From lockdown video games to pro racing driver
A Witham-based racing driver says E-Sports video games got him into the sport.
"It's a massive team effort, the mechanics, engineers, the sponsors and when it all comes together it's a big relief and it's a massive celebration," remarked a 21-year-old racing driver, Will Redford, discussing his journey from playing video games during the Covid-19 lockdown to becoming a professional in motor-racing.
Redford, who secured a victory at the GT Challenge de las Américas last month, credits his father for introducing him to the sport. He explained, "My dad had always been really into racing sims and stuff like that and he bought me a subscription to a programme called iRacing and there was nothing else to do, I got right into it."
After honing his skills in virtual racing, Redford sought to transition to real-world driving, achieving his breakthrough through a scholarship competition. The 600 brake horsepower Peter Lewis construction AMG GT3 he drove reached speeds of approximately 150mph on the South American track.
Originally from Warrington, Redford described his path in the sport as "interesting" yet "amazing" during an interview with Ian Puckey on BBC Essex's Sport Extra show. "I took a bit of an unconventional route into motorsport. I started sim racing... so playing computer games and that was during the first COVID lockdown," he shared. "Quite naively quite quickly I wanted to get into a real car not understanding how you've got to raise the money as a driver to be able to go and race."
He recounted performing "quite well" in a scholarship drive he won, which then "spiralled" into joining Bourne HPP in Witham, Essex. Racing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in Guyana last month for the team represented "the biggest opportunity" of his career. "Terry Radbourne from Bourne HPP called me and asked me to race in Guyana. We went out we won that event and he hired me," Redford stated. Radbourne, the CEO of Bourne HPP, began his career in Formula One and established the Witham-based company approximately six years ago.
Luke Johnson, marketing manager for Bourne HPP, noted that the chance to race in South America arose about three months before the event. He commented, "That's what you do in motorsport, you just make things work, especially at Bourne, that's always our ethos. Just get it done and do the best we can, and that's exactly what we did."