A RACING driver’s death this week leaves a Northwich team feeling more ‘conscious’ about motorsport’s dangers ahead of a return to the track.

The Weston family made their season’s debut in the BARC Citroen C1 Racing Series event in which Angela Lucas died after a crash at Snetterton in Norfolk on Sunday.

Hartford’s Martin Weston and his two sons, James and Oliver, took shifts behind the wheel of their Citroen C1 in the second endurance race of the weekend.

James, who runs his own construction and property investment companies in Northwich, was driving when the fatal crash happened approximately 200 yards in front of him.

“We’re all ok,” said Martin, 67, a former senior partner at Chambers Fletcher Solicitors in Northwich where he worked for 38 years.

“But it’s awful, absolutely awful, news.

“From having a great weekend, when we were made up with our first race and running 16th which is a hell of a lot of progress for us, none of that matters when you have something like this.

“The whole paddock was really upset. I didn’t know the driver, but a lot of people there did.

“You don’t care about the race or the weekend when somebody dies. You go for a bit of fun, for everybody to enjoy themselves and hopefully all go away safely.

“It just reminds you it’s a dangerous sport at the end of the day. You always have to remember the dangers however well the safety features are in the cars and in the sport. Something can still happen. It’s awful.”

Some of the incident was captured on the Spencer Weston Racing team’s car cameras.

The Westons and their car had to wait in a secure parked area for around three hours while the emergency services and officials got on with their jobs.

“There was about an hour and a half of the race to go and we knew it was serious because all the ambulances went out and the race was red-flagged, it was stopped,” said Martin.

“And then you knew it was very serious because the medical tent went over.

“Police incident vans arrived. Officials started coming around taking cam footage from the relevant cars that were on the track near the scene.

“We were held in parc fermé until 8.15pm but we started to hear around 6pm that the poor girl had died.”

Martin added: “It’s the first motorsport fatality I know in this country since 2014.

“It’s very rare in motorsport now, but it’s a reminder. My sister used to always say to me, make sure the three of you come back safely.

“I don’t think this stops you racing because you enjoy it like any sport. I’ve done a lot of climbing, which can be dangerous.

“But you become more conscious. You go into races, as we have done, many a time and you feel safe. But all of a sudden you become conscious of it.

“It makes you far more aware and conscious of risks that you put to the back of your mind but now they’re a bit more at the forefront of your mind. They will be when I go and race at Croft again in three or four weeks’ time.”

An investigation has been launched into the fatal crash. The British Automobile Racing Club said it is working with the sport’s national governing body, Motorsport UK, to understand the circumstances of the incident.