THE GRASSHOPPER - Chapter 1
by Gavin Johnson
Age 0-16
If the team and our racing exploits ever comes up in conversation (with those less aware of my love of motorsport) the question is regularly “that’s cool, how did you get into that?”.
It seems a reasonable question to me as (a) I think its cool too, not that that was the reason for me starting and (b) its not something everyone does, so to ask how to start seems logical to me
Far be it from me to sell the virtues of Motorsport here… but… this blog is aimed at answering that question and other things along the way. Chapter 1 is the beginning and there are more to come.
To start, I’d like to dispel a myth, Motorsport is NOT reserved for the wealthy, that is a common misconception because it is a sport/hobby where money can help go faster and can speed up the process. It doesn’t necessarily equate therefore, that someone is “better” than you because they race at higher level or that you cant do it. Motorsport is also not reserved for any specific group. Everyone should feel welcome in the sport and there is a level for everybody to be involved at to suit their circumstances.
Money can be matched with many things; hard work, time, planning, teamwork, discipline, ability and a range of other things that allow us to go racing (that detail is another blog).
Don’t think because you don’t have money you can’t race, motorsport is for all, it’s like life; How much do you want it?
I don’t have “money” and I’ve won a championship and 15 races in a Porsche and raced at Spa Francorchamps and Silverstone (and many other circuits), I hold 4 lap records from a previous championship (they’d likely be beat if the championship was still running..but its not :) I’ve raced in over 90 races in various cars and ive raced in a great team for the last 4 years, anyone can. If you think you cant, keep asking yourself why you cant, until you can :) My friends at PDC helped make racing possible (again something to discuss in later blogs)
There is context to the above statement and a section of the club and professional driving fraternity can be heard shouting “Billy” from over the hills. But that doesn’t really matter to me nor should it you, I’m where I am, and I judge myself against myself (mostly). If we spend our lives wanting to be Lewis, we likely spend them disappointed, if we spend our lives trying to reach a level that satisfies us and we progress and improve and enjoy it that has to be enough, that has to be winning. Don’t confuse that with me being happy coming 2nd or worst, I’m not………..Apart from 2017, I came 2nd that year and I was delighted…see future blogs for why.
I come from a very modest family who never had any excess money each month to spend on me developing into a young motorsport protégé in the 80s & 90s. Nor did I have the knowledge I do now to help myself.
What my family did do was encourage me to read books on Formula 1 (anyone have Autocourse?) and watch the British Touring Cars. A major influence was on the occasions my Dad would take me to Oulton Park as the hangover from his days supporting my uncles racing (and his old season ticket a real nod to his love of racing) drew him back regularly. I don’t think I realised it then but I reference it now, understanding that an 8 hour day is a lot for a normal impatient kid between 5-9 years old, I relished going and seeing, even if my attention and interest lasted an hour. It stuck with me, I loved the look and the sound of the cars, it’d be brilliant to be a racing driver, but they were special beasts. We wandered around the paddock regularly and it struck me how calm they all were as they got ready to fire up and go to war. Most of these events were club meetings, but well attended, i didn’t know the difference and i didn’t need to. What my parents also did was feed my competitive nature at the Christmas of 1990 (aged 9).
Ive always been very competitive, this was tempered with a distinct lack of natural ability and a frustrating wealth of self-awareness and imposter syndrome as a youth. It’s fair to say in my younger days I didn’t excel at very much. I held (and still hold) a strong belief I have potential but as a youngster I just didn’t commit myself or maybe hold the belief my 39 years of learning and experience now tell me I should have.
Anyway, Christmas 1990 and the Tamiya Grasshopper 2! This was something. It was a racing buggy.
It was brand new; it was mine….and it was in bits in the box! So, me and Dad (Mostly Dad) set about building it and out I went on the front for many hours, jumping, crashing and trying to figure my little car out. I learnt about hard and soft suspension, how you can turn left to go right if you apply throttle and about tyres and their grip in different conditions. Its not as direct or structured as academic learning but you react and pick up when it goes wrong and try not to do it again. It’s sometimes subliminal, its a baseline and its learning through fun / experiment. The Science of the components and their abilities to flex, the technology in a speed controller and motor, the engineering involved when you build and design of such a cool thing and the maths around setup sheets and performance.
I do get impatient, and I did here. But it worked ok. Satisfied I knew enough, and the tyres were suitably worn I fitted the spare ones and went along to Frodsham Model Car Club.
This is where ill explain a bit about me and how I perceive I’ve got so much from motorsport. I’m competitive. I like winning as much as (maybe even more) than I like having fun, I’m not proud of that. Its not essential but it drove me for a long time. I played computer games and high scores were a big thing. World Rally Championship (in Carlos Sainz Celica), R-Type & Streetfighter 2 notable favourites. I didn’t win with my Grasshopper but I really wanted to.
Through PDC Racing ive taken so much from being helped (what a fine group of people) and being able to help and inspire others (that’s a key aim in my racing as an adult) but I needed something to push me to do it at an early age, and for me it was winning, actually overcoming things and having something tangible, being good at something by learning how to do it. Showing everyone I could. Winning is not the point, taking part is but my brain made it that I took part so I could win, what would your motivation be? The natural next step was always passing that on once I felt credible to do so, I always like to evidence my statements, rightly or wrongly.
If you like something and you have a reason to do it, find a way. This isn’t typed as a motivational speech, but it is a case study of someone who maybe shouldn’t have ever been racing that is so why cant you?
So the racing buggy, I went to Frodsham, I wasn’t the best but I was racing, I received a timing sheet with my name on, I tried to get better, I kept coming, I Improved and I learnt things. I raced RC cars on and off for 3 years and won the odd small trophy for a top 3 in class. I entered a race setup by a local company in Blackpool with hire cars, I won that race (in a BTCC Mondeo) and its the only RC race ive ever won. God Bless my grandma who paid for two entries (as i didnt believe my time was good enough on the first run to make the final) she believed I could win so im happy i did,I think she was happier than me. That nights Yazoo (Strawberry) and Chips after walking the dog was the best, a champions supper.
Much petulance and many years later I smashed that trophy whilst in a bad mood, that was a low point and something i regret. I grew out of the RC car; football and a house move to further away happened and RC Cars were on hold.
This experience was my first on the motorsport ladder (my age means consoles weren’t there) and whilst some won’t recognise it as a trigger they should. You build a car, you tweak its setup, you practice, and you race it. The components are all the same, recent cars are engineering masterpieces full of carbon fibre. The BRCA (British Radio Control Association) do a great job and the sport is alive and well to this day there are many race clubs all over the UK. We (PDC Racing) intend to procure an RC car to share with the schools and young people that we visit so that they can see it first hand. RC Buggies now look more like this (Schumacher - Cougar).
High School came and went, I didn’t achieve my potential which I look back on with regret, confidence was a major issue, that was becoming a theme.
During the latter stages of high school I had a go at indoor arrive and drive karts on the odd occasion, I then got a job as a marshal at a go kart track, most of my wages went on my food tab in the cold dark warehouse as i watched pro karts for 3 hours. I say watched, there were regular charges amd hurdling tyres over to the far corner of a dimly lit track to pull an out of luck (talent) driver from under the lightly packed tyres (later bolted together)
I got started on my first step in racing by watching Formula 1 and British Touring Cars, by reading books, by going to the track, trying a kart, competing with my RC car, by looking for something I liked to do to allow me to compete in any way. Who, that wants to race hasn’t got the ability to do any of that? It wasn’t complicated, it isn’t complicated.
Today there are so many inroads to racing, Consoles and their games, endless coverage on the tv and social media, how to guides, Racing Sims, Karting, going to the track. Want to race? Lets go.
*Many reading this will be over 16 and think, well yes, of course. Its harder to race real cars. In context it isn’t. Ill explain why if you are bored enough to read future blogs :)
Chapter 2 – Why do my ribs hurt? coming soon.