Ross Wylie embarks on a gruelling 2,000-mile road trip on Wednesday (1 May) to contest races in Germany and England in the space of three days.
The 21-year-old from Thornhill competes in the opening round of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup at the Hockenheim circuit near Heidelberg on Saturday (4 May) and then defends his Volkswagen Racing Cup series lead at Rockingham near Corby, Northamptonshire, on Bank Holiday Monday (6 May).
Wylie, who is the only Briton racing in the German DTM support race series, said: “I will drive from my home to Germany on Wednesday and we’ll get back in the early hours of the following Tuesday, hopefully having posted good results in both championships so the hectic nature of the trip will be worthwhile.
“I’ve never been to Hockenheim but I’ve ‘driven’ the track on a simulator at iZone Driver Performance in Silverstone which should be of benefit but it’s not quite the same as driving it in a real race car.
“I’ll only get 45 minutes of practice on Friday before a 30 minute qualifying session on Saturday prior to the 30 minute race that afternoon.
“I tested my ‘German’ Volkswagen for the first time at the official pre-season test at Oscherslaben in mid April and got a feel for the car. It was pretty tricky to get my head around initially with the ABS brakes and Dunlop tyres, both of which I’m not used to and which meant I had to change my driving style a lot to suit the car.”
Wylie’s race on the 2.84-mile Hockenheim track is scheduled to finish early Saturday evening with Ross planning to drive his left-hand-drive Volkswagen Scirocco lease car through the night to arrive at Rockingham in time for a nap prior to participating in qualifying on Sunday afternoon.
“I went to Rockingham for the first time earlier this month and tested for a day in mixed weather conditions,” continued Wylie.
“First time out on track was wet which was the last thing I wanted when learning a new circuit but it dried later giving me a feel for the circuit in both conditions.
“My pace was good and I am looking forward to the race especially after finishing fourth and winning the opening two races over Easter at Oulton Park.”
Wylie races his Slidesports prepared Volkswagen Scirocco in two 20-minute races at Rockingham, staged in the morning and afternoon, before embarking on the final 220-mile drive back to Dumfries.
Ross concluded: “This is only my second full season in motor racing after my kart career and I guess this week’s schedule underlines my commitment. Sacrifices must be made if you want to succeed and move up the ‘ladder’. “This will certainly be a challenge, physically and mentally, but this is when the training comes in to play to cope with these stresses.
“Contesting races at Hockenheim and Rockingham just three days apart is certainly not going to be an easy task but I will give it my best shot.”
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