After a perfect season in 2020, Lucky Khera showed up on the Ferrari Challenge UK start-line as the man to beat. He had not, however, on the previous occasion had to cross paths with the driver who, at the end of a thrilling season, would ultimately steal the champion's crown away from him: James Swift. The Dick Lovett Swindon team driver, having missed the opening round at Brands Hatch, boarded the 488 Challenge Evo cockpit, getting his campaign underway at Donington. It was from this circuit - not far from Sherwood Forest - that Swift began to stage a formidable comeback after a fierce battle with Khera himself.
"Lucky and I really battled it out, we had a great race. I had slightly more pace even though I wasn't at my fittest." The physical issue would, however, be resolved by the round at Snetterton. "We slogged away at it and by the time we got to Snetterton we were ready. I picked up two wins, two fastest laps and two poles: so it turned out to be a perfect weekend."
The newly crowned British national series champion, who adds his name to the roll of honour alongside Khera and Jamie Clarke, showed exceptional speed, especially in the battle for the fastest qualifying lap. "I really wanted those eight out of eight poles, it meant a lot to me. At Oulton Park, however, Sikkens pipped me by a tenth of a second. I recorded a good lap, but he outdid me," he stated. Even so, seven pole positions out of eight races, five fastest laps, along with five wins and two podiums, are numbers that vouch for Swift's great season, made all the more significant by the tenacity with which Khera attempted, race by race, to hold onto his title. A thrilling battle, but one as sporting as it was spectacular, right up to the closing metres of the final race. "We never crossed each other’s limits as other drivers might have done. And he's always a good sport too; he came over to congratulate me and that means a lot. It's a really hard-fought competition, but a fair and a fun one." A competition for champions, exactly like James Swift.