Rallying Through Resilience: Chris Ingram's Journey from Champion to Comeback

1 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:08,680 Let's start a podcast about our mental health.

2 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:14,200 No good reason why. Let's call it fine cake.

3 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:22,080 Hello Cakers, and welcome to another slice of mine cake.

4 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,360 Mine. Cake with him.

5 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,960 Lee Crompton and him. Green O eats.

6 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,640 Green O eats. Green if you want to give me my

7 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,760 real name. So first of all, Paul isn't

8 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:38,040 dead. We should point that out.

9 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,760 He's he's alive and well. He's just a very busy Beeson.

10 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:47,000 This week we have the pleasure of Mr. Peter Green of Green O

11 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:48,800 Eats. Now, I was going to introduce

12 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,760 you as a school friend and then realized we'd never actually

13 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,720 been to school together. No, never at the same school.

14 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,080 Never so not even an ex school friend.

15 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:00,920 Just what? How would you?

16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,239 How do we describe that then? We are.

17 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:09,000 Ex football teams. From back in the day back.

18 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,720 In the day. We're in Rangers under Sixteens

19 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:13,880 B team. B team, yeah, we weren't good

20 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,240 enough for the A-Team. Well, I was good enough for the

21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:17,480 A-Team. I just had an argument with a

22 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:18,720 manager, so I moved to the B team.

23 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,280 But you know, what about? Depends who's BTP?

24 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,360 Do I recall that you were the goalkeeper?

25 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:31,480 I played goalkeeper a bit, centre off occasionally and then

26 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,360 chopper. Yeah, yeah, long time ago.

27 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:36,840 Not a very good goalkeeper. I'm not very tall so that

28 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,640 doesn't help. Well, you say not very good, but

29 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,000 you just profess that you were good enough to be in the A-Team.

30 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:47,000 Well, not as a goalkeeper. No.

31 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,280 And then and then since then you've had many manifestations.

32 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,400 I remember we we sort of knocked about together in our early 20s

33 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:55,000 when we went to see Bournemouth matches.

34 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,680 Then you were you did a bit as a as a linesman.

35 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:07,360 Yeah, maybe a little bit. Then you, you are or were or are

36 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:10,720 the announcer at Weymouth Football Club, is that right?

37 00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:15,240 I'm I'm the former announcer, stadium announcer of Weymouth

38 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,400 Football Club. OK, I oversaw them get relegated

39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:20,680 once. Oh good.

40 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:22,520 And almost and almost relegated twice.

41 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,160 I watched a lot of terrible football for three years and

42 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,640 then gave it up. You do, to be fair, you do.

43 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:29,160 You do like a bit of terrible football.

44 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:30,600 I do, I do. Yeah.

45 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,840 It's very disappointing how good Bournemouth are these days.

46 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:36,280 Yeah, well, like when we were losing at home to Berry and

47 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,080 Lincoln and things like that. You know, away away trips to

48 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,400 Walsall were always a highlight. So yes, Mr. Pete Green of

49 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,720 Greener Eats is here and and the reason it will be, it will

50 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:51,080 become more apparent after we've spoken to this week's guest why

51 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:56,120 the connoisseur that is Greener Eats has been drafted in for a

52 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,960 bit of cake. But for now, without further

53 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:04,040 ado, we shall get into this week's guest who is the British

54 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,720 and former European Rally Champion, Mr. Chris Ingram.

55 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:17,160 Welcome to another slice of mine cake where we are joined by the

56 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,840 wonderful Chris Ingram. Chris, how are you?

57 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:21,560 Yeah, doing great. Thanks, Lee.

58 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,960 Just recovering from watching a Champions League match last

59 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:27,920 night. Got got home quite late, but

60 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:31,320 yeah, great to great to speak to you and looking forward to it.

61 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,200 Yeah, sorry to interrupt into your, we should mention that

62 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,280 you're currently in, was currently in Monaco.

63 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,960 You live in Monaco, Yeah. Yeah, I've been here almost

64 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,600 three years now, but I'm from Manchester originally, so

65 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,240 different worlds really. Yeah.

66 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,160 So you're a city fan? Yeah, original City fan.

67 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,600 Original city, not one of the not one of the hangers on.

68 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,040 Exactly. Yeah, but my main sport is

69 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,600 motorsport. You were at the game last night.

70 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:01,800 Yeah, and. What was it?

71 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:02,800 I didn't, I didn't. Do you know what?

72 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:04,200 I've missed that score. What was the score?

73 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,680 2 all. 2 all. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

74 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:12,360 It's quite, quite funny for us because my son, the other side

75 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,800 of his family are all big Monaco supporters and, oh really

76 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,640 involved with the club. So it was going to be a bit of

77 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,440 family rivalry, but yeah, a draw keeps it quite.

78 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:25,400 Yeah, yeah, that's probably the safest result.

79 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:26,640 Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

80 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,160 OK. And did I hear that you went

81 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:31,640 into the change rooms afterwards?

82 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,440 But the pep, you know, just a normal night in Monaco for you.

83 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,600 Yeah, yeah, well, City have been really supportive of me and did

84 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,720 some film features and some interviews by the pitch

85 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:44,680 yesterday. It's amazing how they've

86 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,440 supported me isn't as a city fan but you know, a fan doing well

87 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,640 in other sport. I think they've always done

88 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:52,120 really well at that. Good.

89 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,560 So listen, I know I've only got you for a limited amount of time

90 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,560 and I've got, you'll be glad to know hundreds of questions to

91 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:00,320 ask. You know, I've tried to condense

92 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,800 as much as possible because I've got this could go off in so many

93 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:04,800 tangents. I should mention that we spoke

94 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:06,440 on the phone probably a couple of weeks ago.

95 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,560 That went on for quite a while and in many different

96 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:11,480 directions. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

97 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,160 So let's, let's try and I'll I'm not renowned for my focus, but

98 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,240 let's try and dive straight in. Am I right in saying that you

99 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:21,520 are the current European Rally champion?

100 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:24,160 I'm the current British champion.

101 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:26,680 Yeah, I won the European Championship before COVID.

102 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:28,120 Got you. OK.

103 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,520 Youngest team to ever win it. First British driver in over 50

104 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,640 years to win it. But then COVID came and I lost

105 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,680 everything really. I lost all my funding, didn't

106 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,000 drive for almost 2 years and then since then I've been on a

107 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,360 massive fight back. And then last year winning the

108 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:49,960 British title has been a massive boost to me to put me right on

109 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:51,800 the cusp of World Championship again.

110 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:57,120 I was going to say, what people I don't guess see behind the

111 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:02,120 wheel is how rallying test your mental health.

112 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:04,520 I mean, there's again so many rabbit holes that could go down

113 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,760 here, but with, you know, trust in a Co driver for for one.

114 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,920 But in terms of, I suppose pressures, do you find that

115 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,600 there's more pressure inside the car internally or externally

116 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,240 with expectations and sponsors and blah, blah, blah.

117 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:20,920 I suppose it's a double edged sword, isn't it?

118 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:23,360 Yeah, the driving's the easy bit.

119 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,880 Yeah, it's the the, the funding, the politics.

120 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:29,640 They're the biggest challenges really.

121 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:32,440 I guess it's similar in a lot of sports.

122 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,800 But yeah, to to get the opportunity is the biggest,

123 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,080 biggest part of it. And then you know, when we get

124 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,800 the chance to drive the car and myself and Alex, Alex Kirani, my

125 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,400 Co driver, then that's just what we do best.

126 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:51,400 We fully believe in each other. We such an amazing team that

127 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,480 that's it just works effortlessly most of the time.

128 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,280 But yeah, everything outside of the car has got to go, got to be

129 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:03,040 going well to make, you know, the performance work.

130 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:05,840 So what when, when you, sorry, just dip it in there.

131 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:08,640 I'm interested to know like when because you've been quite open

132 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,080 about mental health struggles in the past.

133 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,800 I'm just wondering whether that comes from pressures that you

134 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,400 put on yourself in terms of being the best that you can be,

135 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,160 you know, performing at your highest level or like you say,

136 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,920 getting the sponsors and all the other politics and all the other

137 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:31,280 stuff that's surrounds the sport that you're maybe not so much in

138 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,240 control of. Yeah, you're right.

139 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:38,280 It's a great question that least it's definitely the things I'm I

140 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,960 have less control of and giving up has never been an option.

141 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,600 So I've just had to find a way to fight for and that's just

142 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,960 that's not always easy. You know, I've only given myself

143 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,360 one option and that's to be world champion.

144 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,120 That's come with a lot of different challenges.

145 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,720 So my son, you can hear my son laughing in the background

146 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,880 probably. Yeah, there's been lots of

147 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,840 different challenges. But the toughest part, the

148 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,800 toughest moment for me was when I thought I'd made it when I won

149 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:13,400 the European Championship, right.

150 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:18,520 Been working on that for several years on the stage with Lewis

151 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,000 Hamilton and then lost everything during COVID.

152 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:29,080 COVID to go from the best moment of my life to really struggling

153 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,240 and you know, you know, the rug being pulled.

154 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,000 Yeah. I think that I think anyone

155 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,640 would struggle with that. But I guess nothing happened.

156 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:38,799 There was no, you know, you couldn't even rally.

157 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:40,120 Could you rally behind closed doors?

158 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:41,880 It was just, it was just scrap because I guess you couldn't

159 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,080 travel. The the sport carried on after a

160 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:46,280 few months. Right.

161 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,560 But in my situation, I lost all my funding because my sponsors

162 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:53,400 were focusing on the business rather than marketing.

163 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,640 So I, I was just playing PlayStation rally games to try

164 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:02,920 and keep, keep doing anything, anything I could to, you know,

165 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,240 do something relevant to the sport.

166 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:06,520 What? What?

167 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,360 Just again going off another tangent, what what console do

168 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,680 you play on? It was PlayStation back then.

169 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:13,640 Right. OK, fine.

170 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:14,680 Could you? I did.

171 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:20,640 Set up an online championship actually, which had 2000 / 2000

172 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,000 drivers sign up. No way.

173 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,000 Yeah, it was. That was really good fun and.

174 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,760 That does sound good fun. Something to focus on.

175 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:30,920 What game was do you mind me asking?

176 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,360 Because, like, it was Dirt Rally, which is the Colin McRae

177 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:36,480 franchise now. Dirt Rally.

178 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,320 Yeah, Dirt Rally too, OK. Yeah, we'll check that out.

179 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,680 I'll probably get out on pre owned now for.

180 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:44,840 And let. Me know if you're going to do

181 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:46,720 any more online stuff then let me know.

182 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:48,000 Will do, will do. I'll.

183 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,240 Be rotten. But I'll, I'll give it a go.

184 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:55,400 Were you any good? Yeah, I actually I was top ten,

185 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,760 OK. And there was quite a few other

186 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,640 like a few of my friends who are also real life drivers, right.

187 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,960 OK, I know there was, there was about 20 like champions from

188 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,280 across Europe. Right.

189 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:09,840 OK. So it wasn't like Joe Muggins,

190 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,240 who's just no, it was, it was. It was a mix of everyone so it

191 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,280 was all it was really good. Should have carried it on but

192 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,000 during COVID it was the only thing we could do because it was

193 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,760 just weren't allowed outside basically.

194 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:29,400 A lot of drivers come from a particular background who have

195 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:32,920 money and funding behind them. I'm talking, I guess more with

196 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:36,600 Formula One in terms of people buying drives and because it's

197 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:39,560 not a cheap sport, it's not like, you know, you can't come

198 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:41,360 from nothing like football where you're just kicking a ball

199 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,880 around on a dirt, dirt pitch. But am I right in saying that

200 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:48,960 you didn't have that back? Yeah, I suppose just to make

201 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,720 that peaks and troughs even more.

202 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,560 You've come from literally nothing to be European champion

203 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,360 to then back to nothing and then again.

204 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:03,520 Yeah, yeah, exactly. My, my dad actually did really

205 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,200 well for himself when I was a kid in property.

206 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:12,520 But then in 2008 recession when I was about 12:13, he lost his

207 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:16,200 business. And as a family went through, we

208 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,160 went through really hard times and had to start from scratch.

209 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:24,160 And I sort of grew up through that, which was weird from my

210 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:28,200 dad having a Porsche to then having to move out of our nice

211 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,640 house and completely start from scratch.

212 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:35,840 And that was a really tough moment for him and the family.

213 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,560 But similar things happen in my career, weirdly.

214 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:44,560 But I've just kept fighting on and believed in myself because

215 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:49,880 I've just had that deep belief that I can do it and that faith

216 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:55,520 that if you keep going you can achieve these huge ambitions.

217 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,640 Which is which is AI would say it's a rare mindset, especially

218 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,200 these days where you just keep just to keep plodding away in

219 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,920 the face of diversity. 100%. Is it, But I think backing

220 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,000 yourself. It's earning a dream into a plan

221 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,280 as well. Yeah, going back to mental

222 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:14,680 health, OK, it's, it's that thing of backing yourself, isn't

223 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:16,160 it? And I think if you're

224 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,960 struggling, like you say at the back of COVID, you know, I'd

225 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,680 like to get into that is, is if that was your lowest ebb, how do

226 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:25,880 you then go from that? How did that affect you in like

227 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:28,560 a day-to-day thing? And then how do you, how do you

228 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:31,400 pick yourself up from that and back yourself and go, do you

229 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:33,880 know what you're back to almost where you started with, I

230 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:36,880 suppose building up or get a bit like your dad building up from

231 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,400 scratch again, building you, you're building your sponsors up

232 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:41,680 from scratch again and getting that funding back in place.

233 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:46,080 Yeah, it was so difficult and a long journey.

234 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,320 It wasn't something like a light bulb or, you know, I'd like to

235 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:53,040 say focusing on your strengths and and the positives, but

236 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:57,600 that's easier said than done. It was it was a real journey to

237 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,440 making things happen again and building myself back up,

238 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:08,160 building my confidence up, daily habits and good people and say

239 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:11,240 that's that was the key. So what were these habits?

240 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:17,920 What did you do? So for me it's all exercise, not

241 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,960 just loving myself, as in taking care of myself the best I could

242 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,320 and getting some support. Yeah.

243 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:28,720 So I wasn't dealing with everything in my own mind.

244 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:34,920 Yeah, I had some awesome support and some mentors that sort of

245 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:40,600 kept me on on track to building back up my self esteem and

246 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:41,600 confidence. Really.

247 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,120 Because when you're at the bottom, it just, it's like a

248 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:47,480 spiral, isn't it? And it's reversing that.

249 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:52,640 And it's, it's not easy, but you've got to put yourself 1st

250 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:57,440 and really connect and love yourself, which I always

251 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,800 struggled with as a as a kid. I was always quite shy and it

252 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:05,880 wasn't natural to be confident. OK, that's interesting.

253 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:07,840 So you wouldn't say you were a confident, I mean you, you

254 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,360 imagine I I guess it's the image isn't it?

255 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,560 You've got a, a European champion, British champion

256 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:16,280 living in Monaco. He's a rally driver.

257 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:18,520 If you don't mind me saying you're a good looking lad.

258 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:23,080 You think he must be one of the most confident people.

259 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:25,560 You just, you know, you give not, I'm not saying in this

260 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:29,520 conversation, but just in your, I guess, media persona.

261 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,520 Yeah. Confident aura.

262 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,120 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I guess that leads into

263 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:41,000 another question in the do you think sport in general does

264 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,360 enough to, you know, a lot of people are media trained and

265 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:46,320 they maybe don't talk about the fact that they're struggling

266 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,240 mentally behind the wheel or, you know, in the changing rooms

267 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:53,000 or whatever their facet is. I don't think there's many

268 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,800 sports people and who, who necessarily speak out about the

269 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:58,360 mental health. And do you think it's, do you

270 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,160 think it's still a stigma in sport and in motorsport

271 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,800 particularly? 100% it's definitely still

272 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:10,160 stigma around it but I see it as a huge strength to be vulnerable

273 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:13,000 and self aware. Vulnerable is probably not the

274 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,560 right word actually, but just self-awareness.

275 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,480 Everyone's going to struggle one day, I believe.

276 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:25,480 I guess it's it's a different kind of confidence to admit

277 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:31,240 where you can improve rather than just to try to put out a

278 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,400 perfect image all the time. Yeah, no, I think I would

279 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,120 suggest, I would say that vulnerable is a good word

280 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,960 because I think if you can show your vulnerabilities and you can

281 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,400 show that life isn't perfect, then I think there is a

282 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:47,040 confidence in that. If you've got that.

283 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:48,960 And I think that's one of the things we've had on the podcast,

284 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,120 If you've got the, if you can share your experiences and your

285 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,440 vulnerabilities and whatever, I think that shows actually real

286 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,360 strength, although that's an oxymoron.

287 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,840 I I think that, yeah, I think that's a huge, a huge thing.

288 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:03,720 And like you say, it's that it's that self-awareness, it's that

289 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:07,280 inner confidence that you feel confident enough to share your

290 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,880 vulnerabilities. And I think then other people

291 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,680 resonate with that and go, oh, they're not just these perfect

292 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:18,360 stars living in Monaco and, and driving 100 and how, how fast do

293 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,240 you drive? Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

294 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,280 Well, rally cars are restricted to like 200.

295 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,240 Yeah, very, very fast. Sorry, I'm going to go for

296 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,760 another time here. How often do you drive the

297 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:33,280 formula? As you live in Monaco, how often

298 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:34,720 do you get? Pretty much every day.

299 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:36,840 Every day, yeah. Because it is.

300 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,440 It is the main road through through town.

301 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,440 Right, OK. And have you got a spare room

302 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,240 that I could Doss in if I got a flight over?

303 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:47,240 Could I just? Not at the moment.

304 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,080 No, no, OK. Pretty small here.

305 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:54,880 Got we've gone off paced again, but I think what what do you

306 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:59,960 think sport can do? Motorsport can do to kind of, I

307 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:04,800 suppose, the ladies myths. What would help is people like

308 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,880 myself talking out more. Some people just don't

309 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,280 understand, do they? That have never struggled or

310 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:14,640 everything in and they're not willing to open up at all.

311 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,160 Maybe they're the people in in charge.

312 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,160 So it's quite it's a difficult, difficult conversation.

313 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,599 Really. I think the top champion

314 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:28,840 speaking out is a is the will be the biggest, yeah, the most

315 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,840 powerful thing. So when you so when you become

316 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,320 world champion, and we'll come on to that as to what does what

317 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:36,720 the stage is. So is the next stage you need to

318 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,360 regain the European Championship before you can go for the world?

319 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:43,640 Or you can you just go? I think can he just go for the

320 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,560 word as if it's you? Know no I can go straight there.

321 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,720 And is that the plan? That's the plan.

322 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:53,080 I've been preparing for it all year.

323 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,960 This year to compete next year in 26.

324 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:00,560 There's a lot of preparation but also still funding required.

325 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,640 I'm actually selling shares in myself, secure that funding.

326 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:11,000 So when I get a drive in rally one, which is where the big

327 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,160 money is and the the drivers are getting paid huge salaries

328 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:19,920 yearly and I'll be able to pay back the investment and more.

329 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,320 So that's. How do I how do I buy a share in

330 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:26,200 you, Chris? So I've I've got a business plan

331 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,600 and a business set up here and I've already started to to take

332 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,200 the first investors on board. Right.

333 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,920 Can anyone do it or do you have to be, you know?

334 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:41,040 And there is a minimum because because of the admin and even

335 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,240 yeah, yeah, the the accounting costs money.

336 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,120 So yeah, there is a minimum, but are.

337 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:49,320 We allowed to say what that minimum is the.

338 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,640 The minimum investment is €50,000, yeah.

339 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,840 Could you not just like as is a part of you, Could I not just

340 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,080 like go for an earlobe or a toenail or something?

341 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:05,440 I can't just get a little no. Not this time mate, sorry if.

342 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:11,320 You, yeah, if you are selling off any smaller body parts, drop

343 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,360 me a line and you know, if it's a couple of £100 then I'm, I'm

344 00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:14,800 all in. Oh.

345 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:16,560 That's very kind. Maybe.

346 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,880 OK, so I did. Crowdfunding to win the European

347 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,600 Championship, Did you? Yeah, on GoFundMe.

348 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:27,320 Because I, I, yeah, I didn't have the funding to get to the

349 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:33,280 final few rounds and there was 500 people who chipped in to

350 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:38,200 help me win that, which was the first time like an FIA major

351 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:40,880 motorsport. The title has been won backed by

352 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,560 crowdfunding. Yeah, but it, but to be honest,

353 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:49,720 it's something that I don't, I don't really want to do again

354 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:54,640 because it needs to be more business minded from now on.

355 00:19:55,120 --> 00:20:00,200 That was a special scenario. It was a big title that I could

356 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,520 one and people said, Chris, we want to help you, we work, how

357 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:08,560 can we help you? So it was actually set up and

358 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:14,040 people made it happen and it was quite a last, last chance, bit

359 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,080 of a desperate position. Whereas now I've got a proper

360 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:21,480 structure in place and some some big talking to a lot of big

361 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:25,120 businesses and investors and already like so got.

362 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:29,440 Started the ball rolling which is really looking positive and

363 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:30,920 exciting. Good.

364 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,200 Am I right in saying it was the British or the European or maybe

365 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:36,000 both? But you've gone through all this

366 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,920 hard work, you've gone through all these blood, sweat and

367 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:39,480 tears. You've done the crowdfunding,

368 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,280 you've, you know, you've managed to get to the the pinnacle of

369 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:46,440 the sport and the prize money was.

370 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,760 The the prize money was 100,000 in the European.

371 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,160 But was what was the was it the British That was nothing the.

372 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,640 British, there was nothing. You won the British, you're the

373 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:01,120 best driver in Britain and your prize money is nothing.

374 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,040 Yeah, yeah. I mean the money in the sport

375 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:09,240 comes from the manufacturer and the British championship was

376 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,120 private teams. Right, OK.

377 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:18,800 So you know the world champion is on 8 figures and getting

378 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,720 bonuses for any, you know every rally 1.

379 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:28,640 So it's all of the money's at Rally One level in the world

380 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:30,040 championship. Yeah.

381 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,320 It's quite brutal that it's, it's not shared down.

382 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:38,600 But that's like many sports, it's, it's only the top.

383 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:41,720 We need to get to the top. I need, I need to go away and

384 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:45,360 say 50,000 lbs. I'm in, I'm all in.

385 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,000 What are you driving? What are you driving to win the

386 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,200 British and European? Same car, different car.

387 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:54,080 Same class. So Rally 2 OK Rally 1 is only

388 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,080 the top ten in the world championship.

389 00:21:56,080 --> 00:22:00,640 It's a quicker car, but Rally 2 is basically the main class

390 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,560 across the world. The fastest rally car across the

391 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,440 world. The European was a Skoda, which

392 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:14,360 is obviously nothing like a Skoda but with a Skoda badge

393 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:16,320 stuck on. And then the British last year

394 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:21,080 was a Toyota Yaris GR OK, which is an awesome little car.

395 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,240 Even as a road car there. They're awesome.

396 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:25,000 Oh, really? Yeah.

397 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,480 Yeah. Like they were built so so they

398 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,760 could turn it into a rally car, right.

399 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,240 That that was the whole focus of of that GI Yaris.

400 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:34,880 Yeah. Right.

401 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:40,000 OK, interesting. My wife drove a Skoda Fabia

402 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:41,640 estate. Oh yeah.

403 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:44,640 I don't think she drove it as fast as you do though.

404 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,160 No, no, I doubt it. Driving Miss Daisy because she's

405 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:52,840 she's very what's the word I could use methodical in an

406 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:58,200 approach to driving. Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe, maybe

407 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,760 on the road she's faster than me because I'm actually very slow

408 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,400 and calm on the road. Do you just have to say that,

409 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:04,680