Welcome

This site is devoted to the racing exploits of Jack "Goldie" Goldstraw.

The aim is to provide:

• News of his progress in the Formula BMW Championship
• Interviews and pictures
• An insight into the life of a young racing driver
• The opprotunity to purchase exclusive merchandise

 

 

Bahrain Adventure Jan 2006

 

 

 

 

17 year old St Neots driver Jack Goldstraw had a baptism of fire in the inaugural Formula BMW World Finals hosted at the Bahrain International Circuit.

 

He missed the first 2 hours testing on Tuesday due to a broken gear selector. So when he eventually got out for the final 1 hour testing session on Wednesday he was already playing catch up. This proved to be character building as it appeared that the gear ratios were incorrect in the car and he had to drive the whole hour without 5th gear, incredibly he was still only 2.75secs of the quickest with lap times getting down to low 1min 27 secs on the Paddock Circuit.

 

Then it was straight into heats, the entry list of 35 drivers from all around the world were divided into 4 groups with 2 groups combining at a time on the starting grid to make a heat. Each driver was to race in 3 heats.

 

Jack finished 13th, 15th, and 13th in his heats, data showed that the 1200cc BMW engine was down on power, and this was exposed on the 1km long home straight at the F1 venue. Next came the pre-final, in which the drivers took their grid position based on the points accumulated. Jack was due to start 32nd. In an attempt to change the engine and working until 3am the team mechanics failed to get Jack's car ready for the pre-final, this was a bitter blow "watching all the other drivers line up on the grid was very difficult, Nigel Mansell took me to one side for a chat and helped me deal with the situation he was a great help".

There was however a silver lining, all the competitors in the pre-final had used their tyre allocation and Jack was sitting on fresh rubber for the main final in which the winner would win a F1 test drive, and a $60,000.00 prize pool was up for the first 10 places.

 

After just 2 laps Jack had moved forward 11 places to 22nd passing another Brit Ross Curnow who finished the race in 7th place. "I wanted to show all my supporters that I can compete when the car is running well"  On the 3rd lap however Jack was taken out by a Salman Khalifa a relative of the Crown Prince of Bahrain.

 

"All in all it was a disappointing week but how many 17 year old boys have the opportunity to come to this fantastic venue in an attempt win a World Championship. I would like thank all my shareholders without whom this would have not been possible, also my family who have sacrificed so much."

 

"I would like to be racing in the 2006 Formula BMW UK Championship in which I would be one of the hot favourites to win, but as it stands at the moment we need a major sponsor for that to happen."

 

Bahrain January 2006 Pictures

 

 

Jack Wins!

 

Jack celebrates his victory in the Formula BMW UK Championship 2004 Rookie Cup

 

Jack In Action

 

 

A promotional video of Jack driving during the Formula BMW UK Championship in 2004.

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On Top At Knockhill

 

 

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Andrew Kitson has created this excellent painting celebrating Jack's superb drive at Knockhill during a test where he outdrove all the other drivers.

 

The inscription reads:

 

'On Top At Knockhill'

Jack "Goldie" Goldstraw outpaced all his rivals at the Official Formula BMW UK test day at Knockhill on 6th August 2004 with a time of 52.201secs. The first Rookie to do so, and at just 16yrs and one month, the youngest person to do so all season.

 

Limited Edition Prints are available to buy, they are numbered and signed by Jack and Andrew Kitson for £195 - for more details please contact: paul@jackgoldstraw.com

 

 

 

Sometimes things dont go as planned

 

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This accident occurred at the Croft Race Circuit, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

 

Jack explains:

 

"The crash happened due to a puncture. There was contact with another rookie driver on the previous bend which caused me a slow puncture on the rear left tyre.

 

I knew nothing about this until the next right hand bend where I lost all grip which is shown on the clip. No other cars involved.

 

No injury incurred...."

 

...Thankfully!!