Walero’s ‘Real Racers’ campaign intends to shine a light on the personalities, stories and characters across all levels of motorsport. All members of the campaign compete up and down the land and have chosen Walero to keep them cool under pressure and help them fight it out at the front of the grid.

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In our latest edition, we speak to Lucas Hayden – a budding young racer who has chosen to champion Walero since his first steps into the world of racing. Lucas has enjoyed a superb rise up through the ranks of junior motorsport in the UK and 2024 has seen him taking on his biggest challenge yet as he looks to chase down his ultimate goal of GT racing.

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You would be hard pressed to find a young racer with more drive and determination than Lucas Hayden. A humble and extremely hard working character, with a beaming smile, his journey up through the junior ranks of motorsport has seen him stopping at nothing to accomplish his dreams. However, for Lucas, his first steps into the world of racing were slightly different to those around him.

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“Many members of my family had grown up with a love of everything on two wheels,” Lucas recalled with a smile. “The love for motorbikes was very much a family thing, my dad was very involved in motocross when I was younger, so I would often go out and about with my dad and his friends and just have a good time. It was more of a hobby than anything else, but it did teach me some very valuable lessons about control and coordination that would come in handy later down the road.”

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“I then found my love for four wheels when I took part in an indoor karting session which my mum had paid for so me, my dad and my sisters could give it a go. I loved every minute of it, I was hooked and from that moment on I had a real obsession with karting and wanting to race anything with four wheels in general. I went again and again and again for over a year and soon I reached a point where I was sitting there thinking what on earth could I do next.”

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From that moment, Lucas was at a crossroads in his fledgling racing journey, he had found his true passion and goal, it was now time to pull everything together and see if he could embark on the journey that he had always dreamed of.

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“We were fortunate to have gotten to know plenty of people at the karting centre, to which I had become a very frequent visitor,” he joked. “They put me and my family in touch with a prominent figure in the karting scene who had been behind the success of plenty of up and coming drivers in motorsport at this moment in time. I took the step up into some club level championships on some well known outdoor karting circuits and from there I fell in love with it all over again.”

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“I started out in the cadet class with all the other new drivers and slowly made my way up through the likes of the MiniMax and JuniorMax championships, with each stage providing a new challenge or level of racing, it really taught me to hone my skills and maximise each time I stepped in the kart as it was extremely intense at times.”

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“After several years competing in karts, I got the incredible opportunity to become involved with a scholarship for Jamsport racing, which would give a young driver the opportunity to compete for a place in their Ford Fiesta Junior championship programme. For me, getting the chance to take part in the Jamsport scholarship programme was a real foot in the door to help me kick on with my aspirations to become a racing driver and I owe a lot to those who gave me the chance to prove my worth out on the track.”

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The Jamsport scholarship would see Lucas battling it out with plenty of talented young racers for the top prize of the competition and it holds plenty of memories that Lucas looks back on fondly as the genesis for his ongoing career in motorsport.

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“I was made aware of the Jamsport scholarship through a friend that had raced for them previously and had held them in very high regard. Myself and my family just thought why not give it a go and just see where we could get to, it was all very valuable experience at the end of the day. However, just before I entered the first round of the competition, I broke my wrist playing football, which I thought was game over for me before it had even started.”

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“Fortunately for myself, they held another opening round due to this taking place during the Pandemic and this gave me an opportunity to actually compete in the competition when I thought it was all over. We headed to Blyton Park, not really expecting to get very far in the scholarship competition due to the damage to my wrist, but I clawed my way through the day and gave it everything I had out on track. I wasn’t even expecting to make the day, let alone reach the final round and compete for the top prize, but I ended up battling through the day with the damaged wrist to finish that final round.”

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“To hear my name announced as the winner of their maiden scholarship competition was just unbelievable! It is definitely the proudest and biggest moment of my career so far and holds so many amazing memories. It had never crossed my mind that I could win, and I am so incredibly grateful to Jamie Going at Jamsport who believed in me and gave me the opportunity and also to everyone around me who gave me the confidence to chase my dream. It was the launchpad I needed to get my motorport career underway and I haven’t looked back since.”

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Lucas would head into the 2022 season looking to hit the ground running, it was his first competitive year of car racing and making the jump from karts to cars was certainly going to be an extremely difficult challenge. Lucas was taking part in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship, a fiercely competitive one make series that is the ideal proving ground for those looking to make a name for themselves in the world of motorsport.

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“It was a nerve wracking experience to be stepping up into the world of competitive racing for the first time. It was a hectic few months in the build up as I had to ensure I was as well prepared as I could be for the challenges that were coming my way. I passed my ARDS test, and it all started to feel very real and at that point in time, I discovered the Walero base layers for the very first time!”

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“We were in Alex Reade at Brands Hatch and I was looking to buy my first ever set of race underwear to use in the upcoming season,” he explains. “I vividly remember seeing the Walero base layers and they immediately caught my eye, they looked slick and professional and just stood out from the rest from that moment on. Alex then handed me two gloves and instructed me to put my hand in both to figure out the difference. One of them felt immediately hot and uncomfortable, but the other felt much cooler and softer, it was the second one that featured the Walero technology! From that moment, I knew that I had to buy the Walero base layers and it is a decision I have not regretted ever since.”

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Lucas would embark on the 2022 season looking to make a name for himself amongst a paddock of those several years his senior. From the first moment he got out on track, Lucas would look to battle it out with those around him and from the moment the green flag dropped, he immersed himself in tackling this new challenge head on.

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“I was incredibly excited to get going, the anticipation ahead of that opening weekend was unmatched and I haven’t experienced anything like it since. It was a massive learning curve to get to grips with from the moment I got in the car, the difference from karting was incredible, as was to be expected, but it was getting used to how the car handled at each corner, how the weight transferred between the axles, how could I find time compared to the other drivers and bringing that all together in attempting to understand car setup was the biggest challenge for me.”

For Lucas the 2022 season was a step into the deep end, but also one that allowed him to gain a wealth of experience and hone his skills behind the wheel of a race car. The debut season in competitive racing would see him collect several podiums and a wealth of points finishes to record a solid maiden campaign in an extremely competitive one make series.

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After the successful completion of his first season, Lucas would make the decision to continue in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship for the following year as he looked to continue making progress and sharpening his skills out on track. He would team up with Race Car Consultants for another assault on the Junior category and the 2023 season would see him making plenty of progress on the track as he battled it out for glory.

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“2023 was an extremely busy but rewarding year for me, I finished my time at school with the culmination of my exams, which had been a real juggling act as the season went on,” he recalled. “But for me it was a year of progression out on track, I felt like I learnt so much and that was due to the incredible help and support given to me by fellow racer Will Orton, who now competes in British GT and gave me some unforgettable insight. I was just soaking it in all year long, trying to learn everything I could from the smallest of mistakes and I took my off track preparation and analysis to levels I had not achieved before.”

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“2023 was capped off in style with my first ever win at Brands Hatch in October and that has to be the standout moment from my career so far. Everything that I had learnt over the course of the season came together perfectly and I put it all into practice out on the track. It gave me a lot of self confidence and belief that I had made the right decision in looking to pursue a career in racing and it made all the sleepless nights and hours of trawling through the data worth it.”

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That year would also see Lucas welcomed into the prestigious MotorsportUK academy where he embarked on their Enhanced Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) programme alongside his ongoing racing efforts.

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Now in 2024, Lucas has taken another step forward in his career, the setting has remained similar with the Airtec Motorsport Fiesta ST240 championship, but now with the added challenge of battling it out in the Senior category, which for Lucas offers a new and exciting challenge.

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“2024 is my biggest test yet, taking that step up to the senior class was always going to be a big challenge but we hit the ground running at Brands Hatch for the first race of the season. I secured a class win on debut and we did this with limited testing over the winter months and no prior experience in a much faster car. This year so far has been another steep learning curve in terms of on track performance and car setup, but I am confident that we can keep the momentum rolling as we head towards the final few rounds of the campaign.”

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“This year has made me realise that I am incredibly grateful for being able to do the thing I love the most, and that is racing! To have the chance to chase my dreams and race round some of the biggest tracks in the UK is a real privilege, none of this would have been possible without the support of my family & friends, sponsors and coaches, so a massive thank you to everyone.”

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When asked the most important question about his career and his ultimate goal, Lucas’ answer did not disappoint…

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“For me, the ultimate goal right now is GT Racing. The series at this moment in time is flying and gaining a lot of popularity so it seems to be the right place to go. After seeing the success of my coach, Will Orton in British GT, it made me hungrier than ever to make it into the GT ranks and challenge for results. It will be a challenge, but I’m more than ready to give it everything I have to achieve my dream.”

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