16-YEAR-OLD Caleb McDuff, the UK’s only male Deaf racing driver, has secured his first ever pole position finish.
Caleb, who has dreams of becoming the first ever Deaf driver in Formula 1, is a driver for Team BRIT, the world’s only competitive team of all-disabled racing drivers.
On Sunday 16th June, Caleb teamed up with Bobby Trundley, who is autistic, racing the team’s BMW 1 series in the Britcar Trophy Championship at Silverstone.
Bobby took the qualifying stint for the pair, putting them in a great position ahead of race 1. Bobby then took the first stint in race 1, pulling ahead to a good lead. Unfortunately, they missed the pit window by 4 seconds, forcing them to serve a ‘stop-go penalty’. Despite this, Caleb drove amazing well during his stint, showing great consistency to bring them home P1 in class.
In race 2, Caleb started the race for the pair in P2, before Bobby took over. They drove fantastically well together once again, resulting in a P2 finish.
Caleb lives in Pontypool, South Wales, and is a student at Cwmbran High School, which has a specialist provision for Deaf students. He was diagnosed as Deaf when he was two years old, having suffered severe ear infections as a baby, but now has a moderate level of hearing thanks to cochlear implants.
Having karted from a young age, Caleb joined Team BRIT this year to move up to car racing. Having been unlucky with technical problems in races so far this season, Silverstone marked his first race win.
Caleb said: “What an amazing weekend! Bobby and I secured our first win in the BMW 1 Series.
“I also had the pleasure of meeting some fantastic people, including our sponsors and guest who showed incredible support with lots of photo and autograph requests. To top it off, having our first at Silverstone made it even more special. Mega.”
Caleb will race again on the 6th July at Oulton Park Circuit.
Information about Team BRIT can be found here.
