Team BRIT Launch Their YouTube Channel: The All-Disabled Race Team Aiming For Le Mans
Motorsport news, June 2021
On 29 April 2021 Team BRIT opened their own YouTube channel, and it is worth ten minutes of anybody's evening. Team BRIT is a race team where every driver has a disability, and the channel follows them through a season of endurance racing, from the cars rolling into the paddock to the drivers climbing in.
We spend our days fitting people to seats, harnesses and racewear, so a team that has rethought how a driver works the car at all was always going to catch our attention. Here is who they are, what they have built, and where to watch.
- Team BRIT is a race team where every driver has a disability
- Founded in 2015 by former Royal Engineer Dave Player, out of the charity KartForce
- The goal: the first all-disabled team to race the Le Mans 24 Hours
- Their hand controls work the throttle, clutch, gears and brakes from the wheel
- In 2021 they race an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the Britcar Endurance Championship
- The YouTube channel went live on 29 April 2021
What is on this page
Who Team BRIT are
Team BRIT grew out of KartForce, the charity that gets injured servicemen and women karting as part of their recovery. Former Royal Engineer Dave Player founded the race team in 2015 to take that a step further, into national championship car racing, and it is based at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
Every driver in the team has a disability, and the team’s stated aim is to become the first all-disabled team to race the Le Mans 24 Hours. Along the way they want to show people living with disabilities, PTSD and mental health problems what is possible.
The hand controls
The engineering is the part that impressed us most. Team BRIT worked with MME Motorsport, a gearbox control specialist in Slovenia, on electronic hand controls for the throttle, clutch, gear change and brakes. They sit alongside the normal pedals, so a car can be shared between a driver using hand controls and one using their feet.
That matters in endurance racing, where two or three drivers share a car and a slow driver change costs places. The cars are otherwise proper race cars: the team’s BMW M240i, for example, has a racing seat and harness from Corbeau, one of the seat brands we sell.
Their 2021 season
This year the team are in the Britcar Endurance Championship with an Aston Martin Vantage GT4, number 68. It is shared by Aaron Morgan, who is paraplegic after a motocross accident and drives on the hand controls, and Bobby Trundley, who is autistic. The season opened at Silverstone on 24 April and went to Snetterton on 8 May.
The first race of the year is below, from the British Automobile Racing Club, and the GT4 is in the class 4 fight throughout.
Where to watch Team BRIT
The channel is Team BRIT Racing on YouTube. The first upload is the team’s BMW arriving at Silverstone, and it carries on with the drivers’ stories, race weekends and highlights. Their own site, teambrit.co.uk, has the drivers, the cars and how disabled drivers can get involved.
Garreth’s verdict after the first few videos: subscribe, and go and watch them race if a Britcar round comes anywhere near you this year.
Common questions
What is Team BRIT?
A British race team where every driver has a disability. It was founded in 2015 by Dave Player and grew out of the charity KartForce.
What are Team BRIT aiming for?
To become the first all-disabled team to race the Le Mans 24 Hours.
How do disabled drivers race Team BRIT's cars?
With hand controls developed with MME Motorsport that operate the throttle, clutch, gears and brakes. They work alongside the normal pedals.
Which championship are Team BRIT in for 2021?
The Britcar Endurance Championship, with an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 driven by Aaron Morgan and Bobby Trundley.
Where is the Team BRIT YouTube channel?
It is called Team BRIT Racing on YouTube, and it went live on 29 April 2021.
The first video on the channel is the best introduction to the team and the cars.
Every driver fits a car differently. Tell us about yours and we will help you get the seat, belts and kit right for the way you drive.
