James Wade, Chartered Mechanical Engineer and Principal Associate at Hawkins, recently took to the track again, this time at the renowned Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire. Known as the UK’s fastest circuit, Thruxton also played host to the 2025 Retro Car Festival, a vibrant weekend of live music, car and motorcycle clubs, and high-octane racing, including thrilling Formula 1 demonstrations.
James arrived with high hopes, but the weekend began with challenges. A persistent setup issue hampered his qualifying performance, placing him further down the grid than expected. Unfortunately, the problem continued into Race 1, forcing an early retirement. The race itself was cut short by a red flag following a dramatic incident in which a car flipped onto its side after colliding with a marshal’s post. Thankfully, the driver escaped without injury.
Watch James’s Onboard footage from Race 1 on the MG Championship YouTube channel here:
Sunday’s Race 2 brought a welcome turnaround. With the car issues resolved, James started from 19th on the grid and delivered a determined drive. Executing a series of clean overtakes along Thruxton’s fast back section, he climbed the field to finish a respectable 12th – an impressive recovery.
Catch James’s Race 2 highlights on the MG Championship YouTube channel here:
James’ next racing outing will be at Castle Combe Circuit in Wiltshire on Bank Holiday Monday, 25th August.
In his professional role, James is a Principal Associate at Hawkins, specialising in road traffic accident (RTA) investigations and collision reconstructions. He is experienced in the use of tools such as the Bosch Crash Data Retrieval (CDR) system, which enables the extraction and interpretation of critical vehicle data following an incident. If you’d like to know more about Hawkins’ expertise in road traffic collisions or are looking for a road traffic incident expert, please contact us.
