Army looks to accelerate growth of new talent at annual Motorsport Day at Thruxton
The British Army Motorsport Association (BAMA) has held a celebration of all nine of its motorsport disciplines at their annual Motorsport Day at Thruxton Race Circuit.
The event, which was held at a race circuit for the first time, aims to showcase the broad spectrum of motorsport opportunities in the British Army available to serving soldiers as well as veterans.
Listed as category 2 by Army Sport, BAMA comprises nine different motorsport disciplines and prides itself as being the most diverse Motor Club in Great Britain registered with the British Motorsport Association.
Those nine disciplines includes four-wheeled racing such as karting, sports car racing, trials, navigation rallying and stage rallying, as well as two-wheeled disciplines such as enduro, trials, adventure and motorcycle road racing.
The event was also a day of reflection for the respective teams as they approach the tail-ends of their competitive seasons.
The Army Road Race team are on course to retain their Inter Services team titles as they head to their eighth and final round of the No Limits Race series at Donington Park at the end of September.
Operations Manager WO1 Gav Watts said: "It's been a really positive year for the team once again.
"We're in contention to retain the Inter Services championship and we're also in contention to win the Army individuals championship as well for the Inter Services with an Army rider and we've also got an Army rider in the top five of that championship.
"So, once again, the team and riders are progressing, and that's exactly what we want from our soldiers."
For the Army Karting team, it's been a year of two halves for Team Manager Staff Sergeant Josh Townsend, who had suffered a "disastrous" start to his season.
"As with every motorsport season, it has his ups and downs," SSgt Townsend joked.
He added: "First round, a brand new chassis, about £4,500 of a chassis with about £2,000 of a new engine on the back of it.
"I was going down the back straight of Llandow in South Wales, complete brake failure just doing 57mph down the main straight.
"So it was a disastrous start to the season, but we've managed to recover it well, we're third in class in the championship at the minute.
"The realistic target is to come second at the end of this year, but when we go back to the start of the year, our target for this kart was to get onto the podium at the end of the year."
The remainder of the UKAF Karting Championships will be contested at Rowrah in Cumbria on 27 September and at Dunkeswell in Devon on 18 October.
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