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WORKING from nine in the morning until midnight might not seem like everyone's idea of fun, but it all depends on your passion.

Chris Hodgen, aged 33, is from Lostock but lives in Chorley with his wife, Charlotte, and two young boys, Matthew, aged two, and Jonathan, who has just turned one.

By day he is the managing director of The Absolute Media Group, based in Lee Lane, Horwich, but by night (and at weekends) he runs the Absolute Racing Team in the British Formula 4 Championship.

Motor racing is Mr Hodgen's passion.

He has raced cars since he was a teenager and used to race Formula 4 himself, until a few years ago, when a stint at the Le Mans 24 hour race in a Works Mosler convinced him to give it up.

He said: "I raced with the Stig from Top Gear and Shane Lynch from Boyzone, we led for eight hours and afterwards I couldn't imagine myself matching that experience again so I decided to pack up my helmet.

"When I finished racing, a guy came to me and asked to rent my car to race. Then someone else asked, so I built another, and then a third person asked and now I have built three cars, which we race each year."

Building and preparing all his own cars is why he works so hard. Most days he gets into work at 9am, working at his design agency until 7pm, then nipping home to see his wife and children, before rushing off to his garage to work on his beloved motors into the small hours.

Not surprisingly, with two young children, his passion is putting some strain on his home life, but Mr Hodgen has a plan to ease the situation.

He said: "It's hard, if not impossible, fitting everything into my day. I need to get into a situation where we can charge more money and employ someone to work on the cars.

"This might be possible if we could step up to Formula Renault, but I'd need to invest £90,000 to buy three cars."

Although it is tough doing two jobs, Mr Hodgen would not change it. The racing team acts as an ideal vehicle to win business for his design agency, as he can offer car sponsorship to good customers and regularly entertains clients at Formula 4 races.

8:53am Tuesday 6th May 2008

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