Maurice Henry Column: Gearing up for the new season

The winter break in car racing is much longer than in karting where there is the opportunity to be on track all year round. Still, the break is welcome and needed to prepare for the next season, both physically and financially.

So, the winter wasn’t spent doing nothing. I worked hard on my physical and mental fitness. I also spent a lot of time on iRacing. That’s where you will find me when I am not at the track. There’s a good community of drivers from various racing categories.

Meanwhile, Dad worked on planning the year ahead in terms of the testing programme and attracting the funding for the season. This season, without the Ginetta Junior Scholarship funding it’s a very different order of magnitude!

This year we intend to be as prepared as we can be for my final year in junior racing before going senior in 2023. The primary target is to cover the costs of running in the championship which is championship entry fees, race team fees, insurance and championship running expenses (tyres, fuel, car maintenance etc).

Then the next priority is pre-season and in-testing. Every test day with the Fox Motorsport team is very analytical and productive. I also have a schedule of training in the simulator at SIMTrack Driver Performance; the guys there have become an important part of my development.

Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Testing started at a wet Brands Hatch in February. I was looking forward to trying out some things that I had been thinking about over the winter to improve my driving and it worked. We then went to Thruxton and had another good day.

The following week I did 3 days testing back to back at Snetterton and Donington. This would really test my fitness, my hydration etc, all day each day in the car. The testing all went really well. We then did more testing at Donington, Brands Hatch and Silverstone.

My last pre-season test was at Croft which is a new circuit for me. I’m really looking forward to the new challenge. The first round of the championship is at Donington on 23/24 April. From the data analysis, I am quietly confident about my targets for this season.

The pre-season also went well in terms of raising funds. I am excited to announce a new partnership with  Goodridge-Milford Funeral Directors Ltd. GMFD are a family-owned business that focuses on service quality, care and attention. Thank you for being an enabler in my 2022 season.

Credit: Cecil Henry

Whilst sponsorship forms a large part of my funding, donations from friends and family are also a significant contribution. Most recently I received donations from RHF Fans Ltd and my Grandmother Henry. Therefore my car will be displaying a ‘Thank You’ message to recognise appreciate all donations to my racing development to date and going forwards. Thank you for the big donation Gran! 

RHF Fans Ltd is a technology led manufacturer of high quality centrifugal and axial industrial fans for bespoke applications. Thank you to the RHF team! My car will be will be displaying a ‘Thank You’ message to appreciate all the donations I’ve received towards to my racing development.

Follow my racing this season on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mauricehenryracing/