SURREY, U.K. – The inaugural Behind the Scenes Go-Karting Day proved a roaring success, with 28 teams from some of the industry’s best-known companies taking part in three hours of gruelling racing at Surrey’s Sandown Park Racecourse, with £10,000 raised for the charity that provides financial assistance to entertainment technology professionals, or their immediate family, who are seriously ill or injured.
More details from Behind the Scenes (www.behindthescenescharity.org):
An additional donation on the day of £5,000 was made by Autograph as part of their commitment to the charity that will total £10,000 over the next year.
Speaking on behalf of Autograph, Duncan Bell said, “As soon as we heard about BTS we felt it is something we wanted to support. We are fortunate to work in a great industry, made up of relatively small, disparate groups of engineers who are passionate about their respective disciplines. The downside is that most of the companies and the huge pool of freelance talent do not benefit from the corporate protection afforded by others, so the decision to support BTS, a charity set up by the industry to help those in need within the industry, was a complete no-brainer for us.”
Six drivers per team tested their skills and powers of endurance in three exciting hours of open air racing and took part in the Formula One pit stop challenge to see which team was the quickest to change the tires on a Formula One car.
Overall winners were Showforce, with Wonderworks in second place and crewing company Crewsaders in third, with just three laps separating the top three at the end of the race. XL Video took the Phillips F1 challenge prize, Stage One the Autograph Team Award for the best tactical race, and Adam Searle from Stage Electrics the Medialease fastest lap trophy.
“The day was really good,” says Martin Professional’s Michael Walker. “We caught up with lots of people from the industry and a few clients as well. It was quite competitive, but everyone had loads of fun and it was great to be able to raise money for such a good cause.”
Equally enthusiastic is Teresa Vallis from Philips: “We at Philips were delighted to take part in the Behind The Scenes Go-Karting day with our team Vari-Fast. It was a brilliantly fun event and really brought the industry together – you can’t beat a bit of friendly rivalry on a racetrack! Behind The Scenes is a fantastic charity and we are proud to have supported the work they do, both with the racing and sponsoring of the F1 tire challenge. We’re very much looking forward to the next BTS UK FUNdraiser!”
Sennheiser’s Simon Holley concurs. “The Behind the Scenes charity Go-Karting event was an absolutely fantastic day, Lee did a brilliant job of organising and hosting it and even ordered up fabulous weather!” he says. “The entire day was excellent both on and off the racing circuit, with the F1 tire change challenge, BBQ and meeting lots of industry friends. We took it easy out on the track, with our team coming in fourth place, but we will be back next year for sure looking for that team win!”
“Behind The Scenes has done a spectacular job at organising a fun day out,” adds DiGiCo managing director James Gordon. “It was truly great.”
“It was a hugely successful day and tremendous fun,” says Behind the Scenes trustee Lee Dennison, who with fellow trustees and volunteers organised and hosted the day. “Everyone entered into the spirit and it was great to see such friendly rivalry from all involved. The generosity of all involved has been astounding and we’re delighted that our first karting event has raised such an astonishing amount of money for the charity.”
For full details, visit http://behindthescenescharity.org/bts_uk/events/2015_Karting_Day.htm
