British teenager Philip Hanson makes the move from karts to cars in 2016 with Tockwith Motorsports. Lining up alongside fellow Briton Nigel Moore the 2015 Super 1 National Junior X30 karting champion spoke to us at Paul Ricard ahead of the opening round of the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup in Imola in just over two weeks time.
Tell us about your racing background.
"We started racing about two and a half years ago and we did testing for the first six months in karts. From there we went onto club races, winning some kart races and then in 2015 we entered the Super 1 Junior X30. They call it the international qualifiers because if you won you get a ticket to the world finals. We won that and that has set us up to do what we needed to do to go to cars.”
What attracted you to come and race in the new Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup?
“It all started because Rob, the Team Manager of the karting team knew Simon (Moore). We spoke to them and we soon realised it was the proper route to go rather than going into some of the junior championships. When we saw what we could do with the driver line up with Nigel (Moore), we decided that this was a goal we could definitely reach.”
Which of the races on the 2016 calendar are you looking forward to the most?
“I’m really looking forward to the first race, to get and start racing but the race at Le Mans is going to be the highlight of the year."
How much time have you spent behind the wheel of the Audi R8?
“We’ve done quite a bit of running, we’re finding some issues but that’s why we go testing and the more track time we get the better we are getting.”
And the competition in this year’s championship?
“It’s not going to be easy but with the line up we have with Nigel we should be competitive. Nigel and I are getting on really well, it’s a pretty good line up really.”