Driver Management for Chris Cooke

A new type of motorsport with a new set of solutions to find. Chris Cooke had raced karts against Jenson Button and other drivers who have gone on to great success in Formula 1. Chris is a talented driver who was supported 100% by his family but had little or no support in the crucial areas that were required to move up the ladder in motorsport. This was my first attempt to turn my experience into an employed role going forward.

Chris was racing in NASCAR, the British equivalent of ASCAR in the States. The whole series was run from Rockingham Raceway and attracted drivers like Ben Collins (the Stig) and was in real terms the business end of motorsport. Paul went to Rockingham to shadow the team for a weekend and in usual Paul White style slept in the pits so that he was the first one in and the last one out.

It was clear that Chris’ destiny was not in his hands and this was the first of many times in Paul’s performance and adventure life, where his judgement and instinct of others has proved invaluable in guiding people's career decisions.

From his time spent with the team, Paul advised Chris of his evaluation that the makeup of the team meant that he was not getting the support he would need to succeed. Although Paul’s straight talking attitude has not always gone down well it has proved correct on more occasions than not and enabled people he believed in to succeed. Time spent with Chris Cooke who was an amazingly genuine guy, showed Paul the darker side of motorsport and the exploitation of young talent coming through the categories.

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