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Matt Hamilton

Age:21
DoB: 2nd February 1990       
Nationality: British
Home Town: Hemel Hempstead
Interests: Motorsport, Tennis, Swimming, Gym
Education: BA (Hons) Sport Psychology, attained at Derby University
Hero/Idol: Ayrton Senna, Jeff Gordon
Website: www.matthamiltonracing.com

Motorsport Achievements

  1. 1999 – 2005 Karting
  2. 2005: Formula BMW Scholarship Winner
  3. 2006: Formula BMW Rookie Cup race Winner
  4. 2006: 5th Formula BMW UK Championship ‘Rookie Cup’
  5. 2006: Formula BMW ‘Frank Williams’ Sportsman Trophy
  6. 2006: Formula BMW World Final Top English Rookie
  7. 2007: Formula Palmer Audi race Winner
  8. 2007: Formula Palmer Audi Championship leader until leg breaking accident
  9. 2007: Racing Steps Foundation finalist
  10. 2008: 6th British Formula Ford Championship
  11. 2008: Formula Palmer Audi race Winner
  12. 2008: Vice Champion Formula Palmer Audi McLaren Autosport Award Shootout
  13. 2009 – 2010: BTCC with TH Motorsport (18 races)
  14. 2010: Winner of ‘HIQ Champaign Moment Award’ for Brands Hatch

Biography

Matt began his racing career at the age of 8, racing go karts for seven years. During this period Matt achieved great success, including; twice becoming Southern Winter champion, becoming vice champion in the prestigious Kart Masters Grand Prix as well as finishing 4th in the national championships. He also represented his country on four occasions in the prestigious annual Internations Karting Championships. Matt’s car racing career began as soon as his karting finished.

At the age of 15 Matt was the winner of a BMW scholarship after a very tough evaluation at Valencia. His prize was significant funding towards a seasons racing in the Formula BMW UK championship. Despite being the youngest ever scholarship winner, Matt gave a strong account of himself, winning races and finishing 5th in the rookie championship, before going on to finish 14th, and top UK rookie, later that year in the Formula BMW World Championship.

Matt also enjoyed the benefits of being an official BMW Junior, with regular trips to Germany for fitness assessments and technical seminars, and regular debriefs with BMW’s driver coaches, including Touring Car legend, Andy Priaulx. Matt also won the Sir Frank Williams Trophy for sportsmanship in 2006. Matt was very proud to receive this prestigious trophy from Andy Priaulx.

After the promise of 2006, Matt elected to embark on a season in the Formula Palmer Audi championship in 2007. Due to the previous year’s successes, Matt went into the 2007 season as a championship favourite. In the opening round Matt showed why, a dominating display gave Matt pole position for both of the opening races and a victory in the first. However in the second round of the championship, an error with the starting procedure saw Matt involved in a huge accident at the Silverstone circuit, resulting in him being airlifted to hospital with a badly broken leg. However, Matt showed huge determination, and was out in the car, and even on the podium only seven weeks later, despite being unable to walk without his crutches.

Missing 9 of the 20 rounds meant that Matt’s title aspirations were dashed, but Matt was a regular visitor to the podium despite further operations to his leg throughout the 2007 season.

2008 saw Matt embark on a full season in the British Formula Ford championship. He led the JTR team throughout the year, scoring the teams only pole positions and podiums and finally finished the year 6th in the championship. However this was not Matt’s only racing commitment in 2008, He was able to compete in 8 of the final 10 Formula Palmer Audi rounds, filling an empty seat from the halfway stage of the season. Despite lacking the experience of the regular drivers Matt was able, just as in 2007, to score further pole positions and wins, showing his true potential to adapt between cars.

2009 and 2010 saw Matt embark on a huge career change, moving away from the single seater race cars and into the highly prestigious British Touring Car Championship. The move saw him compete in the championship with Watford based TH Motorsport, in their seven year old Honda Civic, impressing on numerous occasions, none more so than in the wet races at Brands Hatch, the scene of Matt’s first BTCC points. 2012 will see Matt back with the TH Motorsport team for a full campaign in a newly built NGTC Skoda Octavia VRS, built to the latest new generation touring car specification.

Away from the track Matt has just completed his BA (Hons) degree in Sports Psychology at Derby University. Matt has always had an interest in the subject, and this was fired up even further by the BMW Junior programme in 2006. Matt is sure that the knowledge he gained while studying for his degree will be of use to him in his future career as a Touring Car Driver. Matt is already sharing his knowledge in his capacity as a driver coach for other young drivers looking to take their first steps on the motorsport career path.

Matt also enjoys tennis, he represented the University at Hockey, and can occasionally be seen climbing in the Peak District.

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