Crawley teenager Charlie Hand celebrates back-to-back titles

As well as advancing to from his Citroen Saxo to a race prepared Renault Clio, it was also his first experience of endurance racing, rather than the short sprints he had been used to.

The opening round was at Silverstone in March, from where Hand not only came away having secured pole position, fastest lap and class wins in both races, but was eighth overall in the second race too, and left leading the overall Championship.

It was a two-month gap though before he was out again at Snetterton, where he was leading his class again in the opening race, but had to be push started after his pitstop due to starter motor problems, and still finished third.

“Silverstone had been a big boost, as it was unexpected, but the gap before Snetterton just disappeared once I was back in the car,” he added.

Brake problems hampered him in the second race, but it was a close battle with team-mate Jack Meakin. He was delayed at the stop again, “the scrutineer wanted to check the car before I could rejoin,” he said. “It had started to rain when I rejoined, but I caught and passed James Black quickly, before closing in on leader Richard Ashmole in the closing laps,” he added, after taking third class win in a magnificent sixth overall.

It was back to Silverstone again for the halfway point of the season, with Hand again the pacesetter in the Renault Clio Class.

He finished the first race in the overall top 10 again, but had to settle for second in Class, after a racelong duel with Scott Symon. But he got the jump on his rival from the start of race two, made his compulsory stop early and came home seventh overall and more importantly it was another class win.

Donington Park’s National Circuit hosted the penultimate race weekend and having concentrated on his Class title chase, it began to hit home that he was battling for the overall Britcar Trophy title too.

It was a dramatic opening race however, as Charlie hadn’t been well prior to the race, but after a difficult race and fuel surge problems, causing him to lose time near the end, he snatched the Class lead on the last lap. A winner on the road he was later penalised for a yellow flag incident, dropping him to second.

In the second race he was sat comfortably in second place, catching the leader, when the fuel surge problems returned and his car cut out completely on the last lap, and he rolled across the line in third place.

Back to Donington for finals but on the Grand Prix Circuit. There was some close racing, but Charlie dominated again with two class wins, totalling six for the season, sealing the Clio Class title by over 60 points and with fourth overall in both races, it left him just seven points shy of the overall crown too.

“I thought I would be near the top of the class, but didn’t expect to be as dominant in my first year. It’s mostly been highs this year, but I know fully just how easily that can change, so I will happily take the experience and move on,” he concluded.

Charlie would like to thank everyone on the Westbourne crew, especially Joel his mechanic, plus his family, sponsors Orange Projects and anyone else who has contributed to his title winning season.

He was also voted Driver of the Year by Britcar at their awards dinner. Claire Hedley, Britcar Managing Director advised, “It was a unanimous decision by the whole team to choose Charlie. He had been the standout driver of the year, in his first senior year.