New Motorsport Record for Race2Recovery

Cambridge, ON - July 31, 2014
Photo via Race2Recovery

Race2Recovery, the British Rally-Raid team that holds the only back to back finishes in the world by a disability team in the Dakar Rally-Raid, have set another motorsport record.

Last weekend the team took part in the fourth round of the MSA British Cross Country Championship with driver Olaf Jones and co-driver Yanto Evans.  Jones is an above the elbow left arm amputee and Evans is a below the right knee amputee.  They set a record as the first disabled pair of competitors to complete a lap of the event in Radnor Forest in Wales.  This makes them the first fully disabled team to complete a lap of an MSA BCCC event.

While the team did not complete the event due to a roll over caused by a mechanical failure in a wheel, they made history in more ways that one.

The MSA had to be lobbied by Race2Recovery co-founder Anthony Harris in order to allow both amputees to compete in the same vehicle, because the MSA had a policy that prevented two disabled competitors from being in the same vehicle at the same time.  Harris successfully argued that if both Jones and Evans were able to pass the BARS assessment that both should be able to compete in the same vehicle in an MSA event without prejudice.

Motorsport sanctioning bodies around the world should be paying close attention to this particular decision by the MSA.  More and more competitors are showing up to register for amateur and professional motorsport events around the world with a variety of physical and mental health challenges ranging from paralysis to Autism.  If those competitors can meet the same requirements as any other competitor, there is no reason or excuse to exclude them from competition.

Congratulations to Race2Recovery on their new record and on successfully lobbying to change a regulation in favour of more fair, inclusive, and equitable competition.  Cheers to the MSA for agreeing to follow good sense and logic in allowing Jones and Evans to compete together under the R2R banner.

Inspiring Driver Looks for Repeat Victory at Mid-Ohio this Weekend

Cambridge, ON - July 30, 2014

This weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, one of our favourite inspiring drivers will be taking to the track looking to repeat his victory last year in the Verizon IndyCar series race.  Charlie Kimball, who drives the Novo Nordisk sponsored 83 car for Chip Ginassi Racing, is a Type 1 Diabetic and has become a hero and role model for many people, both young and old, that deal with Diabetes as part of their everyday lives.

Kimball spends time off the track visiting hospitals, talking to kids living with Diabetes, and attending medical conferences, as well as other related events.  Kimball has also made the trip to Washington, D.C. to testify in front of Congress about Diabetes.  All that said, Charlie Kimball's real power as an inspiration shines through in a brief meeting he had at the 2inTO race with a young four-year-old fan of his.

That young fan had been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes the year prior and his mother had tried to give the young boy the message that having Type 1 Diabetes made his life a bit different but that he could still do anything he wanted.  She introduced Kimball and his career to the young boy in slow increments and was surprised by the positive affect it had on the young man's life, particularly the day they found a picture of Charlie Kimball checking his blood sugars on the pit wall before a race.  That picture was enough to make the young man decide he wanted to check his own blood sugars going forward because if Kimball could do it, so could he.

When the chance came to visit Kimball at the Toronto IndyCar weekend, they jumped at the opportunity.  The young man got to meet his hero, get a signed hero car, and a picture with Kimball.  More important than all of that, Kimball gave the young boy a very important message.  When it was mentioned the young boy was going to go have lunch and take his insulin after the meeting, Charlie replied back with the best message the young man has heard from anyone.

"I have to go eat my lunch and take my insulin too.  You know why?  Because we're part of the cool kids club."

The message pure and simple - It's okay to have to take insulin.  That the message comes from a guy who has to live the same way and do the same thing means everything to a four year old boy struggling to understand why he has to take insulin when his friends and classmates don't.  The power of that message defies words.

This Sunday, tune into the Verizon IndyCar Series race on the NBC Sports Network at 3:00pm EST, to see if Charlie Kimball will take his second career victory in the IndyCar Series.  We'll certainly be cheering for him.

The Highlights of Last Year's Win By Kimball At Mid-Ohio

Dreams Do Come True

Cambridge,ON - July 29, 2014
Photo via Racing With Autism

The distance between Goodwood Kartways in Uxbridge, Ontario and Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia is a lot more than just geographical.  One is a regional karting track that has a storied past and has seen many a Canadian race car driver through its gates and on its pavement.  The other is an internationally recognized road course track that has been raced on by the best drivers in the world.

Today, it's a very special place for 15 year old Austin Riley of Racing With Autism.  Austin will start a 3 day race school put on by Skip Barber.  While kids do race schools all the time, Austin is on the Autism spectrum.  Although he has 3 Championships in karting from Goodwood, he's never driven a proper race car on a road course track before.  Driving a race car has been a dream of Austin's since he began racing karts at age 7.

Almost a year ago, we met Austin at Goodwood Kartways.  That day, we were convinced he would someday climb the racing ladder and race a car.  We knew he had it in him to be a racer at a higher level than karts.

"Just because you have Autism, it doesn't mean you can't do great things." - Austin Riley

We couldn't agree more Austin.  Best of luck to you at Road Atlanta!

Welcome to Inspiration At Speed

Cambridge, ON - July 28, 2014

Many of you will be familiar with this series of articles from In The Pits Media and CBS Sports' In The Pits Racing Radio.  For the first year of its life the series lived on In The Pits Media's website.  I'm very grateful to ITPM for hosting the series in its first year, but there is so much more that can be done with the series.  We've moved it over to its own independent blog, which provides us with many new opportunities.  While the series will continue to be published on ITPM's website, this blog presents the opportunity to expand on the series and the people featured in the series.

First, we can now provide regular updates on the events and people featured in the series via the News Page of this blog.  That means we can tell you when one of our 'inspiring stories' is racing somewhere, how they do at the events they race at, and what news and announcements they have about their racing activities.  It also means we can create a Twitter account for the series, a Facebook Page, and make use of other social media to spread the continuing stories of inspiration we write and care about.

We're still working on more stories, as there are so many stories out there that need to be told.  They are from different parts of the globe, and it takes time to put those special and unique stories together.  As it sits now, we have two stories in the works, with one waiting for an approval to release and another ready to be researched and written.

We hope that when you're in need of a heartwarming story, a story to encourage you to continue on facing whatever challenge you're dealing with, or you just want to read a feel good story that you'll check us out.

We hope you'll agree with us.  There is 'Inspiration At Speed.'

Colene & Brooke