F1 Esports champion Lucas Blakeley was a late addition to the GB4 grid at Snetterton last weekend, but the Scotsman didn’t waste any time in getting up to speed on his slicks and wings debut.
After testing the KMR Sport car for the first time on Thursday, his rapid progression translated into a stunning fourth quickest time in qualifying. While the races proved tricky encounters, he still banked a pair of top-10 finishes, and admitted he’d completed a lifetime goal by racing in the series.
“It was such a privilege, I never thought I’d get an opportunity to go racing like this,” he said. “A big thanks to KMR Sport and SD Team for making the weekend possible, because without them it would never have been on the card.
“It was a heck of a weekend. The highlight was definitely qualifying because never in my wildest dreams did I think when hopping in the car for the first time on Thursday and around Snetterton for the first time as well, that I’d qualify P4. So that was the highlight for me.
“I’ve enjoyed the experiences, whether it was the highs or the lows, I enjoyed every bit of it, trying to learn and get up to speed as quickly as possible. It’s been a privilege to be here and I tried to savour it on the in lap at the end of the weekend.”
Widely known in eSports circles, and a part of the McLaren team, he was able to point out several key differences between racing in the virtual and the real world.
“The way you build into the weekend, on the sim you have a lot of time whereas I felt like I was having to develop as quickly as possible from Thursday onwards. Obviously in the sim you can’t replicate the speed, and what I’ve missed from my karting days was that adrenaline that speed gives you, especially around Snetterton. The car was alive and it was such good fun to drive these cars as well, very different from anything I’ve driven before, and something I’d always dreamed of, just for years.
“If you’d told me nine years ago when I had to stop go karting that I’d be racing on a GB4 weekend I wouldn’t have believed it. So first of all I’m just grateful for the experience and I hope I did all the people that have supported me for all these years and across the course of the weekend proud. I gave it a lot to do as well as I could with the time I had.”
Blakeley only found out he’d be driving the car in testing a few days beforehand, so it was a rapid turnaround to even get into the driving seat.
“I only found out about testing on Monday, and then it was confirmed on the Tuesday, I drove to the circuit on Wednesday and drove the car for the first time on Thursday. On Friday I found out I could race, so you just don’t know in this world and I just try and grab every opportunity that I’ve had. Especially when it comes to getting back into real world racing, so I’m just trying to enjoy the experiences while they happen and I treated the weekend as if it was the only time it was ever going to happen. I wanted to really, really savour it.
His best result from the weekend was a pair of seventh places, but while he was aiming for higher results, he was still proud of his achievements despite a lack of experience.
“Ultimately I would maybe have liked a bit better results from the races but I’m glad that when I look back next week, and given that this was my first time, I think P4 in quali and the pace in the races as well, and not giving up, even in race one when I had to avoid a collision and I spun. I didn’t get emotional I put my head down, got the engine going and I didn’t give up.
“I just wanted to keep chasing the dream and that’s something I adopted with my dad when I was younger in go karting.”
