Tag: Mission Motorsport

Mission Motorsport celebrates 10th anniversary at Thruxton

At the start of this month, Mission Motorsport celebrated its 10th Anniversary at Thruxton Circuit, the very venue where it had launched exactly a decade before. 

Launched at the Hampshire venue on 1st March 2012, the pioneering charity has gone on to achieve extraordinary success, helping those affected by military operations by engaging them through motorsport. It was a great privilege to be able to host their return to Thruxton in commemoration of such a milestone. 

The charity has grown dramatically since those early days of track days, and now encompasses a wide range of support skills, training and employment opportunities, enabling Mission Motorsport to have helped over 2000 service veterans via their variety of programmes. 

One of the biggest and most notable achievements by the charity has been the establishment of ‘Race of Remembrance’ – which is now an annual fixture on the national motorsport calendar at Anglesey Circuit. Last year Thruxton held the first Karting of Remembrance event on the same date, which was a successful sell-out and will be repeated in 2022.

To find out more on Mission Motorsport’s journey over the past decade, please take the time to watch the following inspiring video with the Charity’s founder and CEO James Cameron: 

Ben Taylor, BARC Chief Executive, said: “I’ve been a huge fan of Mission Motorsport’s work since the very early days and I was thrilled to find that BARC was already heavily connected with the charity when I arrived here. We have already hosted many events at Thruxton and Croft and we look forward to building on that and extending our support of the military community.”

Further information on Mission Motorsport and their initiatives can be found here: https://www.missionmotorsport.org/ourmission

Mission Motorsport sets new hypermiling world record at Thruxton

Thruxton Circuit can add the title of being one of the most efficient race tracks in the UK alongside being the fastest after Mission Motorsport set a new hypermiling world record in a Renault ZOE.

Aiming to beat the previous benchmark of 351 miles for the longest distance driven in a Renault ZOE on a single charge, the Forces’ Motorsport Charity raised the bar in emphatic fashion around the Hampshire venue this past week.

Driving day and night, for more than 24 hours, at the optimum average speed of 19mph, the Renault ZOE – which was equipped with ENSO’s EV tyres – reached a world beating 475.4 miles on a single charge, smashing the French record by 124.4 miles.

Equipped with ENSO’s pioneering range extending EV tyres, a team of British veterans, the spouse of a serving soldier and a hypermiling expert came together to share driving duties around the 2.36-mile circuit.

James Cameron, Mission Motorsport CEO, said: “Thruxton was the obvious choice for this record attempt, but despite being the UK’s fastest track, the key to hitting 475.4 miles was finding the optimum speed and smooth consistent driving.

“Backed by ENSO’s unique EV tyre technology we were certain we could break the record, but what we couldn’t have foreseen was the incredible difference in efficiency, distance and feel with the ENSO tyres.”

During the world record attempt Mission Motorsport used two different sets of tyres on two identical Renault ZOEs. One vehicle was fitted with OEM tyres, clocking an impressive 424.7 miles whilst the second was fitted with ENSO tyres, eclipsing the old record and sister car with an astonishing 475.4 miles.

To find out more information on Mission Motorsport and the world record they have broken, click here.

Race of Remembrance delivers Anglesey spectacular

Race of Remembrance proved to be bigger and better than ever before this past weekend (November 9/10/11) as Anglesey Circuit played host to a memorable three days of racing and commemoration.

Run by the Forces’ charity Mission Motorsport and the BARC, Race of Remembrance has established itself as one of the marquee events on the UK motorsport calendar – with this past year being the fifth edition of the meeting.

With all manner of machinery going wheel-to-wheel around the picturesque Welsh track, the event itself has always been about much more than just racing, and 2018 was a prime example of that.

Commemorating the sacrifices made by all service personnel and their families, the event again provided the perfect backdrop for a social gathering like no other, with a ‘Heroes Dinner’ serving as a reminder of what the weekend is all about.

This year’s Race of Remembrance took on added significance too as it fell on the 100th Anniversary of the First World War coming to an end.

At 10:45 on the Sunday morning of the event, racing was paused and Anglesey Circuit fell silent as a very special service of remembrance took place in the pit lane, with all drivers, teams, officials, marshals, service personnel and families in attendance.

The battle for victory in the 2018 Race of Remembrance was hard-fought however as 50 teams duked it out in the coveted 12-hour endurance race. Racing into the night and then throughout the next day, the action was fast and frenetic as the laps ticked by.

In the end reigning champions Sofa King Fast made it back-to-back victories at Race of Remembrance as the quartet of Carolie Everett, Jay McCormack, Russ Olivant and James Beardwell took the chequered flag in their Caterham 310R.

Completing a staggering 348 laps around the Welsh circuit, the race winners not only led the way overall but also emerged as the team to beat in Class E too, picking up an impressive haul of Heroes Trophies.

Elsewhere, Class A honours went the way of TrackScotland1 whilst Team Slowa did the same in Class B, home to the popular Citroen 1 contingent.

There was glory for Datum Motorsport who were the winners in Class C. Since the inception of Race of Remembrance half a decade ago the Lotus Elise trio of Lee Brooks, Ben Brooks and Phil Grayson has made the annual pilgrimage to Anglesey every year to compete, with a class victory proving to be a fitting reward.

In Class D, British Touring Car Championship race winner Rob Austin joined forces with former BTCC racer Dan Welch and Max5 Racing title winner Paul Roddison to clinch victory. The trio missed out on overall victory by just four laps in Roddison’s trust MX5 but did enough to see off the competition in their own category.

Claire Smith’s 360 MRC Absolute Dogs Danglies squad underlined what the event was all about as they competed a storybook comeback to win Class F. At the 2017 event the team were forced to watch on and unable to make the finish following a mechanical failure.

Twelve months on and armed with their BMW Mini R56, Smith along with Duncan Rogers and Chris Knox put on a near-perfect performance to triumph by seven laps.

Rounding out the list of winners was GPW Racing as Peter Reynolds, Geoff Price and Pete Walters that walked away as the victors of Class R in their Caterham 7 X3.

For the full classification of results, click here.

Poignant and special weekend lined up at Anglesey for Race of Remembrance

One of the highlights of the UK motorsport calendar, Race of Remembrance, will take place for the fifth time this weekend (November 9/10/11) in North Wales at the picturesque Anglesey Circuit – and the event is set to be bigger and better than ever.

Run by the Forces’ charity Mission Motorsport, the thee-day meeting has proven to be a smash-hit in recent years with the focus on commemorating the sacrifices made by all service personnel and their families.

This year’s event will be even more poignant too as its falls on the 100th anniversary since the end of the First World War.

Battling it out around the challenging Anglesey Circuit, a total of 50 teams will compete in the 12-hour race with all manner of machinery set to go wheel-to-wheel.

What makes Race of Remembrance unique is that the race itself will be paused at points, meaning that although it will be a 12-hour endurance race the time it takes to start and finish it will be much longer.

The most notable pause will come at 10:45 on Sunday morning when the racing will stop and the circuit will fall silent for a special service of remembrance, which will take place in the pit lane.

Boasting a glittering entry list of high-profile racing drivers and ex-serviceman, a special ‘Heroes Dinner’ and much more, the 2018 edition of Race of Remembrance is set to scale new heights.

James Cameron, CEO of Mission Motorsport, said: “Race of Remembrance is always a special event and one that is eagerly anticipated by a growing number of people from across the charity, racing industry and further afield.

“This year will be especially poignant, falling as it does on the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, and we will be commemorating the sacrifices made by service men and women in a very special way”.