The British Touring Car Championship driver sat down to talk about what life is like in his 11th season in the series, including how confident he's feeling about winning his first title this year.
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00:00 And I'm joined by Jake now. Jake, thank you very much for being here with us. Welcome on to the
00:04 programme. First of all, let's look back to the first round of the British Touring Car Championship
00:08 season. Two podiums for yourself at Donington. Brilliant start. Absolutely. You know, it's
00:15 always a challenge racing at the highest level in British Touring Cars and you never really know
00:21 what sort of package you're going to have until you get to round one. You know, there's lots of
00:26 variables. You don't know what other teams have been up to, what other drivers have been up to in
00:30 the off-season and what sort of strides forward they have made. But we were fairly confident in
00:35 our package at Laser Tools Racing and, you know, it proved to be a good one. You know, we ended up
00:42 with two third place finishes and a fifth place in the reverse grid draw. So, yeah, overall,
00:47 I'm extremely happy with how the first round went. And you mentioned the variables there. One of them
00:53 was, of course, the rain. It kind of sent the weekend into a bit of a rearrangement. What's
00:56 that like for you as a driver when you're ready to go but then plans get changed at the last minute?
01:01 Yeah, it's actually the first time we've had or I've had such a delay, you know, in my time in
01:08 British Touring Cars. I mean, you know, wow, we didn't get going until sort of half one and normally
01:12 the first race is at around 11, which I know doesn't sound a massive difference, but we were
01:17 the first race, you know, whereas normally there's lots of races all starting from 9am. So it was an
01:23 awful lot of rain. A huge thank you to all the fans that attended and all of our partners because,
01:29 you know, it could have been a very easy excuse to stay at home. But I'm glad everyone came out
01:35 and, you know, we managed to put on a good show for everyone. That was the main thing. But
01:38 it definitely, you know, upset the day in terms of rhythm. Normally you have a set time in between
01:45 races to get yourself prepared, you know, even silly little things like eat and drink the right
01:50 stuff, talk to partners. And unfortunately, you know, all of that sort of went out the window
01:56 a little bit and we had to just go and do it on the fly. So, but still, we were good, we were
02:01 prepared. And like I say, you know, we came away with three strong results. Absolutely.
02:05 Brands Hatch next, of course, back to your home Kent circuit. What's it like coming back to Kent?
02:11 Obviously, last time out at Brands Hatch was the season finale and you got to win.
02:16 I did. Yeah, I won the last round, round 30. And, you know, finally my first win
02:21 on the GP circuit at Brands Hatch in a touring car. So I'd won there in my lower categories,
02:28 but it was a fantastic end to what was a good season last year. But I'm extremely excited to
02:34 go back to the Indy circuit. You know, as you say, it's my home circuit. I'm a Kent boy through and
02:39 through and I absolutely love it there, you know. So I'm really, really excited to see how we get on.
02:44 We're making big strides again with the car. Donington was an amazing learning curve for us
02:48 with effectively our new 3 Series BMW. And I'm super excited to get to Brands now. Can't wait.
02:56 I wanted to ask about the car actually, because it's your third season in the BMW
03:00 and it's brought you some real success. I mean, third in both of the previous seasons.
03:04 How do you feel about, what was the potential of converting that into your first championship?
03:10 Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's always the aim, you know, I mean, to be honest,
03:14 especially since we've driven for BMW. Yeah, that was one of the big reasons for moving to BMW,
03:19 simply because it gave me the opportunity to potentially win a championship. And,
03:23 you know, for the last two years, I've finished in third place in the championship, which is
03:27 obviously pretty strong, but we want to go one step further and try and win this thing once
03:31 and for all. So hopefully we can, as I say, Team BMW and BMW UK themselves have put a lot,
03:38 a lot of effort into this year's car. We've got a new engine, we've got massive chassis upgrades,
03:44 and we've got a complete sort of aero/facelift going on with our 3 Series BMW bodywork as well.
03:50 So there's a lot of changes with the car. It really does feel like a new car and that's why
03:56 we're still sort of learning it. But I must say, something straight out of the box, it's pretty
04:00 good. And as is such the life of a racing driver, it's not just the BMW you've been riding recently,
04:07 you were also at Goodwood a few weeks ago riding that Mustang. What was that experience like?
04:12 Yeah, returning to Goodwood members meeting, it truly is my favourite historic racing meeting
04:18 that I do. You know, I have such a big career now in historic racing, it's not just British
04:23 touring cars. And I always love being invited and going back to Goodwood. It's such a pleasure.
04:28 The circuit is beautiful. Everything about the event is amazing. And this year we were
04:32 lucky enough to drive a 1966 Mustang in the All Mustang race, which was just an absolute blast.
04:39 There were some amazing drivers in it. And obviously the cars are pretty cool themselves.
04:43 And I also returned into my Jitan Ford Capri as well, my 3-litre Capri. So yeah, overall,
04:51 it was a fantastic weekend and we managed to score a third place with the Mustang as well. So
04:57 another fantastic start. And just to go off track slightly, since last season,
05:02 you and your partner have had a baby. You're now a dad. What's that life treating you like?
05:06 It's fantastic. I mean, I'm sure everyone who's had children always say it's the best thing that
05:14 happens to you. There is a slight sleep deprivation, I must say, for the first few
05:19 months. But we're getting over it. And yeah, it's a real joy. I love having him at the races. He
05:24 came to Goodwood and to Donington for the first round of touring cars. And it's really special
05:30 to have him there and to have your family there now. It's an amazing feeling, really. But yeah,
05:35 overall, me and Hannah are well and little baby Jude is great. So yeah, I can't complain, really.
05:41 Life's pretty good. No, it's good stuff. Now, we'll wrap up in just a second. But I just wanted
05:46 to ask, when you think about your career, it's your 11th season in the BTC now. Do you see
05:51 yourself kind of looking back more or looking forward into the future more?
05:56 Definitely still looking forward. I mean, I've had an amazing career so far. I mean,
06:02 I've been doing it, best part of 14, 15 years now racing cars. So for sure, my career is quite long
06:09 already. But I still feel like I'm absolutely in the prime. And also, there's so many really good
06:16 things to look forward to. I mean, hopefully, trying to win a championship in the British
06:20 Touring Cars is obviously rule number one and goal number one to try and achieve. But I'd love
06:25 to go and do some sports car racing and try and get into endurance racing in the future.
06:29 But for now, I'm extremely happy with touring cars and there's still a lot of life left.
06:34 Good stuff. And we look forward to celebrating it all here on the program. Thank you very much
06:38 for joining me, Jake, and best of luck with the rest of the season.
06:40 Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.