'I raced cars at 150mph and now I drive tractors'

A man who went from racing cars at 150mph (241km/h) to driving tractors for a living said he "wouldn't change it for the world".

Jon Watt, 29, was a professional racing driver for eight years, which took him all over Europe and saw him win the 2018 Britcar Championship at Brands Hatch, Kent.

He swapped the circuit for his family's mixed arable farm at Laxfield, near Eye, Suffolk, inspired by a prolonged visit home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I came home to Suffolk, which is so beautiful, and thought if I can find a role for me in the farm, this is what I really want to do," he said.

Watt took up motor racing aged 16, and there was so much he loved about the sport.

He said: "I mostly raced in the British GT championships.

"It was really social, I made some really good friends, there was a good sense of camaraderie."

The 2018 Britcar Championship involved him travelling to all the UK's major motor racing circuits, including Silverstone, in Northamptonshire, Donington Park near Derby and Snetterton in Norfolk.

"I raced a BMW M3 and I really, really liked it," he said.

"It was the underdog car - up against Ferraris and Porsches - but it was a very good car, and I went on and won."

He also took part in the official NASCAR series in Europe, "which has a massive scene in Italy, France and Germany".

But eventually the constant travelling began to take its toll.

Watt said: "I can remember vividly sitting in traffic on the M25 on the way back from Brands Hatch racetrack, and there was somebody combining their field of wheat on the hill.

"I was looking at the combine cutting up there and felt like I was missing out."

He decided to make a change. His family farm is 100 hectares (247 acres), which is considered small compared to most modern arable farms.

"So every person who comes to work on it needs to generate another income," the fourth-generation farmer said.

He added a pedigree herd of cattle to breed, and the farm sells its own beef.

Six years on, he loves the variety of farming and the opportunities it has given him, despite it "not being the easiest of years" because of the drought.

"There are just so many different aspects to what you're doing - biology and mechanics and looking after animals can all be done in one day," he said.

"And I've had so many experiences farming through the NFU [National Farmers' Union], as a farming ambassador, meeting other young farmers and stewarding at the Suffolk Show - the level of support and trust in farming is like nothing I've ever come across."

But is there a small part of him that misses racing around a circuit at 150mph?

"Farming's always been in my blood; it's something I absolutely love doing, and I actually enjoy it more - it's as simple as that," he said in reply.

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