March 2012 saw the official launch of “Mission Motorsport”, appointed by the British Army Motorsport Association as the British Army’s provider of adaptive motor sport following a very successful year in 2011.
The intention of this worthwhile charity is to be a catalyst in the recovery and rehabilitation of those affected by military operations by providing unique opportunities through Motorsport and has been granted charitable status by the Charities Commission. British Racing legend Sir Stirling Moss OBE has accepted the role of Charity patron.
So to September 2012. On a damp weekend at Silverstone Mission Motorsports were determined to conquer the Britcar 24 Hour Endurance event, and Team Army was delighted to experience first-hand the great work of all those involved in Mission Motorsport.
The team for the weekend included a number of men and women who were both serving, those in recovery and veterans with the Pit Crew being led by ex-Marine and Falklands veteran Tony Compson. The Mission Motorsport team in turn were supported by family and friends at Nissan, Britcar and Silverstone itself who provided moral support and a constant flow of hot food and drink and spare parts!
It looked like it was game over during the night when the Nissan, travelling at full racing speed, came around the first turn at Silverstone to be confronted by a broadside Marcos. With nowhere to go driver James Cameron took avoiding action but sustained heavy front-end damage. The team at Mission Motorsport don’t understand the meaning of giving up so, with the help of RJN Motorsport and a fender from RJN boss own Nissan 370Z, the team set about fixing the car and in under two hours it was back out on track.
The Mission Motorsport Britcar 24hr team ultimately finished 17th in a field of 72 cars, comprising of mainly professional teams. Trooper Jimmy Gillborn was also awarded Driver of the Day, in recognition of his consistently excellent lap-times which was all the more made remarkable given that he and some of the other drivers had only acquired the requisite Race Licence up until 4 weeks prior to the race. A truly amazing result given the challenges and hurdles Mission Motorsport had to overcome just to be there.