Introducing Chris Mealin

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.