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Proudly flying the Canadian flag in open-wheel racing competition, Ontario's Luke Chudleigh will contest the 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS Series.
Aspiring to follow in the footsteps of Canadian Grand Prix heroes Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve, Europe's open-wheel racing ladder was a lure too strong for Chudleigh to ignore.
The 18-year-old from Milton, Ontario totally immersed himself in the experience, underlining his commitment to success by relocating from Canada to France full-time to both work and drive for Tech1 Racing, while learning the language of his new environment also.
“Welcome to my first column for Auto123.com! I'm excited to have this opportunity to share my European racing adventures with you and hopefully give you a bit of a snapshot into my life living and racing on the other side of the Atlantic.
The 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS Series kicks off in a couple of weeks so with my pre-season test commitments, charging around the likes of Spa and Monza, I've finally found some time to get this column fired out.
I'm headed into my second year of car racing and also second season in Europe. I'm happy to say the decision to race there, and not in North America, is courtesy of my relationship with Robert and Trevor Wickens. Until I met them, I hadn't even considered the possibility of a career in Europe and the goal of Formula 1.
My family wasn't familiar with racing at all. Playing racing games sparked my love for it to be honest; I never even used to watch F1 on TV! I just wanted to experience that sensation for real. I found my way into karting and that's where I first met Robert and Trevor.
Robert's experience in Europe, having competed and won in the likes of GP3, F3, F2 and winning the Formula Renault 3.5 Series title in 2011, is brilliant for me to be able to tap into.
Of course he's still over there now racing in the DTM Series (as a factory Mercedes driver) but as an advocate for going down the European path to kick-start my career, he was massively influential and has been a tremendous mentor since I started racing there in 2013.
Trevor, in turn, got me karting and has worked closely with me not just on the driving front but on all the other things a driver has to focus on outside of the car. These are all things I've been putting into play both last year and as I look ahead to this year racing with Tech1 in Formula Renault 2.0.
The biggest decision I made for 2013 was to move to France to live full-time in Toulouse to be close to Tech1 Racing's base. Needless to say that brought many challenges, especially having to learn French, which I'm happy to say I've fully embraced.
It matured me a lot going over there on my own. I didn't have a support team around me, and while I have a great relationship with the team, that's business and they're not there to be my personal cheerleading squad!
It's obviously tough when things aren't always going as you'd like on-track but despite being there independently, I never struggled for motivation. You take all these things as learning opportunities and it definitely made me stronger taking on that challenge in France.
I'm doing the same thing again this year, living in an apartment to be close to the team and to fully immerse myself in the experience.
Between races you can find me hanging out at the team's workshop, going over data, running simulator work for them and generally doing whatever's required.
Pre-season testing's been going well and I'm literally now counting down the days to the start of the 2014 season. The calendar consists of races at Imola, Pau, Red Bull Ring, Spa, Monza, Mugello and Jerez! Who wouldn't be happy to be racing at tracks like that? I can't wait to get going!
Luke
To follow Luke:
www.lukechudleigh.com
@LukeChudleigh
Aspiring to follow in the footsteps of Canadian Grand Prix heroes Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve, Europe's open-wheel racing ladder was a lure too strong for Chudleigh to ignore.
The 18-year-old from Milton, Ontario totally immersed himself in the experience, underlining his commitment to success by relocating from Canada to France full-time to both work and drive for Tech1 Racing, while learning the language of his new environment also.
“Welcome to my first column for Auto123.com! I'm excited to have this opportunity to share my European racing adventures with you and hopefully give you a bit of a snapshot into my life living and racing on the other side of the Atlantic.
 |
| Luke Chudleigh (Photo: Luke Chudleigh) |
The 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS Series kicks off in a couple of weeks so with my pre-season test commitments, charging around the likes of Spa and Monza, I've finally found some time to get this column fired out.
I'm headed into my second year of car racing and also second season in Europe. I'm happy to say the decision to race there, and not in North America, is courtesy of my relationship with Robert and Trevor Wickens. Until I met them, I hadn't even considered the possibility of a career in Europe and the goal of Formula 1.
My family wasn't familiar with racing at all. Playing racing games sparked my love for it to be honest; I never even used to watch F1 on TV! I just wanted to experience that sensation for real. I found my way into karting and that's where I first met Robert and Trevor.
Robert's experience in Europe, having competed and won in the likes of GP3, F3, F2 and winning the Formula Renault 3.5 Series title in 2011, is brilliant for me to be able to tap into.
 |
| Luke Chudleigh (Photo: Luke Chudleigh) |
Of course he's still over there now racing in the DTM Series (as a factory Mercedes driver) but as an advocate for going down the European path to kick-start my career, he was massively influential and has been a tremendous mentor since I started racing there in 2013.
Trevor, in turn, got me karting and has worked closely with me not just on the driving front but on all the other things a driver has to focus on outside of the car. These are all things I've been putting into play both last year and as I look ahead to this year racing with Tech1 in Formula Renault 2.0.
The biggest decision I made for 2013 was to move to France to live full-time in Toulouse to be close to Tech1 Racing's base. Needless to say that brought many challenges, especially having to learn French, which I'm happy to say I've fully embraced.
It matured me a lot going over there on my own. I didn't have a support team around me, and while I have a great relationship with the team, that's business and they're not there to be my personal cheerleading squad!
 |
| Luke Chudleigh (Photo: Luke Chudleigh) |
It's obviously tough when things aren't always going as you'd like on-track but despite being there independently, I never struggled for motivation. You take all these things as learning opportunities and it definitely made me stronger taking on that challenge in France.
I'm doing the same thing again this year, living in an apartment to be close to the team and to fully immerse myself in the experience.
Between races you can find me hanging out at the team's workshop, going over data, running simulator work for them and generally doing whatever's required.
Pre-season testing's been going well and I'm literally now counting down the days to the start of the 2014 season. The calendar consists of races at Imola, Pau, Red Bull Ring, Spa, Monza, Mugello and Jerez! Who wouldn't be happy to be racing at tracks like that? I can't wait to get going!
Luke
To follow Luke:
www.lukechudleigh.com
@LukeChudleigh