970s, the distinctive M23 with its innovative high airbox – a car driven to world championship glory by Brazil’s Emerson Fittipaldi back in 1974 – as well as the machines from McLaren’s dominant era in the 1980s, when the likes of Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna all claimed the ultimate prize behind the wheel of one of the red-and-white cars.
It was not just F1, either, with models that competed in the iconic Indianapolis 500 across the Pond in America, in the similarly stateside Can-Am Series and in the famous round-the-clock Le Mans 24 Hours – including the race-winning 1995 entry and striking Gulf-liveried F1 GTR of two years later. There was even the unique, record-breaking MP4-T5 soapbox, at 80mph downhill, the fastest ‘Gravity Racer’ of the 2002 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
And then came the best bit of all – a chance for Jay to meet for the very first time, British racing hero Hamilton.
“I’m definitely a fan of his,” enthused the North Cestrian Grammar School pupil. “He’s really good at racing in the wet like I am, and he’s an aggressive driver and always goes for it and gives 100 per cent. Everyone went dead quiet when he came into the room, but he was pretty chilled-out and a really nice guy.
“We all spoke to him and asked him questions about the season he’d just finished and his thoughts about next year. It was certainly special to meet someone like Lewis, and overall I just really enjoyed the day. I’d like to thank FKS director Carolynn Hoy, the rest of the championship team and McLaren for an absolutely brilliant
