During the course of the 2014 season, alongside giving my thoughts
on proceedings of the BTCC season, I will also be writing for Chris Mealin, who
is entering the Formula Ford Championship for Falcon Motorsport as part of the
ToCA support package.
I spoken to Chris ahead of
the season opener on 30th March at Brands Hatch, and have been finding out what
he has been doing in preparation for the course of the season, and how he feels
about the prospects of driving in the Formula Ford championship for the first time.
"This winter I have been flat out,
training most days, making sure I am the best prepared mentally and physically
for this tough challenge ahead, mainly in the iZone Driver Performance Centre
at Silverstone where I did the winter programme which helped me a lot ahead of
such a big year". Chris added "I have also been selected for the McLaren
Performance Academy and the Isle of Man Sport's Aid Association this
season".
As well as this, Chris also attended a
three day camp at Woking along with the other selected few drivers for this
year's camp, where he learnt a lot about nutrition, sports psychology and
physical training.
"It's certainly given me a huge
confidence boost ahead of the opener at Brands Hatch. I'm truly grateful for
the opportunity they have given to me and I will be representing them with
pride - they've all helped me tremendously with my training programme and I look
forward to working closely with each and every one of them throughout the
season".
Chris has also been working very closely
with Falcon Motorsport during the off season break, with the team getting the
car set up in preparation for the opening rounds at Brands Hatch, with him and
the team testing most recently at Donington Park. "The car feels great;
she's very nice to drive. After testing at Donington I've got a much better
understanding of how much grip the car has, and also how she handles through
flat out corners such as the Craner Curves, which will come in handy at some of
the tracks on the calendar".
With it being his first season in the
championship, Chris has admitted he has modest expectations for the course of
the season, but his main aim for the course of the season is to try and secure
the Scholarship title; "If I can get a podium before the summer break,
that'd be great. I just need to be consistent and score as many points as
possible each weekend, and then we'll see where we are at the end". He
also added "it would be an amazing achievement to claim the Scholarship
title this year in my debut season - I'm in a good place at the moment with the
right people behind me and a great team supporting me too in Falcon Motorsport,
I feel right at home with them already after just a few test days".
I will be keeping up to date with Chris's
progress during the course of the 2014 Formula Ford season, publishing race
reports and opinions from the man himself of the weekend.
