Maxwell Dodds is a 15-year-old schoolboy from Harrogate Grammar School. But he is also a racing car driver, signed to Assetto Motorsport and currently preparing for the Ginetta Junior Championship which kicks off on the 8 and 9 May at Thruxton in Hampshire.
As someone who spends so much of his time on asphalt, Maxwell knows a thing or two about road surfaces. So Thermal Road Repairs is pleased to introduce him as our ‘Surface Finish Champion’.
As one of just four members of Assetto’s junior team, it has taken huge amounts of determination and dedication from Maxwell to get to this point. But aside from the physical and mental demands of racing, one of the biggest challenges for Maxwell and his father Oliver who manages and supports him, is raising the sponsorship money needed to race.
“The UK produces some of the best sports people in the world in motor racing and Max is one of the hottest talents to come out of the UK right now, but, while many countries provide serious government help and backing to athletes like Maxwell, in the UK, that doesn’t happen,” explains Oliver.
Thermal Road Repairs is happy to be one of Maxwell’s sponsors for the season, says director Aidan Conway, who plans to bring local school children to watch Maxwell train and race: “Max has worked extremely hard to reach the position that he has, and we hope that his commitment and dedication will help inspire other young people,” says Aidan. “It will be fantastic to watch how his career progresses and to know that we have played some part in helping him along the way.”
Maxwell started racing karts aged four and has raced around the world, winning championships in the UK and Europe driving for the biggest factory teams in the world. From 2018, he was part of Kart Republic team, one of only a few Brits to compete in the WSK (World Super Kart) championship and the only Brit to represent the UK in the FIA CIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, Commission International de Karting) World Karting Championship.
His move to the UK’s Ginetta Juniors Championship makes sense for his development in a world where Corona virus restrictions are limiting travel, says his dad Oliver. Although he has only been driving his G40 Junior since January this year, Maxwell has taken to it quickly and his raw pace and obvious talent has already placed him as a title contender according to the Assetto Junior team boss Jim Edwards who is quoted on the team website:
“I was bowled over the moment I met Max. He is an incredibly polite, confident, and professional young man. His pace was clear to see immediately, despite his lack of car experience, and we are excited to be able to provide Max with the car and surroundings he requires to succeed in Ginetta Juniors.”
Currently Maxwell spends two or three days a week testing at different tracks around the UK, which involves driving – and concentrating – for around 200 miles each day. After a day’s testing at Silverstone in March, Maxwell reflected on social media that it was a “childhood dream come true”. When he’s not at the track, Maxwell is training to maintain his fitness and keeping up with his schoolwork.
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Image credit: www.jakobebrey.com
Thermal Road Repairs is a green technology company which supplies systems to improve the quality, cost and time efficiency of road repairs and paving – at a far lower environmental cost than traditional methods. We invest significantly in R&D, to create new technologies and to continuously improve our existing ones.
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