Why Scott McKenna is 'The Ice Driver'

Passion For The Ice: in Episode 2 Andy McKenna discusses why he believes ice-driving makes Scott McKenna incredibly unique.

Many of you reading this are probably familiar with my oldest son, Scott. He is not only the Ginetta GT5 Champion for 2019 but also the motorsports ambassador for Geckota.

Unlike most children at 8 years old, Scott didn’t start his career in karting. Scott learnt and honed his skills on the ice. By the time Scott was just 9 years old he had learnt how to heel and toe, change gear quickly and efficiently. He had also mastered left foot braking.

He had a fantastic knowledge and understanding of weight distribution. At a time when most of his peers were playing with toy cars only dreaming of driving a fast car, he was doing it for real - manipulating a car at speed being able to extract the best from it in any almost any condition.

From the very first time Scott put a car into first gear and pulled away, it was sliding around and he was getting wheel spin in every gear. The only way to learn how a car feels on the limit of adhesion is to be able to drive at that limit consistently and indefinitely.

Scott was 15 when he had his first taste of competitive motor racing. He made his debut in the Ginetta Junior Championship, one of, if not the most competitive junior racing car championships in the world; he was immediately on the pace.

Scott worked his way up through championships within Ginetta while still every winter season coming with me to Norway to build on his car knowledge and represent Ice Driver.

One of the most frequently heard comments about Scott whether it was people watching him trackside or by the ITV4 commentary team was his stunning car control. He quickly adopted the nickname ‘Ice Driver’.

Scott very rapidly attracted the attention of some very well-known names in motorsport, not least his now mentor, 2003 Le Mans winner Guy Smith who instantly recognised Scott’s ability behind the wheel of a racing car.

One of the things I always say to both of my children is that you have to enjoy driving for driving’s sake and it should never be ‘just a job’. If you are passionate and love doing what you do then you will achieve far more than you could ever imagine.

Scott is the embodiment of this by taking the championship as winner of the Ginetta GT5 Championship in 2019.