Blog A Day: Day 19 - My 2025 Year In Review (Prologue)

Prologue - A Quick Look Back On 2024... 2024 ended on a bitter-sweet note, missing some important dates due to my own scheduling and work commitments. Some of these included the Race Of Remembrance and "Brands Hatch Fireworks and Truck Racing"

Last year thought I had wrapped up the year By 3rd December - writing my year in review on this date, but it turns out, the year had one last surprise for me.

On the 7th December, I attempted to go from Central Connect’s most Northernly route, to most Southernly - on the same day as a storm - this went about as well as expected whilst utilising trains.

On the following day, I had booked every day up until early April - which would turn into May as soon as the yearly race calendars came out!

It was my first Christmas as an employed man - and with every bus driver, their dog and aunt off for Christmas, I was working right up until Christmas Eve, before having the 24th and 25th off - before “jetting” back to the mainland.

I was fortunate enough one of my colleagues was able to cover for me, so I could see my family for new years.

The 2025 Set-Up (December 2024)

2025 hadn’t even begun and the year was setting itself up to be an absolute classic.

In the final month of the year - and spreading into early January, I was already organising and arranging two separate trackdays!

It all started on the 20th December (2024) with a post on Facebook on the “Focus Cup Racing” FB page advertising “a day in one of our race cars” allowing novices to drive a race-car (full pelt/as fast as they dared) without a race licence at Donington and Oulton Park (separately)

I was immediately sold.

I knew motorsport was extortionate - so to have the opportunity to drive a race-car for less than £1,000, I knew I had to take the opportunity with both hands.

I couldn’t let this opportunity go amiss.

Price aside, You can't put a price on an experience like that - let alone without a race licence.

With the exception of karting, £850 in the world of motorsport - for a fully supported open pit-lane track day (with crew included) is absolutely peanuts.

This was a bullet well worth biting.

So, no sooner had I seen the post, I reached out, expressed my interest and in early 2025, I recieved an invoice. Which was paid within 14 hours!

Two weeks later, I saw another post on the similar theme - this time for a C1 Cup.

Little did I know, on the 2nd January, 2025 - I was about to have one of the most exciting phone-calls of my life.

In either series (Focus or C1), I wasn’t expecting GT3 pace - neither did I want such pace, all I wanted was to have the opportunity to drive a racing car - an opportunity very few get.

And by mid-January 2025, it was confirmed that I would be fortunate enough to have such experience in a little over two months.