50 Years on, another win for a Bourne-Based team at the same Circuit!

It must be Christmas…

You can’t believe it! After a year of pure nostalgia celebrating the BRM 1962 world championship victory, former BRM designer and Bourne based Mike Pilbeam, presented a magical Christmas present to the Committee and the town of Bourne when his Pilbeam MP98-Cosworth won the 2012 Border 100 mile event at east London South Africa on the 16^th December, the very race and venue that Graham Hill sealed the 1962 championship victory – almost 50 years on to the day (with Graham Hill winning on 29th December 1962), you couldn’t write a better script!

Many people will remember that the car was kindly demonstrated by Mike to the crowd through the streets of Bourne on BRM Day and we send all our heartiest congratulations to him on his victory. 

Pilbeam Racing, a team based in Bourne, told the town this great news by publishing this Press Release:

'It is fitting that, on the 50th anniversary of BRM's only World Championship victory in 1962, that another Bourne marque should scoop the honours in the blue-riband event at the East London Grand Prix Era Revival meeting in South Africa on 16 December 2012.

On the same track that Graham Hill took his BRM to victory 50 years ago, co-driven by Eddie Keizan and Greg Mills, a Pilbeam MP98-Cosworth won the Border 100 endurance race on debut by more than 40 secs from the second-place Porsche GT3. Veteran Keizan, who drove a privately-entered Tyrrell and Lotus 72 in three GPs in the 1970s, and who returned to the track this year after a 35-year break, said of the brand new Pilbeam ‘It was the first time I have raced a state-of-the-art modern race-car and what a thrilling experience it was. With cantilever suspension, sequential gearbox, slippery aerodynamics, proper down-force and modern race tyres, this is undoubtedly one of the best cars I have ever driven.’ Co-driver Mills, who is spearheading an African effort with Pilbeam for Le Mans in 2014, and who took the first stint, says ‘the MP98 is a car without any vices. But not only is it easy to drive, it has obvious speed, especially through the infamous flat-in-sixth Potter’s Pass corner where we could pull away from the bigger-engined cars.’

The first Border 100 mile event in December 1934 was also labelled the first SA Grand Prix. The ninth SA GP was held in December 1962, the first such one, however, that enjoyed world championship status.

Mike Pilbeam made the trip to South Africa with PRD fabricator Justin Cole. He summed up the weekend: ‘The Border 100 gave us a great opportunity to develop the MP98 and the new South African team towards the huge challenge with a new car for Le Mans in 2014. A most enjoyable weekend.’

Completing the historic circle, the Pilbeam pit crew included Bruce Johnstone on his first visit to the East London GP circuit since 1962 when he finished ninth in the GP as the third BRM works driver. He described the little Pilbeam’s performance as ‘memorable’ on ‘a jewel of a race track’.

Issued by Pilbeam Racing Designs, Bourne, 18 December 2012'

The BRM Day Committee would like to congratulate Mike and his team on this fantastic win, and wish them good luck for the 2013 season.

Students enjoy Special BRM Treat

The house photograph taken with a BRM Racing car.

Students from Mays house at local school Bourne Academy enjoyed a special visit on Wednesday, 12th December, to thank them for their hard work packing programme bags in the run up to BRM Day in October.

House members packing bags in October

In the week before the event, the students worked hard to put 15,000 programmes into bags, got them put into boxes, and then helped to load them into a bus provided by committee member Anthony Delaine-Smith to be sold on the day, and the organising committee decided that something had to be done to thank them for all their hard work.

Local racing car restorers Hall & Hall brought a BRM racing car down to the school, so that some Mays house students could be photographed in and around the car.

Hall & Hall Mechanics then started the car, so that the students could see and hear the car in action.

The house takes its name from Raymond Mays, founder of the Bourne-based racing team, and so a photo of house members in front of a BRM is something the house will be able to treasure.

BRM Day Charity Cheque Presentations

The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance Cheque Presentation

Members of the BRM Day Committee were delighted to be able to present the proceeds of BRM Day to the event's two main charities, the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust, and the Bourne Outdoor Pool Trust, on Saturday, 8th December 2012.

£15,000 was presented to each charity as a result of the event, which could not have happened without the support of the event sponsors and the public who helped raise money by purchasing event programmes, and by making donations on the day.

The committee began the day by gathering at the Bourne Outdoor Pool, where Committee Chairman Rick Hall presented members of the Bourne Outdoor Pool Trust with their donation from the event. Percy the Penguin Bin, who was found by event committee members after he was stolen from the pool earlier this year, was also in on the action.

The Bourne Outdoor Pool Cheque Presentation

The committee then travelled to RAF Waddington, the base of the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance, where the helicopter hovered over the Yardley BRM to be photographed for the press. The donation will go towards the upkeep of the helicopter, which helps to save lives in the region.

BRM Day Committee Member Richard Bostock said: "Today's cheque presentation's made all the hard work organising the event worthwhile. It is really great to see that the money raised from the event is going to good causes. Hopefully, with the Official DVD expected to be available around Easter, we will be able to continue to raise money for these two great charities"

Missing BRM Day Banners

 Several sponsored BRM banners 8' x 2' on white PVC went missing from The Abbey Road, having been taken down, last Sunday after the event had finished.

 

These all had various sponsors names on and have to be returned or replaced at a cost to the charities.

The Police are studying the CCTV footage from the cameras looking down The Abbey Road area. 

 

If the missing banners are returned no further action will be taken, they may have been picked up or handed to someone by mistake.

 

They can be handed in to :-

The Fenland Shops, Abbey Road

Delaines Bus Depot Reception, Spalding Road

or sent to: PO Box 6339,Sleaford, Lincs, NG34 0NQ

 

Alternatively, if you have any information about the missing banners, or saw them being taken, please email webmaster@brmday.co.uk

BRM School's Art Competition

Kevin Day (Len Pick Trust), Emily Dunthorne & 

Phoebe Kirtland (Bourne Academy), 

Kay Henderson (Len Pick Trust), Ellie Dharamraj,

 Keiran Reid (Bourne Westfield), Zoe Chappell, 

(Bourne Academy), Gerry Burrows (Len Pick Trust).

 Alex Downing (Bourne Westfield) was unavailable.

The winners of the School’s Art Competition organised in conjunction with the recent Bourne BRM Day celebrations collected prizes at a presentation at racing restorers, Hall & Hall, in Bourne on Friday. Pupils from Bourne Academy and Bourne Westfield Primary Academy Schools received cheques on behalf of their respective schools donated by the Len Pick Trust, a charity founded by the late Len Pick for the benefit of the town of Bourne. Trust member, Gerry Burrows said at the presentation, “We are delighted that so many children entered the competition which was on the theme of BRM. The standard of entries from the schools was very high and we had a difficult job choosing the winners”.

The prize winners were presented with cheques for their respective schools and were treated to a guided tour of cars which had taken part in the celebrations including the car in which Graham Hill won the World Championship which had been flown over from America especially for BRM Day.

Gerry went on to say “We have worked with the organising committee of the BRM Day from day one and would like to express our appreciation for their tremendous efforts in arranging the event which was extraordinarily successful. Our initial grant, which enabled planning of the event to proceed, was made on the condition that the event was to be not only a celebration of BRM but should also be a community day for Bourne. It is quite evident from the participation of the many voluntary organisations providing facilities during the day and all the businesses and other organisations that benefitted from the tremendous number of people attending that the event has provided a tremendous boost to the town and its community spirit. We would also like to thank all those who helped with the event, either through the provision of sponsorship, facilities or expertise, which truly justified the strap line of the event which was ‘Pride in Bourne – Pride in Britain’. 

Bourne Academy Supports BRM Day

Students from Mays House helping to pack the event programmes

Students from a local secondary school have taken part in a 'team challenge' this week, to help pack 10,000 event programmes into carrier bags, to be sold on the day.

Around 200 students from Mays house of Bourne Academy worked hard to support the event during the first part of this week, preparing the programmes to be sold at the event on Sunday.

The house has been named after Raymond Mays, founder of BRM, which is why the students were so keen to help the event in whatever way they could.

Sally Sutcliffe, Head of Mays House, liaised with the BRM Committee to offer help for the 50^th Anniversary of BRM in Bourne.  Mrs Sutcliffe commented “As a local person I am really looking forward to the day and I thought my team at school should get involved.  When we volunteered our services we didn’t know exactly what we would be asked to do.  Packing 10,000 souvenir bags wasn’t one of my thoughts!  However the students have all helped out, setting up their own little production lines in their classes.  It was great to see them working so well with each other!”

However, due to circumstances the turn-around of the job had to be quick.  Mrs Sutcliffe added “We only received the programmes and bags on Tuesday morning, so it really was a case of all hands on deck to get the job done by Wednesday afternoon.  I’m immensely proud of all my students and the Form Tutors who co-ordinated and supported them to achieve this challenge.”

 
Mays House student Ellen Hicks (Year 12) added: "It was great to be able to help getting the resources ready for the BRM Day". 

The programmes being loaded into a double-decker bus

Once students had packed the programmes, BRM Day Committee Member and Managing Director of Delaine Buses Ltd Anthony Delaine-Smith came to the school with a double-decker bus to collect the programmes, ready to be sold on the day of the event.

The souvenier programme will be available to buy on Sunday for £5.00, and includes a timetable of the day, a brief history of BRM, information about Graham Hill, Damon Hill & Sir Jackie Stewart, a map of the activities going on in the town, and information on the cars that will be included in the parades.

Yardley of London Supporting BRM Day

The BRM Day Committee are grateful to Yardley London for supporting the event.

The company have provided their Yardley London Citrus and Wood Anti-Perspirant Deodorant and their Yardley London Royal Diamond Body Spray as a complimentary gift for drivers, guests and VIP's on the day.

For more information about Yardley London, visit them on Facebook, Follow @YardleyLondonUK on Twitter, or online.