KELVIN FLETCHER: RACING FEELS LIKE IT’S VERY MUCH A PART OF ME NOW
To much of the population Kelvin Fletcher is the star of the Emmerdale soap and the winner of the BBC’s hit show Strictly Come Dancing. Yet with this, to many of us motorsport aficionados, such a celebrity trying their hand at racing no doubt brings forth a few disdainful assumptions.
But we have enough evidence in Fletcher’s case to know he’s not participating in motorsport as a passing fancy.And his answers to Motorsport News readers’questions underline the point.
Firstly he’s been competing since 2012, earning his spurs in Mighty Minis.And his skills have taken him, via the British Touring Car Championship, all the way to British GT’s Pro-Am GT4 championship in 2019, driving alongside Le Mans LMP2 winner Martin Plowman in a BeechdeanAston Martin. This year he and Plowman, after a year’s Covidrelated hiatus, graduate to British GT’s frontrunning GT3 contest in a JRM Racing Bentley.
The pair further have started their own racing team, Paddock Motorsport, which made its debut in Mazda MX-5 Supercup last year and now in 2021 has expanded to GT Cup.As we find out, Fletcher has grand plans for the squad.
We told you that he takes his racing seriously…
Question: What has been the biggest challenge in your career? What has been the most rewarding part of your career?
Sharon Via Twitter
Kelvin Fletcher: “Two [challenges] stand out. First it’s a challenge [that’s] part and parcel: failure and it’s how you determine what failure is. I personally like to use [the word] ‘redirection’.
“You don’t get that particular part [as an actor] or you don’t win that particular race, whatever it is, it’s a constant and that is tough to take. I remember first going for auditions as a kid for amazing parts and not getting that can be quite soul destroying, but you quickly learn to be resilient. For every 10 jobs you go for you only get one, which for most people is a pretty scary thought but as an actor it’s very much what we do.
“And I can relate that to racing. There’s races I’ve wanted to win, there’s certain things I’ve wanted to do in certain sessions and I’ve not quite achieved that and it’s just that constant of readapting and keeping that belief.
“Most recently was my time on Strictly because that was a very intense three or four-month period. I was completely out of my comfort zone; I was going onto a big entertainment show as the underdog. It was a huge challenge to learn something new. Could I dance? I don’t know, [but] I was confident that whatever I do I can give it my all and the sense of the unknown really excites me. How will I come across? How will I dance? What will my nerves be like? Will people
