 |
| Photo: David Young |
On the Sunday at Rockingham we had to start from 6th in the 2nd race of the weekend.
The race was a struggle but we came home with the worst result of the year in 4th place - ending my run of podiums.
Now for the final race of the day. I was starting 3rd in this race as it was a reverse grid for the top six cars. I managed to hold my position going into the first corner with my championship rival only one place behind me. On the second lap the two cars in front tangled, opening up the lead for me, with my rival Charlie in hot pursuit.
For the 20 minute race I managed to hold on and win the race, securing a second win of the season and the championship lead ahead of the next round at Brands Hatch.
I'm currently looking at entering a round of the Clio Cup, which is part of the British Touring Car Championships so watch this space!
So this round kicked off at Donnington Race track Derby, after a hard pre-season we have managed to get a group of local companies to support me in my greatest test to date. I have had three test days in the new car to date. So going into the first round I knew I had my work cut out, seeing as I am facing last year's champion and now MINI ambassador Charlie Butler-Henderson (brother to 5th Gear presenter Vicki Butler-Henderson).
Practice went well on the Thursday and Friday which boosted my confidence going into the first qualifying round of the season. My aim in qualifying was to follow Charlie around as I knew he was going to be quick - after a few laps my tyres were warmed up and at peak performance. I managed to secure pole position, posting a time of 1:15.939 - 1/4 of a second faster than 2nd.
Later that day was race 1 of the season and I was apprehensive as I have never started in my new John Cooper Works MINI. Unfortunately I didn't get the best of starts and lost a few places. Eventually I managed to catch upto Charlie and with a few laps to go I went for an overtake but couldn't make it stick and he got 1st place back.
This is how race one ended with Charlie 1st, me 2nd and Chris Smith 3rd. I was happy with the result but I knew I could of won and I was even more determined to win the two races on Sunday.
Race two started pretty much the same - I lost a few places with a bad start but unfortunately, due to an 8-car crash, the race was canceled and emergency services were rushed to the scene. Luckily no one was hurt.
For race three I was determined to not have a poor start and I got the hang of it. Starting from 2nd I managed to go around the outside into the first corner and overtake Charlie Butler-Henderson. He was in hot pursuit for three quarters of the race remaining around 1-second behind me. Soon drizzle started to drop and I feel this affected peoples' confidence as lap times started to slow, but I remained persistent and pulled a lead of 6-seconds from Charlie who finished 2nd with David Grady in 3rd - 11 seconds behind.
I was ecstatic with my win and now going into the 2nd round at Brands Hatch on the 7th and 8th of May I am feeling positive. I am also joint leader of the championship with Charlie!
Hello guys, I'm Nathan Harrison, British-born racing driver living in Oxford. Starting back in 2002 me and my dad Steve used to race at the local karting track in Reading aged six.
Soon I started to win races but had to wait until the age of eight before I could join the National Championships. At the age of 13 I took my first British Championship, I then went onto being ranked 2nd in Britain and 2nd in Europe, earning myself a ticket for the world finals in Abu Dhabi representing the United Kingdom. After a brilliant time in such a different environment I managed to place myself 6th in the world.
After karting I progressed to Ginetta Juniors and after only having four days in a car I managed to secure 4th place in my first race at Brands Hatch, but due to a struggle in finances I only completed a few rounds of the series.
After two years in the dark, I joined Costal Racing for the MINI Challenge. Turning up to Donington Park I had a goal of finishing in the Top 5 for my first race and after an ecstatic race I managed to come out on top!,Finishing in front was only the start, after 19 races I finished 16 races on the podium converting 10 of those into wins with eight fastest laps. These impressive results led to me taking the 2015 MINI Cooper Championship.
Now in 2016 I am taking the next step up to race the brand new John Cooper Works F56 MINI Coopers. We received the car last week and have only been out for a day's testing at Donington. We are on pace already and are looking to book a few more days before the first race in April. We are here to win and be back-to-back champions! We are still looking for support and if you are interested in teaming up with me in the 2016 season please get in touch!
You can catch me on track in my Military Green MINI Cooper and keep up-to-date with my season via my Facebook page - www.facebook.com/Nathanracing
Nathan
