'People don't realise the sacrifices that you make'

Charlie Eastwood with his dad, John, at the start of the Le Mans 24 Hours in June

“A lot of people who aren’t in professional sport don't realise the sacrifices that go on."

Throughout his career, Charlie Eastwood had stood on the podium on dozens of occasions.

However, this one felt different.

Just two days earlier, the 29-year-old had lost his father, John, after a brave battle with illness.

In a "whirlwind week", Eastwood had been doing simulator work in Italy before getting a call to say John was to return home from hospital to be with his family for his final days.

He rushed to collect his wife, Cat, and children from their home in Portugal to join the rest of the family in Northern Ireland.

"It was a tough time, but it was as nice as it could have been," said Eastwood.

"The whole family was there by his bedside, back at home, which was his wish."

Not only was Eastwood set to race in Bahrain in the final round of the World Endurance Championship with TF Sport and Corvette in the LMGT3 class - the third quickest category - but he was also set to drive the Cadillac Hypercar - the pinnacle of endurance racing - in the post-season rookie test after being selected by American giants General Motors.

With the blessing of John and the rest of the family, he headed to Sakhir with Cat.

After a day of testing at the circuit, the news came through that he had been fearing, that his father had passed away.

"The last few days I had with my dad were amazing. I was content when I left, it was his wish but it was tough," Eastwood added.

"In those moments you realise how important it is to have such a supportive family around.

"When I was back in the hotel with Cat I was able to process it as much as possible and the emotion started to come through.

"But once I walked into the paddock I still had a job to do and I tried to switch my mind off it as much as possible."

'If it was easy then everyone would be doing it'

The race itself was eventful for Eastwood and his team-mates, Rui Andrade and Tom van Rompuy.

After leading most of the eight-hour race, they dropped down to eighth after unfortunate timing of a virtual safety car.

Then Eastwood stepped into the car.

"We knew we had the pace and I went all guns blazing," he said.

"We got into the lead after a good battle but we lost a little bit of time at the final pit stop, and that dropped us to fourth.

"We managed to drive back up to second but we ended up just three seconds off the overall win.

"I just wanted to do the best I could for him, myself and my family. I felt I definitely done that."

Eastwood (centre) admits that the podium after the race was "tricky" and "emotional"

Despite the high of it being his first one with Corvette, Eastwood says it was a "tricky podium" but he praised the support of his team and wife throughout the weekend.

"It was emotional but I was just happy to be up on the podium to finish the season on a high," he said. "It was a strange one the whole weekend.

"With the race and the test, it was a crazy weekend regardless of what was happening at home, but to add that was another level."

There is barely a driver from the island of Ireland who would not have crossed paths with John on their way up the ranks, either through the Nutts Corner Circuit in County Antrim or through his years of work in karting.

After the conclusion of the Hypercar test, which took place the day after the race and went "amazingly well", Eastwood flew back to England via Qatar to pick up his children before heading straight to Belfast for his father's funeral.

"I literally arrived back to a house full of people at the wake," he said.

"My dad touched and supported a lot of people over the years. We think almost 1,200 people were at the church, so it was as close to a state funeral as you could get."

Eastwood took part in the World Endurance Championship's rookie test for Cadillac before flying home for his father's funeral

Eastwood says it wasn't until he was speaking to friends and family at the service that it hit him what he had been through as a professional athlete.

"The amount of people at the funeral saying, ‘I’ve no idea how you done that’, but in my head I didn’t feel like I had any other choice, or would I have wanted it to be any different," he said.

"I was able to get my head in the right place to go and deliver the best performance that I could."

He adds that the sacrifices that are made as a professional athlete are "a bit underappreciated at times" and the mental attributes are what separates those who make it, and those who don't.

"You see the glitz, glamour and glory of professional sport – we are living out our own dreams," said Eastwood, who won the famed Le Mans 24 Hours in the GT3 class in 2020.

"But there is a reason that only such a small percentage of people do make it as a professional.

"I think a lot of it is in the mind and being happy with those sacrifices, and dealing with it to get your mind in the right place where you are able to go and do the job.

"If it was easy then everyone would be doing it."