NaroEscape

NaroEscape Motorsports is proud to be a part of a great event going on in a few weeks at the Anglesey Circuit in Wales, UK - the Race of Remembrance (RoR). http://www.raceofremembrance.com/

In a previous thread I mentioned our partnership with Operation Motorsport (OpMo). They asked us if we could help out and be a part of this unique but very amazing event, so we of course said YES! Then...an opportunity to drive came up and of course I jumped on it! However... I need an FIA Class C license. The SCCA administers the licenses for the FIA, but unfortunately does not recognize PCA racing experience, so I was denied my license and cannot drive. Yeah…I’m a little disappointed...a once in a lifetime opportunity. But in the end, its not about me, its about the beneficiaries and the good that things like this does for our brave men and women. I’m just proud that we can be a part of it all… I am now going to crew chief a car, and Nadine will be doing data and coaching for a couple teams. Still gonna be a phenomenal experience! (oh...and Liam Dwyer who races for Mazda is on our team!!)

So...what is RoR? First let me give a little refresher about OpMo and how it all ties together.

Operation Motorsport is a Veteran led and operated, non-profit organization that provides recovery, retraining and rehabilitation opportunities to injured American and Canadian service members and veterans through Motorsports activities. If any of you have attended an IMSA Porscheplatz or Corvette Car Corral, you've probably met Tiffany and Diezel Lodder (they handle things like pit tours, parade laps, set up/tear down of the tents with PCA and Porsche, among a million other things). They are Executive Director and CEO (respectively) of Operation Motorsport. What they have put together is truly an amazing program, and we are very proud to be a part of it. Here is the Operation Motorsport website: https://operationmotorsport.org/

At the bottom of their home page, you will see links to a couple video's for the Race of Remembrance. These should explain everything about RoR.


And


I think the second one did it for me. Really compelling...

You will see RoR is run by Mission Motorsport. MM is the sister charity organization in England that got OpMo started here in North America. They've been around a while...OpMo only a year. As I said OpMo is run by very dear friends of our. Great people with a great cause!

And remember. 5% of all retail/non-discounted purchases from NaroEscape Motorsports goes to Operation Motorsport to assist in the financial needs of the program.
So as this holiday season comes up and you need to start purchasing things for you and your car, remember that some of that money you spend can be going toward a very good cause.

Hopefully some of you will be able to follow along on their website or FB pages. I will do everything I can to update on our FB page and if I can figure out a way to do blogging on our website...there too (don't hold your breath on that one!) I will also do my best to post updates here.

With so much negativity and turmoil going on every day, Its great to be a part of something so positive and so impact-full .

chartersb

Thanks for posting this and thanks for your involvement.

9912B

Wow!! What a great cause. Thanks, Bob!

NaroEscape

We leave for Wales tomorrow. Spending a week with the beneficiaries on various team building activities (fun stuff), then onto the circuit on Thursday for set up, Friday practice, and Saturday/Sunday is the racing.

We are bringing over 9 beneficiaries. I think Nadine and I are the only ones not associated with the military in any way, but we are happy to help support in any way possible. I gotta give it to the Operation Motorsport team - organizing the logistics of this from afar has been quite a monumental feat.

NaroEscape

We're back...been a long but fun 2 weeks. Here's how it went: (sorry in advance for the long post).

-Arrived in London on Sunday 11/4 to be picked up by one of the vans with the Operation Motorsport (OpMo) CEO and a few military beneficiaries.
-On Monday, we visited Mission Motorsport - the organization that OpMo was modeled after and organizer of the Race of Remembrance.
For a team building event...or maybe just for fun...we got invited to the Porsche Experience Center at Silverstone! Great place, great people...and obviously great cars! We all got to try out a Cayman GTS/Boxster variant and a 991 variant (I got a C4S Cab)...gotta say...launch control and braking on the C4S was amazing!
-Tuesday visited Caernarforn Castle then did ziplining on what they say is the worlds fastest zipline with speeds over 100 mph (and yeah...it was crazy fast!)
-Wednesday we did a few visits and some go-karting. Oh...forgot to say that one of our team/beneficiaries was Liam Dwyer - Mazda Pro racer. Yeah...he beat me (and all of us).
-Thursday was garage/paddock set up and load in.
-Friday qualifying
-Saturday/Sunday the race...Sunday is the Remembrance Service.

So lets go back to Wednesday evening. As of that time, we had no car to race. Its complicated so follow along here: Mazda Motorsports North America was funding the car and Liam: an MX5 Cup. They were supposedly getting the car from Mazda Motorsports EU and shipping it from Belgium to England. Well...as is normal politics and egos got in the way and Mazda EU said no - someone has to BUY the car, not just borrow it. This went back and forth for months. Oh, forgot to mention...the car was being fitted with a sequential gearbox for Liam since he recently had surgery and wasn't supposed to use a clutch for a few more months. So we're getting down to a week or so out and the local Brit Mazda Pro Ben Devlin is called upon by Mazda NA to go "buy" the car from Mazda EU, pick it up in Belgium and bring it back to his place in London. And figure out how to get the sequential box out of customs since they wanted a 4000 British pounds VAT to be paid. Wednesday at 9pm, he called us and said he had the car and gearbox, but was told the install of the gearbox was a 12 hour job if you know what you're doing (his team didn't) and he was 7 hours from the track....and he couldn't get it on a lift until 8 am Thursday morning!!

We had radio silence from Ben all day Thursday. It was not looking good...

Friday at 9am we're sitting at breakfast wondering what we're going to do all day/weekend....and this MX5 Cup on an open trailer being pulled by a van pulls up...with a VERY tired Ben Devlin driving!!!
We unload and get to work getting it prepped. Remember 2 things: 1) this car has NEVER raced - it was a show car for Mazda to start a Global Cup series so obviously it has no set up or is at all prepped to race...and 2) the team that was expected to prep and set it up are all military veteran/beneficiaries with very limited to no race car experience! But what we did have was Liam who knows these cars inside and out...

I need to pause here and mention the weather. It rains a lot in Wales...A LOT!! and not just rain, heavy rain and very strong winds. Friday was the worst - they said we had 65 mph gusts with 45-50 mph sustained winds and it was pouring rain. Yeah...hurricane type stuff.. oh, and 45 degrees. Fun stuff! But...the people don't even flinch. And neither do the military guys and gals. So they got the car drivable and Liam did a few laps. Then all the drivers needed to do at least 3 laps of night qualifying...in the dark, high wind, blowing rain and cold...fun fun!! But we all got through it.

Team worked all night on set up and Saturday practices and Liam took out the car. Said it was OK, but the tires sucked.

Then the driveshaft broke....it's not a stock Mazda part, its aftermarket with the sequential gearbox.
For whatever reason Ben had a spare! 2 minutes, back in business.

Drivers complained that the tires we horrible - no grip, sliding all over, couldn't put the power down, but they persevered (don't we all?) Then...4 hours in...driveshaft broke AGAIN! This time, no spare. We were done....

Here's what's amazing. NOBODY held their head low. (except Liam who was once again driving and keeps thinking it was him). On the Sunday when we arrived, only a couple of these people knew each other. They came from different military disciplines, both Canadian and US. Some had done OpMo events together, Nadine and I knew a couple of them, but overall...they just met each other that first Sunday. But by the end of the week, they were a team, working together toward a goal. And when the goal was cut short, they jumped in to help other teams (Mission Motorsport had 2 other cars of their own).

Nadine and I are extremely proud and honored to have been a part of this. It was a privileged meeting all these great people that have (and some still do) fought for our countries and sustained injuries - both physical and mental. I learned a lot of their stories, about things they've seen and been a part of. About accidents, losses, and injuries. Being able to see the friendships, camaraderie and team work that came together was awesome. The goal of OpMo is to expose ill and injured active and veteran military personal to motorsports to assist in their healing. To a person, they all came a long way in their recovery that week.

The Remembrance Service on Sunday is at 11 am - right in the middle of the race. Black Flag is thrown, all cars stop on the front straight and a service is performed - many crew and drivers in military uniform. It was a very moving experience, and Nadine and I have no military ties to anything.

If you're on Facebook, go to the pages for Operation Motorsport, Mission Motorsport and the Race of Remembrance for pictures, details and experiences. It's a very powerful reminder of what some people do and give up so we can play with cars and enjoy our lives...