Driving in competitive events is incredibly costly and whilst the competition is what most drivers are in the game for, they don’t always offer the best value for money to support new drivers and their development.
Just getting into a position to enter a race can cost the participant in excess of £2000, before buying a car, transporting it or paying an entry fee and that’s before the driver knows whether they’re up to it or not.
The RAF Motor Racers are regularly seen utilising trackdays as stepping stone opportunities to get instruction and coaching for experienced and novice drivers alike whilst not having the restrictions of solo car occupancy like competitive events and also coming in at a significantly reduced cost.
Since 2016 Javelin Trackdays have been supporting RAF Motor Racing initiatives to develop their competitive drivers and also encourage new participants to become involved.
Colin Jebson, CEO of Javelin Trackdays said “I’ve been involved in motorsport events all over the country for over 40 years and it’s great to bring that experience to support the RAF Motor Racing Team. Our first event was at RAF Binbrook, the former home of the Lightning. In fact the Javelin name is an homage to the Binbrook based Gloster Javelin aircraft which I used to watch as a boy with my Dad (ex RAF). It’s great to maintain that RAF connection. We’ve run events to host guests and provide training at Silverstone, Blyton, Snetterton and Mallory Park and it’s always satisfying to see guests leave full of enthusiasm to get involved in future.”
Javelin Trackdays are one of the largest operators of trackdays in the UK and their network of instructors are always on hand to assist the drivers. Andy, one of their ARDS qualified instructors said, at their Mallory Park training event: “Between us we’ve just taken 6 drivers on circuit who’ve never driven before and they now have an insight into what track driving is all about and more importantly have done so in a safe manner.”
As the RAF Motor Racing discipline move forward towards their Inter-Services race at Silverstone in a few weeks time and also focus on the Race of Remembrance, they’re working very closely with Javelin Trackdays to deliver a first of it’s kind grassroots engagement day in November for the Association. Competition Secretary, Chris Slator said “We’re so grateful for the support offered by Javelin Trackdays. Their events are run to the highest of standards which gives us the confidence to take new drivers on track with minimal risk. After Race of Remembrance we’re running an event with Javelin Trackdays where we’ll take 6 people who’ve never driven on track and they’ll be sharing two cars with an instructor in each car. We’re aiming to give each driver over an hour on track with 1:1 instruction in hope that some of the drivers will feel confident enough to take the next step in their racing career. We’ll also have another car at the event with representative level drivers to give passenger laps not just for the new drivers, but also for guests.”
For anyone wishing to get involved in RAF Motor Racing they can get in touch through this website. Anyone who would like to get on track in a safe manner, with a professional can find a vast calendar of events on the Javelin Trackdays website.