Having held strong ambitions to race from an early age, Peter has since competed in a wide range of cars and championships in the UK and Europe. His driving talent was first recognised at the highly-acclaimed Team Touraco race school at Cadwell Park where he won the much sought-after Testing Contract in 1987.
However, budget limitations meant there was no way to follow the likes of Mark Blundell or Kelvin Burt from Team Touraco to the big time, so Peter spent time as a mechanic in club racing, before purchasing a second-hand Alfa Sud race car. This was the start of a club racing career which resulted in several successful years in the Dunlop Alfa Romeo Championship.
"I actually realised on that last podium of 1995 that it was a defining moment in my driving career. I wanted to race against the best and to do that, I needed to step up to professional racing". Taking advice from Prodrive (who were at that time running the Alfa Romeo 155 BTCC cars), Peter set up a five year plan to get to the BTCC, and signed for the 1997 Ford Zetec Fiesta Championship. He raised eyebrows after finishing 2nd in only his first race, despite spending the whole of 1996 off the track looking for funds to make the step up. What is not widely known is the fact that he sold almost every possession (including his house!) to make up the budget for that 1997 season.
Since then, Peter has hardly looked back. His progression through the ranks (see Racing History section below) has been aided by results-related sponsorship deals which saw him achieve his initial ambition of racing in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 2001 and 2002. However, experiences with Endurance Racing and the British GT Championship in 2003 and 2004 expanded Peter's horizons and his combination of speed, consistency and car-sympathy have since led to great success with teams in the long distance racing arena.
Peter has also put his driving and communication skills to good use as a driving consultant, with one-to-one coaching sessions focussing both on performance driving and car set-up optimisation. His experience in this area has helped many drivers to maximise results on track over the years.
STATISTICS
Nationality: British
Born: Cheshire, May 1968
Lives: Gloucestershire
Height: 182cm
Weight: 81kg
Heart Rate at Rest: 50bpm
Education: First Class Degree in Automotive Design
1987 Team Touraco Race School (Cadwell Park)
1988-89 Team Touraco Formula Ford Testing Contract
1989-91 Mechanic Dunlop Alfa Romeo Championship
1989-92 Guest Drive Austin Healey Sebring Sprite HSCC
Enduro win + fastest lap
1991-92 Dunlop Alfa Romeo Class C Championship - RUNNER UP
1993-95 Dunlop Alfa Romeo and Italian Intermarque Class B
- CHAMPION
1997-98 Ford Fiesta Zetec Championship (TOCA) - 6th &
4th in Championship (wins / lap records)
1999 Vauxhall Vectra Sri V6 Challenge (TOCA) - 6th in
Championship (3 podium finishes)
2000 Autobytel Lotus Sport Elise Series (TOCA) -
consistent front-runner confounded by 9 mechanical failures
2001 British Touring Car C'ship (BTCC) Production Class
Honda Accord - 2nd place finish at Thruxton - lack of sponsorship
ended season after three events
2002 BTCC Production Class Honda Accord - called up as substitute for three events - 3rd place finish at Mondello, fastest lap at Silverstone
2003 ADAC Nurburgring 24hrs (Alfa Romeo 156), Spa 1000km, British GT Ch'ship and EERC events (Lotus Elise) - class pole position at Donington (5th overall)
2004 ADAC Nurburgring 24hrs (Renault Clio Sport), British Sports and Saloon Car Challenge at Spa (Ginetta G20)
2005 ADAC Nurburgring 24hrs (Honda Civic Type R) - 22nd overall of 230 / 5th in class, ADAC Nurburgring 6hrs (Type R), Britcar Silverstone 24hrs (Mazda RX7 GT Turbo)
2006 ADAC Nurburgrung 24hrs (Honda Civic Type R), Uniroyal FunCup selected events including Spa 25hrs (9th overall of 150 / 2nd in class)
2007 ADAC Nurburgring 24hrs (Hyundai Coupe) - 13th overall of 230 / 1st in class, Uniroyal FunCup Spa 25hrs, 1st place finish at Croft
2008 ADAC Nurburgring 24hrs (Hyundai Coupe), Spa 25hrs
2009 ADAC Nurburgring 24hrs (Mercedes CK35 RS)
2010 VLN Nurburgring (Aston Martin V12 Vantage) - 2nd in SP8 class, ADAC Nurburgring 24hrs (modified Aston Martin V12 Vantage) - 3rd in SP8 class
Best race: BTCC Thruxton 2001 - taking a team 1-2 finish after
pressurizing the competition into errors. The 2010 Nurburgring 24hrs was really
special, fulfilling a life-long dream driving for the Aston Martin works team
Worst race: Silverstone 1998, when the gearbox broke
whilst leading the penultimate round, dropping me out of
contention for the Fiesta championship.
Most admires: Ayrton Senna because of his total commitment
to being the best, and because of that first lap at Donington in
the 1993 European Grand Prix.
Favourite track: Nurburgring Nordschleife, what else! Although there are
several sections of other tracks I enjoy, such as Eau Rouge at Spa, Copse at
Silverstone or Church at Thruxton, everything else pales in comparison to the
Nordschleife!
Favourite quote: "I wasn't designed to come second"
- Ayrton Senna
Favourite road car: Difficult choice! Probably the Aston Martin Vantage
or Honda NSX...but many others are up there too!
Interests outside racing: fitness, mountain biking, snow
boarding, classic cars, good company!
