Racing heart sees Luke Hines in the lap of happiness
Racing driver Luke Hines took time out from testing the Gigawave Motorsport Aston Martin DB9R – the car he’ll race in the 2008 FIA GT1 World Championship – to propose to long-time girlfriend Laylah Bowker. And in a smooth performance reminiscent of his many overtaking manoeuvres on the track, Luke received the yes answer he was hoping for!

Grid girls are an established feature in motor racing, and when the glamorous Laylah took up position in front of Luke’s car during the 2004 British Touring Car Championship, it was love at first sight. The relationship has grown stronger ever since, and whilst Luke might have lost his grid girl on the track – a deliberate ploy to enable him to fully concentrate on the race head – he has certainly found eternal happiness with her off it.

Since that first meeting, Laylah (22) and Luke (25) has become a multiple BTCC race winner and moved into international sportscar racing. In 2006, the former Zip Karts 'Young Guns' racer drove a Panoz in the British GT Championship, achieving 16 podiums, six pole positions and four straight wins. This year Luke came 2nd in his first ever international FIA GT Championship race, racing a powerful GT1 Corvette C6R at the Zhuhai circuit in China – finishing just 2.453 seconds behind the winners after over 2 hours of racing.

Following on from that outstanding result, Luke has signed a deal to drive for the newly formed Gigawave Motorsport team, where he and his Austrian team-mate Philipp Peter will contest the final round of the FIA World GT Championship at Zolder in Belgium (October 21/22) before making a full assault on series in 2008. Luke will also make his competition debut in 2008 at the famous 12 hour endurance race at Sebring in Florida (March 14-15) and the Le Mans 24 Hours (July 12-13).
Not only will Gigawave Motorsport fly the British flag in the world’s top endurance racing events next year by racing a British-built Aston Martin DB9R, the English county of Essex will be strongly represented – as Luke lives in Sedge Green and Gigawave Motorsport is based in Colchester.

“I was racing in the British Touring Car Championship with VXR when I meet Laylah,” says Luke. “We got on really well and have done ever since – she hasn’t kicked me out yet, anyway! I had my racing suit on when we met, so I put my racing suit on again to propose. How could she say no to that?! I’m really happy to commit myself to Laylah and it’s also great to be committed to Gigawave Motorsport. I’ve been testing the Aston Martin DB9R at Snetterton and it’s a great car, so I’m really looking forward to racing it. Getting engaged to Laylah and doing a deal to drive for Gigawave are two great bits of good news in one week.”

“I first saw Luke coming out of a hotel lift and the next day I was working as a grid girl and low-and-behold he was the racing driver I was assigned to,” recalls Laylah. “I was a little bit taken aback, because he had this crazy hairstyle and looked more like someone out of the Prodigy rather than a racing driver, but we started talking and just hit it off straight away. I was living in Blackpool and six weeks later Luke ‘phone me up and said ‘this is silly, we live two hundred and fifty miles apart, why don’t you come and live with me?’ I told my mum I was moving and she said I’d be back home in a week – but Luke and I have been together ever since!”