When he’s not running Tegiwa Imports, a specialist parts company for performance cars, Luke Sedzikowski races his Motul-backed BMW M4 GT4 in the British GT championship. However, his path into motorsport wasn’t exactly conventional.
The Drum
BRITISH GT RACER LUKE SEDZIKOWSKI: “I RACED HOVERCRAFTS FOR 10 YEARS”
14.04.2021
Luke, you had quite an unusual route into motor racing. Can you tell us about it?
[Laughs]. Yes, when I was 11, I raced hovercrafts. I did that for 10 years. It was a bit of a random choice really. I was going to race karts, but it was all a bit overly competitive for me. My dad and I also knew nothing about karting and decided that we actually wanted to have some fun and not be too serious about it. One of my dad’s friends raced hovercrafts and invited us to check it out. I ended up being British Junior champion and runner up in the World Junior championship. When I was 16, I moved up to Formula 1 hovercrafts and finished second in the British F1 championship.
Have you any desire to get back into hovercraft racing?
Yes and no. Obviously, I have a bit of a desire to because it's what I learned as a kid, but now I'm settled in car racing and love racing cars.
What sort of car racing are you involved in?
After hovercrafts, I didn’t do anything for a few years while we set up Tegiwa Imports and got the company off the ground. Then in 2013, I started racing Civics in the Civic Cup and moved on to M3 Cup. After that, I ventured into endurance racing with BMW M3s and M4s and then stepped up to British GT last year with an M4 GT4. This year, I’ve won the two-wheel-drive class in time attack.
You race for Tegiwa Imports, the company you co-founded. What does Tegiwa do?
We’ve been going 16 years now. We sell performance car parts. From service items like oils and filters to suspension, turbos and exhausts. Historically, we specialised in Japanese cars but now we’re starting to do more European brands such as BMW, but we’re most well-known for Hondas.
You stock and sell Motul at Tegiwa. Why did you choose Motul and what is it about its lubricants that work so well with high-performance cars?
We’ve been buying and selling Motul for a long time. It’s a premium brand that’s easily recognisable. When people see it, they can easily associate what it is. Also, for us a strong point was Motul’s links with Honda, especially Honda motorsport, which go back a long time. For instance, people regard the Motul-branded Hondas as cult icons. I also use 300V in my race cars. We won't use anything other than that because of everything getting so hot. Like on a hot summer's day, you can easily see engine temperatures going through the roof out on track. But if you've got 300V, you can keep on driving knowing your oil and coolant are good. You know the car’s safer at higher temperatures.
