SPEAKER_00 0:00

Tom, good to uh to catch up with you. Good to see you here at Media Day. Um I was just saying that. That was very radio intro y that wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

That was very Norfolk Radio.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Norfolk North Norfolk Digital. Here I go. Exactly what I said. Um you've got brand new suit and nice chairs but the last time. We're talking about shoes again, because the last time I saw you was at the Bark Awards when you were all dressed up nicely. Oh, and you had those sparkly slippers on.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

I stole them old women's shoes off her. Um yeah, everything's very, very clean at the moment. It won't be like that for long, will it? No, we do go through a lot of washing powder at home to try and keep them clean.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

And and a good job you do as well. Thanks. Uh season is a couple of weeks away. We start off at Donington Park, which I know everybody's looking forward to. Um, but coming into this season, um, what's your mindset for this year, other than to add another title?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Yeah, pretty much, you've got it. Um I'm fairly chill with it, to be honest with you. I think it's um uh I've kind of done it for now long enough that I've been able to take some of the sort of peaks and troughs out of the emotions of a touring car season. You are just able to manage it all a little bit better. So I actually come in feeling very relaxed, I feel very calm. Um, I feel uh much more complete as a driver than I did back in the 23 season when I came in after after winning that first one. And also, you know, I've kind of done it now. I've I've I've won it, I've won it twice. You're able to look at it as to say, okay, I've got nothing to prove. You know, I've I've not got to win my first one. Um the second one you sort of do as a I just want to prove that it's not a flash in the pan. Okay, now you can sort of knuckle down and sort of get on with the get on with the trying to rack them up now and really trying to trying to get enjoy it. But I I was having the conversation with Louise earlier on, and I said, you know what, actually, the thing you learn over getting older and uglier with more wrinkles on my face, is that actually the journey through the season is the bit that you really enjoy. The winning is obviously the hugely enjoyable bit that goes without saying. Um, but it's the sort of the journey that you go on along the way is the bit that that is great fun. And I'm really, really lucky. I've got a great um, I've got a really, really cool, really, really good team around me that um we just have fun, we just do it with a smile on our face. Um, and we're trying to win as many as we can, we try to win as many championships as we can, we want to win as many races, we want to have as much fun as we can, um and enjoy it whilst we do it.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

We'll talk about the team because there's a couple of new additions uh to the team for this year, which is good. But Tom Chilton, your wingman, or are you his wingman? Which way around is it going? Yeah, maybe he would say uh what would say it particularly one way. Arguably the quickest car on the grid. And Marvin came in this morning. He said, Look, I think we've got the quickest car on the on the grid. Um is there any are they gonna catch you this year? Because it there was that sort of swing, wasn't there, where at one point you were you were chasing the forwards uh of Napa, everybody was because they just managed to get all the jigsaw puzzle pieces in place. And then last year, you know, clearly you came out on top and the team did uh exceptionally well. Um, is that going to change this year? Is it gonna be the same? Is everybody gonna get to be closer?

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Do you think look, it changes every single year. And that I could I could now spend the next however many minutes going through and listing every driver and every team and saying they'll be quick and they'll be quick and they'll be quick. Ultimately, Napa will be fast. Um the Mondeo that they've built will be quicker in a straight line, it'll be a it'll be a more efficient thing in a straight line, it'll still have the cornering ability of of what they had before. So you know they know that they've that they will have taken a step forwards. You've got the new Audi, you've got Plato, you've got BMW, you've got Speedworks, you've got a lot of teams on the grid that are all established and all know exactly what they're doing. So you can't rule anybody out. I don't think we're gonna be in a bad place. I think we'll be in a really, really good, solid place. I don't count on our chickens. The cars felt absolutely superb from testing. We've we've made quite a few tweaks. Visually, we'll look very similar from an exterior perspective, but a lot of what we've changed is all sort of under the bonnet and a lot of the setup stuff as well. So, yeah, whilst the the the the sort of the Monday will be the will be the biggest sort of outlier in terms of that um uh new car thing that they're gonna be using us as a reference, we're gonna be using them as a reference. Uh, I think it will probably be a similar sort of routine routine thing as the as the season goes through.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

I remember you saying to me last season that the car you had was probably as as good as it gets, I think was one phrase you used. And therefore there's always that temptation not to fiddle with things, isn't there? If it's that good, you know, uh why why why bother?

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Is is that is that a danger that you do there's always there's always a danger, there's always a danger of of winning the championship and thinking you've completed it as well. Um we've kind of seen over the years that a a beaten, a beaten driver, a beaten team, a beaten car tend to come back stronger the following year anyway. So there's always an element of that. But I I don't I don't think we've ever um you'll ever get to the point of saying it's completed, it's certainly at a point where it's bluming good and it's as good as as it's gonna feel that weekend without sort of going off on a on a new a new tangent. And that's the the beauty of actually having a a very good base product. A lot of our preseason testing has just been tweaking, but actually that is the that's the real place where you then find the value because you're not having to chase constantly thinking about a base setup. Yeah, you know the base setup's good, you know the car's already good, so you just tweak them from there. Uh we've done some fairly radical things in terms of setup that we've been wanting to try over the course of the year, but 90% of them didn't work. Um 10 of them went, oh, ho ho ho ho okay, this is this has really, really worked. Um I I feel really excited.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Um, the big thing that might shake things up, obviously, is the new qualifying format.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Yeah, are you all right to explain that to me now?

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Yeah, well, uh funnily enough, can I suggest that you listen to Tom Chilton's interview because he has clearly burned the midnight oils. Okay, I'll just listen to that. He explained it to uh a poor soul like me brilliantly.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Okay, what I'll do is I'll just listen to that then.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Essentially, it's not not a lot of time between uh one session and the next session to qualify and off you go, but you know it's qualifying race. You you you are aware of that. I um that's gonna really shake things up, isn't it, in terms of you know the the way that the I don't know, I don't know if it is or not.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

I don't really know. I think that's um there's an element of no none of us really knowing how it's gonna work. Um uh ultimately I think the I think that that the element of that the the fast cars and fast drivers will be towards the front of the sprint what's it is it what's it called?

SPEAKER_00 6:26

It's qualifying race. So it's not a sprint race. Please don't call it a sprint race, it's a qualifying race.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

What happens if we accidentally call it a sprint race?

SPEAKER_00 6:33

That's a visit to the bus, I understand. Okay, fine.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

So the qualifying race, okay. If ever I do say it's a sprint race, can you kick me?

SPEAKER_00 6:40

I will I will edit. We'll be alright. Okay, fine.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

But I've said it too many times in this interview, you can't really edit this out, can you? Sprint race. Qualifying race, okay, fine. Um what were we talking about? Oh yeah. The um I think uh ultimately I think the the the the drivers that were going to be qualifying at the front in qualifying um will be the ones who are qualifying at the front in the qualifying race. Yeah, qualifying race. Um and then what's the so you've got qualifying for the qualifying race and then the race?

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Yes. So you know yes, for the qualifying race. And then there's a qualifying race, which qualifies you for what was the old race one, two, and three, which some are saying is now race two, three, and four, of course.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

So is race one on a Saturday now, or is that now the qualifying race? Race qualifying.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

No, they're all all three race. No, the qualifying race is Saturday. So you've got free practice Saturday. You know exactly what's happening. You're just playing with me. Okay. Free practice, yeah, qualifying race, yeah, and then Sunday race one, two, and three. So okay is that right? Have I got that? Yes, I've got that right.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

So it's called a qualifying race.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Yeah. So um, did you go away on holiday this year? We had a lovely time, thanks so much. Yeah, we had a great time.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

We went to Dubai before um yeah, um, before anything bad was going on. That was nice. We went on the beach, we'd we'd um I didn't really do a lot to be honest. We just sort of sat still and burnt, which is lovely.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Had a chill time, which is good.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Went over in Wales, did some walking. We've done a bit of all sorts, really. It's been nice. Hey, we launched a new uh new fan club, Club 80. That was cool. Okay. That's been cool. Um we've done all sorts. Um couple of new You didn't want to ask me about Club 80 then, did you? I thought I'd ask about Club 80 or not.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

If you want to tell me about Club 80, tell me about Tom, tell me about Club 80.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Thanks so much for asking. Um it's um it's our new fan club called Club 80, which is the reason that we're not running the number one this season. Um so we will be continuing with number 80 because 80 is cool, um, and it's been my number four forever, forever, ever. And we are launching our new fan club Club 80. Free to join, lots of cool stuff going on in Club 80. You should go and join because it's cool.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

So because I know you'll slot it in anyway. How can people find out about Club 80?

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Well, thanks so much for asking. You can go onto my Instagram or my other social media channels and you can find it pinned to the top of my channel.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Pinned to the top of your channel. That should be a t-shirt. Yes, shouldn't it? Which is really good. That it is. Um, two new uh team members for you this year. Yep. You you you need to you know about this. Yeah, yeah. I was wondering whether it's which uh you're gonna be able to do it. I didn't know if there was another question to come up, but you're learning me. I was pausing to breathe in.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

I thought you were gonna say which one's your favourite or something like that. Well, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

You can do the interview yourself. Um, in uh Ricky and uh Nick. And uh Nick I spoke to earlier, he's uh very excited, particularly because he's jumped in uh the car and and taken two and a half seconds off his yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Well quick and likes it, he's having fun. Um it's gonna be good, it's gonna be really, really nice. We're gonna have a good little team around us, I think, this year. Um last year was fun with smiles on our faces and lots of laughs in the truck. Um, but obviously Adam has decided that he didn't want to he didn't want to enjoy himself anymore with us, so he thought he'd go somewhere else, which is a shame. Um Senna, I don't know what happened, and then obviously we've got to replace them, and we've come up with two cool guys who are gonna have a lot of fun, who are gonna be quick, and we're all gonna get on. It's gonna be lovely.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Truly marvellous. Um, Tom, I suspect uh we'll talk an awful lot during the season every time you step down from the podium, which will be good. We always have uh a bit of a gig. You haven't mentioned um Club 80. No, funnily enough, that wasn't the other one. It you haven't mentioned your smoker, which you normally uh get in, do you? Had it on over Easter? Did you?

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Did you not see something on my Instagram when I was doing it?

SPEAKER_00 10:18

No, I no, I I didn't because you were too busy looking for that pin.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

You were too busy looking for the Ah, no, you've made me feel bad. Okay. Do you want to you're having alright?

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Yes, everything's fine. Thank you, Dr. Ingram.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Um can you put your shows back on? Have a great uh season. Are you not gonna ask me about the road signs? I heard you talking earlier on the road.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

I am going to ask you, but I but it you let me do this bit and you answer the questions. Otherwise, I don't tell you how to drive. Well actually I did want to do time. You do all the time drive faster, break later. And you did really well at Thruxton when we told you that.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Yeah, you're welcome. No, I'm welcome.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Right. So, yes, highway code. Yep, hit me with it. Have you been getting the answers off the others? No. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

But I did have to do a um speed awareness test. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

You and Tom Chiltern.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Yeah, well, mine was really silly. I was um I was driving my van, um, driving along, and I was driving along the dual carriageway, mining my own business. Saw a little speed van on the side, went, ha ha, you're looking for people speeding. And I was casually going along at 65 mile an hour. Turns out it's 60 in a van.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

That was an oversight. Um I don't know what that is in the highway code, but you're absolutely right.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Um speed awareness course, and I had to lie about what I did because they asked me about what I did, and I thought I can't say I'm a racing driver. Not the police van, the um who was running the running the course. And I was drinking a coffee at the time and I panicked, and I said I ran a coffee shop in Coventry, and then she asked me loads of questions about coffee, and I didn't really know the answer to it.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

That could be your, you know, barista tom. Yeah. That could be uh, yeah. Okay, right. Well, let's uh let's do this because otherwise it'll be time to start at Donnington. Um one, two, or three.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Uh number one, please.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Number one, at 40 miles an hour in the dry. What is the stopping distance according to the highway code? Oh no. Okay, have a guess. Um either metres, feet, or car lengths. Oh, I don't know. Like 50 metres? It's 36 metres. Okay. You've just hit the car in front. Yes. Nine car lengths. Two or three. Um uh two. Two. Uh what shape is a stop sign?

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Uh stop sign.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Yes. They're in the road.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

It has a stop sign shape. Is it a hexagon?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

It is a hexagon, you're absolutely right. Made you sound surprised then. No, because I'm well, I didn't know whether you'd like to. It is a hexagon. You've got one out of two. Well done. Okay, thanks. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Can I have number three now, please?

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Yes, you can. Um you uh after stopping on an emergency area on the road, you're preparing to rejoin the carriageway.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

What like a hard shoulder?

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Yes. Uh no, yes, if you're an emergency area, an ERA, an emergency refuge area. What's one of them? It's where it says emergency and you pull over on the site, on the motorway or on a dual carriageway, things like that. Before you rejoin the carriageway, what must you do? Switch on your hazards, switch on your headlights, use the emergency phone, or slowly wave your arm out of the window. Why would you wave your arm out of the window? It's an old-fashioned thing to say that you were slowing down years ago before they had indicators.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Something like wafting out of smell. No. Um probably put your hazards on, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

No, actually, the highway code says you must use, you must use, it's rule 278, you must use the uh emergency phone to talk to the operator who will before you pull away. Yes. So you've pulled over and you put your hazards on. But before you rejoin the carriageway, the highway code, rule two seventy eight says ring the operator and they will advise what happens next. It may be that they need to close the inside lane. So they're going to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

Oh, you can just stop for a week.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Uh well, tell them, and then you know they'll decide what the best opportunity is. Operators are fully trained.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

Are you on commission or something here? What's going on? Is there any way?

SPEAKER_00 13:48

I'm off to join Club 80. Tom, really good to see you. Have a great day. I think we've ever shook hands before.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

That was the first time. Very firm grip.