Beechdean's worst kept secret revealed!!

Paul Hollywood, the nation’s best-known baker and star of the Great British Bake Off, took part in his inaugural race for Beechdean AMR this weekend, as he officially announces his move into the motorsport field.

Hollywood has taken part in his first ever competitive race in the Britcar Sports and Touring car Championship at Silverstone, alongside 2013 British GT champion Andrew Howard. Paul and Andrew finished a creditable 2nd in class in both races with a 4th overall in the last of the televised events.

Paul has now fulfilled a lifelong dream to get behind the wheel of a high performance racing car in a competitive event, and he will continue to race in the Beechdean GT4, culminating in an appearance at the Le Mans Festival in June 2015.

The overall objective is to work towards Paul racing at the highest possible level, taking part in the Le Mans itself in future is the ultimate dream. Andrew Howard, owner of Beechdean AMR said “Paul’s enthusiasm for cars and racing comes across strongly. Once he was behind the wheel, it quickly became apparent that he is a focussed racing driver and has the talent to race a car. The aim is to take Paul through various categories of competitive racing, from GT4, GT3 through to GTE and then, backing dependent, on to the big prize; the time we’ve spent together on the track and his first race performance suggest that this is attainable.”

Hollywood, a long term racing fan, has been working with Andrew – who also owns Beechdean Ice Cream Group, one of the UK’s largest ice cream producers – for the past few months to reach a competitive level. Paul comments “I thought baking was difficult to learn, but racing takes it to a whole new level. I hoped that I’d be a natural and that it would be intuitive but I’ve really had to work for it. It’s been no piece of cake.”

He will be racing at Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, and ultimately the Le Mans Festival.

“There’ll be more to come from Beechdean Ice Cream Group and Paul – watch this space…” comments Howard.