New Year, New website, New ambitions!

Happy New Year everyone, I think 2016 is going to be the best yet!!

So much has been happening since last season that I don’t really know where to start, but firstly if you’re reading this then you are looking at the brand new website. I set out trying to build it myself but this proved to be very time consuming and beyond my technical expertise, so thankfully my prayers were answered after tweeting this when OvernightSite approached me. I gave them a pretty specific brief as I wanted to be directly involved with the design and they made the whole process completely pain free – I’d really recommend them to anyone looking for a well priced website as I’m over the moon with the end result.

There are lots of new features including the ‘Getting off track’ section which will be live by February, you can also view all the videos from last season as well as the picture gallery with all Clément Luck & Bertrand Kuhner’s amazing photos (you can find onboard footage on my YouTube page).

What I’m most excited about is that I now have my own TV series running on Motors TV, starting with a look back at the highlights of the 2015 season.

Working with AH Video Concept we will then be filming a series of programmes that will air throughout the 2016 season (details to follow). It’s fantastic to be working with a top motorsports broadcaster and this should really appeal to sponsors – you will be able to see all the programmes on Sky & Freeview, I will also be continuing to write for PistonHeads, Speedscene and hopefully a few other magazines too.

In terms of the car there are a lot areas that have been improved here too, and as planned I went over to JWA Racing just days before a pre Christmas surfing trip to run through everything in detail. The setup was one of the main areas we focussed on, as well as the gearing and aero which was lacking a few wings & fins on some of the European cars. The clutch needed a full rebuild too so I’ll be looking to get pushed around the paddock as often as possible this season! I’ll be running a new set of race day slicks this year, using last year’s tyres for Saturday practice, and the car now runs a Geartronics display that’s unmissable and means that I shouldn’t ever have to take my eyes off the road which will be a massive help.

My next job is to get the car back together and get Herve’s engine trouble fixed so that I can drive over 100kmh without the engine going into limp mode. Once that’s done I’ve got a few other bits to do, a homemade machine to rotate the tyres (thanks Paul & Colin!) will make cleaning them a heck of a lot easier – using the heat gun in 44 degrees at Vuillafans wasn’t much fun…

I’ve been working hard on my fitness over the winter, sadly in November I had an achillies injury from running so I’ve had to look at different forms of exercise.

As a result I’ve been doing HIT classes, which focus on working your whole body with short breaks of 30 secs so it’s intense cardio too. It’s great fun (I pretend I’m Susie Wolff!) and I enjoy having someone pushing you the entire time – nobody wants to be the last person to finish or the first to collapse from a plank hold so it definitely appeals to my competitive nature! My physio has helped a lot with the injury and thankfully everything has mended in time for snowboarding (I’m currently in the Grand Massif), with all the work I put into a season I need to be in top shape. In a way, driving for minutes is the easy bit doing everything on my own is physically exhausting so I need stamina to get through a weekend. I’m hoping to join a team in the future but for 2016 I’ll be mostly a one woman team again so I need as much energy as I can get!

I know that the season will be here before I know it, and on top of racing and my day job I’ve been getting involved with a few other projects so if anything this year will be even busier than the last. There are 4 months until Hebécrévon which sounds like a long time, hopefully enough to cram in some pre-season testing, but I just know that the season will be here before we know it – bring on the sunshine and sound of race cars!!