Christopher James Swanwick (born 22 October 1993 in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is a British

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. He is best known for having competed in the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in ...

, he made his début on 2 October 2011 at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

Career History

Karting

Swanwick was a relative late starter to karting, starting in 2003 at the age of 9 in Formula cadets where he did his novice plates. He quickly progressed and by the end of the next year won the Comer cadets, North Regional Final. Not being happy to stay in cadets for another year, Swanwick decided to move up to Mini Max for the 2005 season, and by the end of the year was a regular on the podium at Wombwell. He could have stopped in mini Max for another couple of years, but having the need for speed, Swanwick decided he wanted to drive JICAs. In the middle of 2006, he had a time at Strawberry Racing, but damaged his rib badly and did not race again until the second half of the year.

Ginetta Junior Championship

Swanwick tested and signed for Tollbar Racing in January 2009. He passed is ARDS test in February to gain his racing licence. Swanwick competed in the Ginetta Junior Championship for Tollbar Racing where he finished with 8 podiums and completed the season in 7th. Swanwick competed for half a year in the Ginetta Junior Championship for

Team Parker Racing Team Parker Racing is a motorsport team based in Leicestershire, in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1997 it has previously competed in Formula Vauxhall Junior, British Formula 3, GT World Challenge Europe, and, more recently, in the British Tour ...

where he finished with 2 podiums ( Thruxton Round 1 and

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population o ...

Round 12). He finished the season in 14th. Swanwicks aggressive driving style saw him disqualified in Round 14 of the championship at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

after an incident that resulted in 3 cars retiring from the race. Team Pryo saw potential in Swanwick and signed him up for the Renault Clio Cup 2011.

Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom

Swanwick competed in Renault Clio Cup 2011 for Team Pryo. Swanwick found the front wheel drive Clio more of a challenge than the rear wheel Ginetta G20. Despite this, Swanwick's aggressive driving style saw him take 7th and 8th place twice over the season.

Rob Austin Robert Christopher Austin (born 1 February 1981) is a British racing driver who formerly competed in the British Touring Car Championship. He was born in Evesham, Worcestershire. Racing career Formula 3 His career started in British Formul ...

again saw Swanwick's potential and signed him up as the team's junior driver after testing at

Pembrey Pembrey (Welsh: ''Pen-bre'') is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated between Burry Port and Kidwelly, overlooking Carmarthen Bay, with a population of about 2,154 in 2011. The electoral ward having a population of 4,301. It is in the ...

in July 2011.

British Touring Car Championship

Rob Austin Racing (2011)

Swanwick tested the second

NGTC Next Generation Touring Car, also known as NGTC and by its Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) designation TCN-1, is an FIA and TOCA specification and classification for production based race cars. The specification covers nationa ...

Spec Audi A4 for Rob Austin Racing and made his

BTCC The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...

début on 2 October 2011 at

, and raced at

, the championship's finale. He finished five of the six races he competed in and at the end of the season was classified 32nd in the drivers' championship.

Personal life

Swanwick, was born in

and attended

Dagfa House School Dagfa School Nottingham was an independent, co-educational school in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, England, which included Dagfa Nursery, Dagfa Junior School and Dagfa Senior School. Facilities The Dagfa school opened in 1948 in a converted 18th-c ...

. Swanwick lives in

Moorgreen Moorgreen is a hamlet in the Broxtowe district of Nottinghamshire, England. It is north west of London, north west of the city of Nottingham, and north east of the nearest town Eastwood. It is a linear settlement within the civil parish o ...

near

Eastwood, Nottinghamshire Eastwood is a former coal mining town in the Broxtowe district of Nottinghamshire, England, northwest of Nottingham and northeast of Derby on the border between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Mentioned in Domesday Book, it expanded rapidly ...

. He attended

between ages of 11 and 16, Dagfa school allows flexible school hours which suited Swanwicks race schedule. Swanwick currently works as a diamond driller for his father's company East Midlands Diamond Drilling (EMDD). EMDD is also one of his main sponsors. Swanwick is 6' 3" ft. tall and has gained the nickname ''Sonic Swanwick'' due to his spiky hair.

Racing record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)

References

External links

www.chrisswanwickracing.com

BTCC Debut

Renault Clio Cup

Rob Austin Racing

Dagfa

BTCC :: Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swanwick, Chris 1993 births British racing drivers Living people British Touring Car Championship drivers Ginetta Junior Championship drivers Renault UK Clio Cup drivers