Nicolas Hamilton was told as a child that he would never walk due to his cerebral palsy and would spend his life reliant on a wheelchair. Not one to be told he cannot do things, with determination and gruelling training he not only walked unaided, but he started to realise his dream: to be a racing driver.
Now a regular in the British Touring Car Championship (the pinnacle of British motorsport) his story and ‘anything is possible’ attitude inspires anyone and everyone that hears it. Nic Hamilton is a rising star of the British motorsport scene. In a notoriously competitive and tough sport, he has established himself as a potential future champion, an achievement in any context, but even more so for someone who was told as a child that he would never walk.
Born with Spastic Diplegia a form of cerebral palsy, which affects the movement of his leg muscles, Nicolas Hamilton was initially a wheelchair user. He endured years of gruelling, painful training so that by the age of 17 he could walk completely unaided. A huge achievement in itself, but this was just the first part of his unwavering determination to become a racing driver.
Not one to be told what he can and cannot do on the basis of his condition, Nic earned a seat in the highly competitive Renault Clio Cup, the entry level to touring car competition and the gateway to motorsport for many future successful drivers. After a high-profile first season (partly due to his disability, partly due to his brother being Lewis Hamilton) Nic moved to the European Touring Car Cup. Sponsorship and financial issues in this most money-dependent of sports enforced a season’s break on him, but he returned to the track within a couple of years becoming the first disabled driver to compete in the British Touring Car Championship.
After a return back to the Clio Cup in 2018, Nicolas Hamilton is now set on continuing his motorsport career, having secured a seat back in the British Touring Car Championship for 2019 and defying expectations with his ‘anything is possible’ attitude.
As well as racing Hamilton is focused on sharing his inspirational story and his belief that your ambition is limited only by your attitude. Delivered in his genuine, down-to-earth, friendly manner, he recounts his personal story of motivation and facing down challenges, as well the lessons in teamwork that his sport has instilled.
