Lucy Laycock: My NMA Experience
At the National Motorsport Academy, we’re proud to support students as they grow – whether they’re stepping into motorsport for the first time or carving out a career from the ground up. Lucy Laycock is a great example of that journey in action.
From her early days on the course to now working trackside with FAT Karting League and BTCC outfit Speedworks, we’ve seen Lucy steadily build her career with focus, drive, and determination. As she approaches the end of her time with the NMA, she’s already turning her studies into real-world experience in some of the UK’s most competitive racing environments.
We caught up with Lucy to reflect on her progress, what it’s like being in the thick of race weekends, and where she’s heading next.
Over to you, Lucy!
Hi Lucy! For anyone who hasn’t met you yet, how would you introduce yourself?
Lucy Laycock, 26 (ugh god that’s horrifying to type), BSc (Hons) Motorsport Engineering, Module 11 – nearly done!
Tell us a bit about your motorsport journey so far..
I started my journey in 2021. I lost my job during covid and someone I knew got their dream job, I decided it was about time to leave the tills of retail behind and go get mine!
Since then i’ve been lucky enough to have some amazing experiences! Starting as a trainee data engineer with Idola Motorsport and working with increible drivers like Geordie Mutch, Ben Collins and the Bridle twins, i’m now a data engineer with Speedworks in BTCC having worked with the ever talented (and genuinely lovely) Ronan Perason, was fortunate enough to see Finn Leslie’s first outing on the grid and now will be helping Max Buxton find that next tenth for the remainder of the season!
I also work with the F.A.T Karting League as an Event Electrical Engineer, looking after the fleet on event and supporting the next generation of drivers on their journey – there’s some talents in there so watch out!
How did you find NMA & what made you choose to enrol onto the BSc?
So I originally started with the Open University and actually enquired about the MSc for when I finished there. After speaking to Kieran, we came to the conclusion the BSc would suit my goals more and I made the choice to switch.
As a mature student, it was important to me that I could keep working as I still have a household to support and the team have been great at helping me keep a balance between home, work and study.
You're almost at the end of your degree, so how have you found the course so far?
It’s so scary to be nearly done! I can’t lie, it’s been tricky but so good! Constant self motivation and wider learning can be hard as someone with ADHD but again, my tutors have always been my biggest supporters – always there with an ear and advice whenever needed. I loved the self-development project in Module 8 as well as the data engineering aspects of other modules.
I’ve enjoyed learning new softwares like Inventor, and find myself now using them for hobbies (also racing related of course..)
How have you applied what you've learnt to real world scenarios? Are there any examples?
All the time! The hybrid and electric vehicle module applies to my role with FKL all the time and is feeding into my dissertation quite heavily.
The MOTEC work has vastly improved my coaching with driver’s and changed the way I look at the driver side of data. I use CAD all the time, to design new brackets for data loggers or for FEA testing to see if a new design could withstand a meeting with a tyre barrier.
What do you enjoy most about your career, and what's been the most rewarding moment so far?
It has to be the driver’s in FKL. To begin with, going to karting almost felt like a step backwards in what I was aiming to do but it’s been the best decision of my career. Helping new bambinos build their confidence to get on track for the first time in their lives, helping a driver transition to a new age class, teaching a junior about weight distribution and watching them consider it when applying their ballast.
Celebrating their wins and being there as a friend on the harder days. I count so many of the drivers as friends now and love seeing them at race weekends. It’s so rewarding watching these young talents develop and grow across a season!
Tell us about a day in the life of Lucy ?
A very colourful calendar haha! I have a lot to manage; between my day job with FKL in customer service, weekend race events, other adhoc jobs, studying and home.. Keeping track of my priorities is key so whiteboards and a well organised calendar are my lifesavers.
My mornings tend to be spent on race prep for the upcoming event so reviewing previous data and the pre-event brief for the drivers – having a good idea of where key areas will be ahead of time is super helpful. I’ll also be getting my workbooks set up and ready to go as well.
Some mornings involve more creative work in creating social media decks or sponsorship proposals for clients too – I do love taking a driver’s personality and getting this to shine through in their online presence too! I love a lunchtime snuggle with my pup with favourite drink, at the moment that’s Cherry Tango or pink lemonade, whatever is on offer!
Afternoons are when I do my day job, currently supporting our new US hubs in the Mid-West and California. I tend to block out a weekend a month for studying as well as one full day a week so I always have some dedicated study time.
Post work involves either catching up on races (yep, more cars!) usually IMSA or Indycar, working on my own cars (proud R53 and E46 Touring owner!) or an audiobook and a lack of screens – i’m a sucker for a fantasy book or a little bit of true crime!
You're working in BTCC this season, what role are you doing and how have you been finding it?
I’m a data engineer for Speedworks (Toyota). It’s been great! I’ve been in and out of BTCC for a few seasons now but am loving this year. It’s been a serious learning curve with the removal of hybrid but I know it’s pushed me as an engineer.
I’m learning more about set-up development from my race engineer and working on my coding to develop math channels for new monitoring capabilities. I was lucky to work with Ronan at the start of the season, a driver I have respected for a long time, and loved building a strong relationship with him – his patience with me was ever helpful and he was such a funny guy to have around too! The Jack Sears win at Donington was a show of what we could do and I maaaaaay have cried a tiny bit.
I loved supporting Finn in his debut on the grid too. It was a different challenge to working with Ronan as we had to get a lot of information into Finn in a very short space of time, but he smashed it! He was a really dedicated driver to work with and I am sure it won’t be long until he’s back!
Now i’ll be supporting Max in his time in the field, we’ve done some testing together already and he’s a great guy – kind and paitent off the track but not afraid to push on the track when he needs to, i’m sure we have a great second half ahead of us!
Do you have any particular aspirations/goals in motorsport?
I want to develop a programme to allow other people wanting to join the sport the ability to do so. Basically own my own team that means GCSE/college students can work and run on MX5s at hill climbs to BEC entries for uni students through to GT and LMP options for Masters and graduates.
I struggled to find those options, especially as someone older, and I want to give back to a community who in the end gave me so much. It’s a big dream I know, but if I can even run 1 car i’ll be over the moon!
What advice would you give to other motorsport professionals considering further education?
Talk to people. It isn’t for everyone but it is so worth finding out if it is for you. My degree has opened so many doors for me but also developed my skills beyond the technical; time management, networking, communication and even my confidence.
I am always happy to discuss my journey so please reach out if you wish!
A big thank you to Lucy for speaking to us! You can stay up-to-date on her journey over on
