Five stars out of five – Race of Remembrance 2018
- Rob Lee
- Nov 19, 2018
- 3 min read
Only the sound of waves breaking and the seagulls call can be heard at Anglesey Circuit.
As Remembrance Day service is called, on the centenary of Armistice Day, it seems fitting that the race cars fall silent just like the guns did in 1918 to mark the end of the Great War.
Whilst it is a time to pay respect and remember all those who have fallen in battle, the charity Mission Motorsport have created an event to help retrain and rehabilitate injured armed forces personnel who have survived the horrors of war.
What we were about to do didn’t fill me with confidence
The fifth edition of the Race of Remembrance was a great occasion for drivers and marshals alike and after the race I found it hard to summarise the whole event, from changing my hair colour to the wheel to wheel action on track and witnessing the first ever biathlon of foolishness.
It’s tough to condense the events that happened across the weekend at marshalling especially when so much happened.
The great hair swap of 2018
It’s probably best to start at the beginning of the antics, which was back in July. Sat on a river in Prague I turned to a fellow marshal, James McNeil and said “we should swap hair colour for charity.”
Before I had thought it through, we had agreed to it and sent up a MyDonate page. Fast forward to Thursday before the race and there we were sat in the hairdressers waiting to get our hair dyed.
Turns out I suit blonde hair better than I thought
Two hours later and there I was with blonde hair and James had brown hair. What had we actually done? Thankfully the thought of the money raised going to charity allowed me to quickly get over it. You can still donate here until the 11 December 2018. The amount raised is just over £500, but the more we can raise the better.
The racing
As races go and comparing it to previous years, it was quiet. Normally there is a lot of recovering of cars and getting them out the mud. This year it had turned into Radio Hairpin as my post chief was reporting cars for running wide or spinning.
On Sunday I decided it was better to kick back and watch more of the racing, seeing the variety of cars all pitched against each other was outstanding, from Citroen C1s to a VW Caddy van all vehicles were giving 100% for the entirety of the race.
How to sum up the event
I was struggling to think of how I would sum up this event and finally I have managed it but, in the form of below:
A Friday night in Anglesey rain, Drivers fight, struggle in pain.To qualify high on the recovery road, In a 12-hour race to lower the load. Hitting the brakes making them glow,You’re getting there it doesn’t matter how slow. In teams of three, four or five, All to help you live and thrive. Saturday rain, that turns to sun, Foolish Biathletes wait for the starter’s gun. As they plunge into the cold, rough sea, They think of nice place they’d rather be. Then lights out to start the race, Thoughts of the past don’t have a place. It’s another step to make things right, As the clock ticks on, well into the night. Sunday breaks to a new dawn call, as we remember those which fall. With the service finished we get underway, It’s been a great race, what do you say? The chequered flag drops for the deserved race winner, But at the end of the day, everyone’s a grinner. As we laugh at the great amount of fun, We will remember them at the going down of the sun.Robert Lee, 2018 One thing I will say is that the Biathlon of Foolishness needs sharing again so please enjoy the video that Mission Motorsport produced below! I am taking no credit for this…this was all their foolishness. I’ll join you for a dip next year though.
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