Sir Chris Hoy felt that adaptability gained by driving in a variety of different series helped him on his return to the British GT series for the Multimatic Ford Mustang team at Donington Park.
Hoy, who won six Olympic Track Cycling Gold medals during his career, won the GT4 Pro/Am class with Billy Johnson.
And the Flying Scotsman had plenty to adapt to in an ever-frenetic Am section of the race.
“It was great to be back out there, a bit chaotic at the start as it was a big grid on a tight track so you have to be mindful of where you are but to be fair there wasn’t too much in the way of driver standards, there was a tap here or there but that’s it.”
And Hoy was full of praise for teammate Johnson, another man stepping in to the #19 Mustang for the first time in 2019 this weekend.
“In terms of enjoyment I had a great time, it was a great car and a really good team and I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate, Billy has been fantastic in helping me learn to get the best out of the car because I had never driven before this race weekend so it was all very new.”
Hoy’s presence on the motorsport scene has been a somewhat varied one since his debut in 2013.
And the 43-year-old feels that versatility helped him after driving the Mustang for the first time at the start of the Donington Park race weekend.
“The key thing is that I am getting used to dropping into different cars, different championships at the last minute. I did the World RallyCross championships in Barcelona with little testing, had a great time there, I did Monster Trucks in Sweden last weekend, I raced Caterhams and Porsche SuperCup a week before that.
“I’ve done lots of different types of driving which means you never get really good at one specific thing because to become really good you have to be consistent in doing one thing and get used to the car but when you’re chucked in a lot you have to think more about what you’re doing and hopefully that has made me a better driver.”