Chris Hoy

Gold medalist, car racer, MotorTrend dreamer

- Angus MacKenzie

Chris Hoy is a six-time Olympic gold medalist, the most successful track cyclist in history. He’s also a bona fide car enthusiast, with a Porsche 911 GT3 RS in the garage and a soft spot for Caterhams. He’s quite handy behind the wheel, too, having driven an LMP2 racer in the 2016 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Hoy knows what it takes to be the best. The focus. The training. The grit. The self belief. In our new original series, Dream Jobs with Chris Hoy, now streaming on the MotorTrend app, he joins top professional drivers to find out what it’s like to get behind the wheel of machinery ranging from a 600-hp World Rallycross car to an electric Formula E racer to the legendary Grave Digger monster truck.

Have you always been interested in cars?

My love for cars and motorsport began with a Scalextric set I got when I was about 6 or 7. It was a Le Mans edition, so it had the Porsche 911s with the headlights that came on. That was the first time I became really interested in cars. I never dreamed that I would ever race in the 24 Hour race myself one day. Funny how things work out.

What was the first car you drove?

A Citroën Xantia. It was my parents’ car. I used it to get from Edinburgh to Manchester, to train on the velodrome. I’d drive three and a half, four hours there and back. It had done 130,000 miles, and the air suspension kept failing. It was a nightmare, but it got me there. Well, sometimes it got me there.