INVICTUS GAMES RACING LAUNCHES WITH GT4-SPEC JAGUAR F-TYPE SVR

Ryton‑on‑Dunsmore, UK, 11 January 2018 – A select group of wounded, injured and sick (WIS) veterans of the British Armed Forces will compete in the 2018‑19 British GT Championships as part of a new motor racing team in specially‑designed Jaguar sports cars.

Invictus Games Racing is a collaboration between James Holder, Co‑Founder of the successful clothing brand Superdry, and the Invictus Games Foundation.  Holder has commissioned Jaguar’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division to develop and build two bespoke F‑TYPE SVR racing cars to GT4 specification for the Invictus Games Racing drivers to compete in.  Invictus Games Racing today reveals the vehicles which have been in top secret development for over a year.

The Invictus Games is an international sporting event for WIS Servicemen and women – both veterans and in active duty.  The Games use the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for Armed Forces personnel around the world.  The Invictus Games Foundation was established to manage the process of selecting the hosts of future games and overseeing their delivery, thus ensuring as many 'wounded warriors' as possible can benefit from the Games and opportunities that arise from them.

The Invictus Games Racing project is the vision of Superdry’s Holder, a motor racing fanatic who competed in the 2016 British GT Championship.  During his debut season racing, he was inspired by watching the 2016 Invictus Games in Orlando and had the idea to create Invictus Games Racing.

The team’s mission is to give WIS servicemen or women the opportunity to experience the adrenaline of competitive racing and inspire others to embrace the ethos of the Invictus Games of triumph over adversity.  Thanks to these bespoke cars, the wounded drivers will compete equally with their able‑bodied counterparts.

Holder has funded the project himself and overseen the design and development of the cars to create Britain’s most unique motor racing team.

Holder said: “Invictus Games Racing will enable ex‑servicemen and women who have experienced physical or psychological trauma during service to compete against each other and the rest of the top‑level racing field, in cars that are tailor‑made for them.  We wanted to give these men and women the chance to compete in a professional racing competition with the established teams. 

“Motor racing is often seen as elitist and our vision is to open the sport up to all wounded, injured and sick service personnel supported by the Invictus Games Foundation ‑ including their families ‑ through the race team itself and with exclusive Invictus Games Racing ‘experience events’.  These track days will be held at some of Britain’s most iconic racing circuits with the first event being held at Silverstone on 7 June 2018.

“As well as representing their incredible profession, the drivers will be an inspiration and a sign of empowerment to those who have been wounded, injured or become sick during or as a direct result of their service.

“Over the last six months leading experts Mission Motorsport have held trials to identify and train four drivers from the Armed Forces best suited and most likely to gain personally from this experience.  We have worked closely with Jaguar to construct GT4‑specification supercars that accommodate each individual driver’s needs and style.

“Our drivers have overcome adversity in the face of injury, shown fierce ambitions in life and possess an incredible drive to succeed.  They are perfectly suited for this sport which gives them an outlet for their ambitions.  As well as racing against the other GT teams, they will also battle against each other for position and personal pride – like any other racing team.

“We are not under any illusions.  I know personally how difficult this level of racing is and we’re a brand‑new team starting out.  In the first season we will primarily be competing between each of our own cars but we will take every opportunity to finish as high up the pack as humanly possible in every race.  Our shared desire and goal is to ultimately win races.

“This dream won’t happen overnight but during the journey I can promise fans that we will have inspirational drivers, great stories, innovative technology and the coolest looking and sounding cars on the circuit.”

Dominic Reid OBE, Invictus Games Foundation Chief Executive, said: “The Invictus Games Foundation is thrilled to be working with James Holder and his racing team.  We are developing this exciting new opportunity for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women ‑ both serving and veteran ‑ to get involved in motorsport at a high level in vehicles purpose‑built by Invictus Games presenting partner Jaguar Land Rover.  We expect to see some very competitive racing from these drivers!”

The 200mph F‑TYPE SVR Coupe is the fastest ever F‑TYPE road car, with a light and stiff aluminium monocoque, and precise handling, making it the perfect base for a GT4 race car. Key modifications to the F‑TYPE SVR include optimising the 5.0‑litre supercharged V8 petrol engine for competition use, fitting motorsport‑specification brakes, wheels, tyres, suspension and transmission components and converting the all‑wheel drive SVR to rear‑wheel drive.

John Edwards, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations, said: “The F‑TYPE SVR was the first series production Jaguar developed by SVO, exemplifying our precision engineering, performance and design capabilities. It’s appropriate that this specially‑commissioned F‑TYPE SVR will be the first SVO‑designed race car to hit the track. 

“While the F‑TYPE SVR is all about duality – the 200mph all‑weather supercar that you can drive every day – this bespoke commission is 100% competition focused.  SVO’s world‑class attention to detail in high‑performance design and engineering are inherent in both.”

Today saw the full six‑man team, plus one of the Jaguar supercars, revealed at the Autosport International Racing Car Show at Birmingham NEC. The four drivers from the armed forces will be partnered and mentored by two professional drivers in the British GT Championships, as is protocol in the series.

Professional driver Jason Wolfe will mentor Ben Norfolk and Basil Rawlinson in Car 22, with Matthew George doing the same for Steve McCulley and Paul Vice in Car 44. The team will then spend the beginning of 2018 training ahead of the British GT season – starting on 31 March 2018 at Oulton Park.

South African‑born Basil Rawlinson joined the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment in 2009, before serving on an operational tour of Afghanistan between 2010‑2011. A Post‑Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and several degenerative discs in his back saw him placed on medical leave before being fully discharged in August 2014. He now lives in Leamington Spa having secured an engineering role at Jaguar Land Rover.

Rawlinson said: “I am hugely grateful to Invictus Games Racing for giving me the once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity to race in the British GT Championships. I am most looking forward to the thrill of competition and the opportunity to be part of a tight team – both things that were integral during my time in the Parachute Regiment. I hope to broaden my knowledge of motorsport and to achieve a podium finish, which would be incredible! I look forward to the year ahead and want to make memories that will last a lifetime.”

Ben Norfolk, who lives in Hampshire, served on several operational tours to Iraq and Afghanistan as a Royal Airforce Sergeant. In 2008, he assisted with a multiple casualty recovery at Camp Bastion. The desperate scenes that Ben witnessed that day reshaped his life. The events culminated in complex post‑traumatic stress disorder (C‑PTSD), anxiety and depression. He was medically discharged from the RAF in November 2017.

Norfolk said: “I am so excited to be involved in such a big project. Racing has been a passion of mine for over 20 years and British GT is a real step‑up from the grassroots motorsport I am used to! I have been humbled by how many people have dedicated their time, energy and expertise into this journey as the Invictus Games Racing team – thank you; that support helps me to push further than I ever thought I could.”

By 2011 Royal Marines Commando Paul Vice MC was on his fourth tour of Afghanistan. On foot patrol in Helmand Province, he stepped on a command wire Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which detonated underneath his Section. He suffered a traumatic brain injury resulting in paralysis of his right arm. More than 400 pieces of shrapnel were removed from his body by surgeons before a below‑knee amputation followed. Undeterred, Paul, who now lives in Exeter, went on to become the most successful male athlete at the 2016 Invictus Games winning seven medals, including two golds.

Vice said: “Over my fairly short existence I have been lucky enough to have experienced some of life’s ecstatic highs and devastating lows. Now – after a lot of hard work, dedication and travelling up a steep learning curve – the next step in my journey sees me join the Invictus Games Racing team. The upcoming British GT Championships will see me climb this curve even higher. With an amazing team around me, both at home and on the track, I can’t wait to see what the next year will bring. Joy, smiles, laughter, pain or tears – I am ready.”

In 2011, 14 years after first joining the Royal Marines, Major Steve McCulley was nearly killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while leading 175 Royal Marines in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Miraculously, he survived. However, the resultant injuries were so serious that he lay in a coma for three weeks. A gruelling two‑year physical rehabilitation programme followed but his military career was over. Steve, who lives in Portsmouth, was helped through his rehabilitation by his long‑held love of motorsport.

McCulley said: “I am extremely excited to be joining the Invictus Games Racing Team and competing in the British GT Championships this year. It is an incredible opportunity to be part of a team that has brought together a number of personnel and organisations, the sum of which will make for a very interesting season.”

Fans can follow Invictus Games Racing on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @racinginvictus. 
Hashtag #InvictusGamesRacing

Following Invictus Games in London in 2014, Orlando in 2016 and Toronto in 2017, the fourth Invictus Games will take place in Sydney between 20‑27 October 2018.  The motor racing arm of the movement aims to raise further awareness of the Invictus Games Foundation and marks a three‑year commitment to this unique racing project.

‑ENDS‑

Invictus Games Racing media enquiries: 
Niall Malone at Triple S Communications, 0845 521 2555 or niall@triplescommunications.com