Team BRIT – a competitive track racing team of disabled drivers – has announced a sim racing division.
eTeam BRIT is a new project featuring an all-disabled sim racing team. Competing in iRacing, eTeam BRIT drivers will race in official endurance events and private leagues, as well as taking on racers in solo events.
Team BRIT aims to be the first all-disabled team to race in the Le Mans 24 hour race, and through its Racing Academy, supports drivers with a range of physical and psychological challenges in accessing motorsport.
eTeam BRIT drivers have access to hand controls used by the team on the race track, giving them access to top quality racing technology for their at home sim set ups.
The team will compete for the first time in the Silverstone Six race on September 7th, starting at 1.30pm.
“We’re really excited about this new part of our team, which will open to the door to motorsport for even more disabled drivers.”
Dave Player, Team BRIT
Forming the eTeam BRIT line up are:
- 27-year-old Alain Day from Rochester in Kent. Alain was diagnosed with Autism / Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of seven. He has been iRacing for a year in Ferrari 488 GTE and Mercedes AMG GT3.
- 32-year-old Aaron D’Mellow from Basildon in Essex. Aaron suffers with chronic sciatica following 13 years of treatment for repeated spinal prolapses and serious infections including meningitis. Aaron has been iRacing for the past year.
- 53-year-old Anthony Beck from York. Anthony sustained a brain tumour whilst serving in the RAF in 2005. He has been dependent on a wheelchair ever since.
- 31-year-old Ben Warren from Oxfordshire. Ben was born with a rare condition called Lumbosacral Agenesis, causing the malformation of his spine during pregnancy. He is paralysed from the waist, down. Ben has been sim racing since 2009 and has been a member of iRacing since 2010.
- The team will be managed by 37-year old Paul Davies from West Sussex. Paul works with PCDC Motorsports, a sim-racing community involved in creating & hosting online events, who recently set up a partnership with Team BRIT.
The most talented drivers could have the chance to test one of the Team BRIT cars out on track. Team BRIT’s goal is to help train and develop a sim racer, supporting them to become a ‘fully competitive, independently sponsored’ track racing driver.
The Silverstone Six race will be broadcast live by Racespot.tv and can be viewed here. You can also watch eTeam BRIT driver Alain Day on Twitch.
CEO and Founder of Team BRIT, Dave Player, said: “We’re really excited about this new part of our team, which will open to the door to motorsport for even more disabled drivers.
“A great number of successful racing drivers begin their training in sim racing or by using simulators, so this the perfect way for disabled drivers, who may have thought that motor racing wasn’t an option for them, to give it a try.
“We’re really keen for more people to get involved and welcome applications from disabled drivers with all experience and ability, who will be supported in learning the art of sim racing.
“We also hope to find the next Team BRIT rookie and help them towards a new and exciting career on the race track.”
Anyone who would like to know more can visit www.teambrit.co.uk or visit the eTeam BRIT Discord server and introduce themselves in the chat.
Team BRIT is a branch of the charity KartForce, a charity set up to inspire people with disabilities, PTSD and mental health issues by demonstrating what can be achieved through motorsport.
Image source: David Archer/Kingsize/Team Brit
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
