The story of Team BRIT's Silverstone 24 Hours debut is told during Sky Sports F1's Hungarian GP coverage this weekend
Monday 25 July 2016 12:03, UK
One of sport's most powerful qualities is its ability to inspire and that attribute is at the heart of a motorsport initiative which aims to help injured troops rebuild their lives and confidence.
Team BRIT provides the platform for service personnel who have suffered from life-changing injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder to become heroes in a new environment - endurance racing.
Team principal Dave Player, who served in the Royal Engineers for five years, tells Sky Sports: "It's not a cure or anything like that, but it's for guys who are thrill seekers - which most soldiers are - and allows them to push themselves to the limit. Living life on the edge.
"When you are fired upon, you don't run away, you run towards the bullets. It's a similar thing with racing - you've got to find that edge. This is what has given these guys a new lease of life. They have rediscovered their drive, their motivation, and something they're really good at."
Born out of the KartForce charity which was created in 2010 to introduce injured service personnel to endurance kart racing, Team BRIT doesn't only provide the platform for discovering new skills in car racing, but also allows participants to gain skills which are transferable to the wider working world.
"It's a normal limited company, like a normal racing team," said Player. "The drivers have to work for their seat like any other racing driver. They don't race for free, they have to work.
"The whole idea is to teach the drivers, injured troops, all about the sponsorship and what companies expect from sponsorship. It's not 'we're doing the London Marathon, will you sponsor me?' It is corporate sponsorship and advertising. It's trying to work out what we can bring to each different company. We hold workshops and so the lads have to go out and contact companies and so far we've had a really good success rate."
Alongside seasoned racers David Pittard and Julian Thomas, two of the founding members of KartForce, Mark Allen and Martyn Compton, took part in the team's 24-hour racing debut at Silverstone in April. Team BRIT's VW Golf rose as high as second in class before a gearbox problem struck, taking two hours to fix. Nonetheless, a 10th-place finish still represented a commendable maiden result in the gruelling 24-hour race arena.
Ex-soldiers Mark and Martyn have now gone out on their own to forge a path in motorsport.
"When we first met Martyn, he'd been home-bound for seven months," said Player of the former Household Cavalry solider, who suffered severe burns when his vehicle was ambushed while on duty in Afghanistan in August 2006.
"He was so down and depressed, but as soon as he came to one race that was it - he attended every single one. He didn't want to be interviewed or photographed because of his burns, but now he gives interviews on TV, makes presentations at corporate events and gives talks at schools. He's a massive inspiration.
"Mark was injured when he was 19, he didn't even have a driving licence. He only got his driving licence after he started karting with us and now, with no legs, last year he was the Brit Car driver of the year. Now he's got enough confidence to go off and make it in the world of motorsport."
And it was their uplifting story which caught the attention of one of the world's most famous bands - Coldplay, who became a team sponsor.
"Chris Martin contacted us after reading about what we do," Player said. "We all went and had lunch with them at their studios in London and the strange thing was, rather than the Coldplay fans asking them questions, it was the other way round! They were just enthralled and asking our guys all sorts of questions, we were like kids in a school.
"They know that Mark and Martyn have now moved on and they are really thrilled that they are part of something that's doing so much good for the lads."
Team BRIT are moving ahead with three rookies - Mike Lewis, Warren McKinlay and Joe Byrne - as they work towards the eventual target of competing in the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.
"We know it's a really mammoth goal, but these lads need a goal," said Player.
"So when we start racing, we say 'what do you want to do?' We need to have a path, something to aim for. Now we know that we're starting team endurance racing with these three rookies and we know next year we're going to do something else on the path for what they're aiming for."
After battling back from unimaginable challenges already on the front line, the inherent motivation and tenacity of the injured troops can certainly never be underestimated, whatever the arena.
Find out more about Team BRIT and their latest racing activities here
