Charlie Eastwood from karting to Car racing - RNW | RacingNewsWorldwide.com | Your latest racing news
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Charlie Eastwood from karting to Car racing

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Hi, Charlie thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I’ve been watching you race since your amazing race in NOLA and you are amazing.

I see you started karting in 2005 back then you were 10 years old what made you decide you wanted to start racing?

When I was younger, racing was already in my family. Both my older brothers raced karts and my dad raced cars. So from a young age, I realized I wasn’t going to be a footballer and all I thought about was racing.

Looking back at your first years of kart racing what was your most memorable race weekend?

The most memorable weekend was in my 2nd year of racing winning the Irish Karting championship

From 2012 onwards you seem to have understood something in your racing that took you to the front row from then on, what changed?

Yes, I totally agree something changed. It’s hard to know but really I feel like I took a lot more control over my racing from being a kid and turning into an adult. So really the understanding of how to drive became a lot more apparent then the results followed!

In 2014 you made the switch to single-seater how did you like your experience in these series and why did you not stay in these open-wheel racing series?

After winning the world & European championship I wanted to take the standard progression to make it to f1. Really I wasted my 2 years in single seater as I was still trying to drive the car like a kart and that just doesn’t work. Really it was a blessing in disguise that it didn’t go as well as I hope because then I stopped the championship halfway through in 2015 and before I knew it I saw an application for a Porsche scholarship and the rest is history

In 2016 you moved to closed wheel racing in the Porsche British cup and you made quite a first impression with 1 win and 10 podiums did you think you were going to be as competitive as this from the start and why?

2016 went great for us. I got the Porsche Carrera Cup GB junior program for 2016/17 slightly unexpected after a poor single-seater career but the main goal for the championship was to win the Rookie Championship in year 1 and the overall pro class in year 2. In 2016 I won the Rookie championship very convincingly with 14 wins but to be able to get an overall win at the last round give me great confidence in going into 2017

In 2017 you got top honours for the Porsche British Cup finishing in 1st place how did you feel?

2017 was the perfect end to my 2-year programme with Porsche. We have done exactly as I set out to do which was win the rookie in year 1 and to win the overall championship in year 2 and to win on joint points which then went back oo most wins which I had was amazing! Was such a close fight but great to come out on top

What is your ideal next move?

In 2018 I will be racing in WEC, Blancpain, and VLN. So really it’s all about getting as much experience as possible in GT endurance this with the hope of making a good impression and looking into 2019 for a factory drive with a manufacturer.

Looking back into your career would you of changed thing or made different choices?

I think really I would have made better choices in my single-seater career. I came from winning World and European championships in karts and I thought it would be a simple and similar transition into race cars but there is a lot more to learn. So really knowing that I would have got some driver coaching and done a lot more testing before my first race season in F4

Would you like to thank your sponsors and support group around you?

Mainly I would like to thank my family for sticking by me through all the highs and lows throughout my whole career

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David Martin-Janiak Motorsports has always been a passion for me, I've raced in Karting and now I have my own Motorsports news website, so i can help other racers convey their passion to the world!

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