I have been a lifelong motorsport enthusiast, however, this year at 40 has been the first opportunity for me to realise my dream of racing.
The choice of race car was a natural one as my other passion and profession as an architect helps me appreciate the timeless brilliance of Colin Chapman’s distilled 7 design that combines ruthless simplicity, efficiency and effectiveness for maximum performance and enjoyment. The mantra ‘less is more’ is most fitting.
That is the logical reason, however, a more personal reason dates back to 1989 in the Le Mans Lotus Club campsite as an eight year old sitting in a 7 that I first fell for that unique view down the bonnet, the narrow open cockpit and their inherently joyful feel, even at standstill.
Yet these sound reasons for wanting to race a Caterham were eclipsed by the immense thrill of actually driving one at Anglesey in 2021 thanks to friend and fellow 420R racer Philipp Nagel. On that day I also had the good fortune of meeting the incredibly friendly and accommodating TFL Racing team and all that mattered from that game changing day onwards was tracking one down and getting into the right racing series.
I had initially thought I would start in the Caterham Academy, however, upon talking to various contacts who would know, it was the consensus that the Toyo 7 Series was ideal championship for the way it was run by the incredibly experienced McMillan Motorsport, the excellent racing standards, the highly professional teams and top flight circuits the series run at in the UK and Europe. I went to the 2021 Silverstone round to see for myself and, whilst I was made aware that the competition would be toughest in the Toyo series, the whole package was far too compelling to not be a part of.
TFL Racing found me a 420R in December and I have enjoyed their fantastic car and driver support ever since, including the epic experience of my first race weekend at Donington Park.
The racing, shared passions and camaraderie are wonderful components of the Toyo series, however, another is that the all involved are inherently driven, forward looking individuals who are successful at what they do outside of the series in businesses as well as living their lives, which is just the type of people that my firm, Greenaway Architecture, loves working with. Therefore, I also hope there will be opportunities to collaborate professionally with my fellow competitors over time, as well as enjoying racing with them.
Duncan Greenaway
https://www.instagram.com/greenaway_architecture/
duncan@greenawayarchitecture
07904108922