INTERVIEW: Monger's next drive

Eighteen-year-old British F4 driver Billy Monger, who lost both his legs below the knee in an accident at Donington Park earlier this year, is still pursuing his dream. Last week at Le Mans, he announced that he will be joining Frederic Sausset's Academy, and aims to take the start at the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours as part of the project.

Motivated and eager to get back on track, Monger told RACER that despite his life-changing injuries, being a professional racing driver is still possible.

"I think every driver who starts in motorsport, has the goal of reaching Formula 1, and that was my goal watching Lewis Hamilton race," Monger said. "Le Mans is an amazing event though, and to be out and competing again would be an achievement in itself.

"This new academy has a three-year plan to get a team of drivers to race at Le Mans in 2020. That's the end of the project. Obviously, he wants it to be sustainable, a long-term project that carries on into the future.

"It's a great idea to get disabled drivers and disabled people to the top of motorsport. If they can do it at the Olympics, then doing it in motorsport would be great. Fred has got a real aim to meet that."

After testing in late September and early October, Monger's first race with the academy will be in November when the European VdeV series heads to Portugal for a weekend at Estoril. There he will race a specially adapted Ligier JS53 Evo 2 CN prototype that's adapted to his legs. He will then compete for the first time, controlling the throttle and brakes with his thighs. He'll race as part of a three-driver team with Sausset and Christophe Tinseau, a former Pescarolo Sport driver who drove with Sausset at Le Mans last year, and isn't disabled.

"The first race as a team is at Estoril at the end of the year in VdeV, with Fred and Christophe Tinseau as my teammates," Monger said. "I'm looking forward to it and hopefully I'll be ready and fully fit. It's going to be a tough few weeks of training and adapting to the systems that they use. But I think I can do it."

Monger is already well on his way to being able to compete on track once again. He told RACER that there was never a point where he thought that giving up was an option. Instead, he's been training, and doing everything he can to ensure that he's ready to race.

"I've driven a car around a field at our house. But nothing on a track since the accident," he explained. "That will be the next step, is to get me back on track, behind the wheel and see where I need to improve. At the minute, I haven't had much experience in a car, but I plan to get a lot of experience in before we race so we're at the sharp end of the grid.

"I drove a single seater in the Carlin sim, it was an F3-spec car," he continued. "It took a while to get used to it, on the sim. But I kept improving and I got within three seconds of their F3 drivers on the same track so for my first time it was a good effort.

"It was amazing to be behind the wheel. You don't get the same adrenaline rush as you do when you're on the track competing in front of crowds. But it was good to feel independent and able to do stuff for myself again. That's a big part of it.

"I've also been training hard. I attend physio sessions three times a week in England to build up my leg and core strength. And then with my friends I trained with before the accident, I train at my local gym with them again now.

"For me it's business as usual; I need to be as prepared as I can be. I enjoy it, it makes you realize how much effort can bring you good results.

"Frederic showed last year (when he raced at Le Mans) that it's possible. He raised the bar with disabled drivers. We plan to keep on raising the bar and getting more competitive so that we're not a side show, so that we're the main event that attracts good people and good sponsors."

A big part of his confidence has been the support he was given. While in hospital the motorsport community reached out and donated a total of £824,000 (more than $1 million) to a support fund. It was an act of generosity which he says is still overwhelming.

"The support was unbelievable," he exclaimed. "I have to say thank you to everyone who donated, and even the people who just gave me good wishes.

"All of that meant a lot to me, it showed me how the motorsport community gets together when something bad happens. It's positive, not just for me, but for everyone in motorsport, to know that the support is out there.

"I was overwhelmed, and I still am now. When I first got out of hospital I had a lot of pain, but with the tablets I'm on it's going away. Whether it goes away fully I don't know.

"But the pain I feel in my legs is nowhere near the pain I feel for not being out racing.

"The dream continues, I want to make a career in motorsport, whether that's Formula One, at Le Mans, that's the goal.

"I'm going to keep working as hard as I can to make sure it happens."