After knowing it was a reality, I got to work, understanding who I would need to help me film the final two actuality sequences of this documentary. Thanks to help from Rod Birley, who had mentored me earlier in this project, I contacted a race team and agreed to share a Citroen Saxo race car at Brands Hatch over this weekend, in a similar style race to the one with Sam. We would each take part in the race in the same car, changing over in a pitstop halfway through.
There was a test session on Friday and the race was the day after on Saturday. As Cailan was working, the only crew I had on Friday was George for 1 hour and my Dad who has camera skills as well as being good with a video camera. I needed a few people to be there, as otherwise, we would not have the footage of me driving for the first time, as well as good b-roll of the car and team. We also see the team I am with for the first time so any footage on this day would help us put together the story.
We worked off the same camera plans as we did on the Friday test session with Sam. Dad and George had trackside access and my Dad managed to visit two locations in the two thirty minute test sessions I had, doing multiple angles at both. George was only at the location for one session and stayed in the pitlane to get shots of me putting on my race suit and pulling in and out of the pitlane as well as everything in between.
Friday went to plan and we got a number of shots which were different to others in the documentary, which was my aim as I wanted to ensure not every scene looked the same. Friday was most important as it gave me an idea of what the car would be like to drive, so this day was most valuable for me as a contributor/ race driver! I also learned small details such as GoPro placement inside the car as well as track areas we could use on Saturday to ensure the test and race day would look significantly different.
After a successful Friday, attention turned to Saturday and what I hoped would be my first ever motor race. Filming this new race gave us options for an ending for our documentary and I was happy to have gone out of my way to contact sponsors to ensure a second race could happen. I organised this very quickly and with the test day on Friday, I felt a little bit more prepared for my first ever race.
We had a very strong crew for the race day, with Cailan and George working from the pitlane and Jon and my Dad on cameras around the track. Both of the latter have a vast amount of motorsport videography experience, so their input was solely filming the car on track. As before, we did not acquire trackside access because of Brands Hatch regulations on race days, which we understood, and used the plans for the first race. These took into consideration the fact we could only film in public viewing areas, but we knew we would be able to take advantage of being connected to a race team and the unique angles and places we could film.
As a contributor, I had already built up a lot of tension for the first race a few weeks ago, so going into this weekend I was in a different mindset and was able to relax a little more. As with the first race, the team asked me a few questions as well as my teammate to ensure we had good coverage of the people involved to ensure the sequence is grounded. On reflection, the crew had learned a lot from the first race day and the fact they had missed some key shots which meant that on this shoot they recorded an abundance of footage which will give them many more options in the edit.
After a great qualifying which put us second in class, I started the race which added some extra pressure as I was not expecting that! I was hoping for the second half as the race starts are the part with the most danger when the cars are all bunched together! However, I overcame another fear and started the car which was an experience I do not regret. However, the first start did not go as planned. There was a crash in front of me which took out the leading car in my class as well as another quicker car. This only added to the worry of starting the race, after seeing it all happen just in front of me.
Thankfully I kept calm and took the restart well and drove a timid first stint, not taking any risks to ensure the car came into the pitlane and confirm that I did my part in my first ever motor race! I am so happy I took the start as it ensured we would have no problem in saying I actually competed in my first ever race! I brought the car in and my teammate Chris did the second part. It all went well and he drove well to maintain our first in class position, meaning I won my first ever motor race!
An absolutely surreal experience and one I am so happy that I had. If I had not done this race I may have pondered for a number of months about "what if" I had finished the race with Sam. I am happy to put that misfortune behind me and finally do it! The team did a great job (the best so far) of staying out of my way and allowing me to go about the day naturally. And in doing so, it made sure the footage was incredibly natural and I am a big fan of the unique angles which the crew managed to capture and I am very proud that their dedication did not leave them after the disappointment of the first race day.
Overall, a fantastic day for a number of reasons. The footage was incredible and allows us to have another choice for our ending, although at this stage we feel it may be more powerful to show the disappointment after the first race. Secondly, the race went really well and I was able to achieve a dream as well as getting a good result along with it. Finally, I got to meet a number of really great people and finish this part of the journey with my friends and family. It all came together in the end and I am very happy it ended like it did. The amazing crew made sure all of the emotion was captured, ensuring whatever end we have will be powerful in one way. Now we have just two weeks to get the whole documentary edited and finished. I am very proud of the evolution and excited to see the final cut.
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