Race Against Cancer

The Race Against Cancer (TRAC) is an international charity motorsport event held in Europe, conceived by Rick Osborn and Matt Roberts. Held for the first time in November 2007 in Hertfordshire, England, the concept behind the event is to bring a collection of star racing drivers and motorcyclists together to race purpose built racing karts, raising money for Cancer Research UK.

Despite being a competitive event, the drivers enjoy the relaxed international atmosphere and the opportunity to race drivers and riders from other formulae than their own. The event is also well known for its discerning corporate backers, including the likes of Alpinestars, Bowers & Wilkins, Google and Shell. It is rumoured the second TRAC event is to return in 2010.

2007 - First TRAC event

The inaugural event was held at Rye House, situated in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. It featured a variety of motorsport stars including reigning Euro F3 champion Romain Grosjean, WTCC race winner Alain Menu, GP2 winner Javier Villa and MotoGP 250 winner Mika Kallio. The karts used were 100cc 2-stroke racing karts, capable of speeds in excess of 70 mph (110 km/h). Multiple motorbike and 1964 Formula One world champion John Surtees championed the inaugural event, calling for it to become a regular fixture on the motorsport calendar.

Results

Superpole Qualifying:
1st - Javier Villa
2nd - Riki Christodoulou
3rd - Matt Hamilton

Heat #1:
1st - Javier Villa
2nd - Ben Hanley
3rd - Sam Bird

Heat #2:
1st - Alain Menu
2nd - Sam Bird
3rd - Riki Christodoulou

Grand Final:
1st - Javier Villa
2nd - Sam Bird
3rd - Riki Christodoulou
4th - Thor-Christian Ebbesvik
5th - Tim Sugden
6th - Jon Lancaster
7th - Jonathan Kennard
8th - Paul Rees
9th - Chaz Davies
10th - Rob Huff

Fastest Lap - Riki Christodoulou - 43.35s

Additional positions of interest: 11th Alain Menu, 12th Romain Grosjean, 18th Chris Harris and 20th Bradley Smith.

James Jakes, Mika Kallio, Tom Onslow-Cole and Ben Hanley all suffered accidents forcing them out of the race.

TRAC 2010

A date has not been confirmed for the 2010 event, however rumours suggest the event will return with over 30 star drivers on British soil in late 2010.

Media

The race received much acclaimed media press coverage and was featured in Top Gear Magazine, Autosport, EVO, GPUpdate, Motorsport News, Karting Magazine, Pistonheads and more. The race was also televised and aired in June 2008, the show produced by Blueflair Productions was presented by Emma Rigby and featured interviews with Damon Hill, Alain Menu and Rob Huff.

Official sites

• cancerresearch.org.uk — The official site of Cancer Research UK.