Formula One drivers join a roster of WRC drivers to pledge their support for a charitable t-shirt campaign in memory of FIA World Rally Champion, Richard Burns
Following the endeavours of the world’s foremost rally drivers during the course of last weekend’s Rally de España, Formula One drivers have joined hands with the Paint It Orange campaign in the run-up to this weekend’s inaugural Formula One Airtel Indian GP in New Dehli.
The drivers, including among others Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Mark Webber have been photographed wearing the commemorative Paint It Orange t-shirt designed to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Richard Burns’ World Rally title, a milestone that will be reached during the forthcoming Wales Rally GB. By wearing and autographing the bright orange t-shirts, Formula One drivers are helping to spread a viral campaign to encourage as many spectators as possible to buy and wear the limited edition t-shirt and create a sea of orange in Wales in November. The autographed shirts will be auctioned for charity alongside a growing catalogue of unique motorsport items on Saturday night of Wales Rally GB.
The roll call of stars who have given their support for the campaign in the past week now extends from Sebastian Loeb and his cohort of competitor WRC drivers, including Mikko Hirvonen, Dani Sordo, Sebastian Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala, Kris Meeke, Ken Block, Matthew Wilson, Mads Østberg, Henning Solberg and Hayden Paddon right across the Formula One paddock to include Rubens Barrichello, Nico Rosberg, Heikki Kovalainen, Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Pastor Maldonado, Jamie Alguersuari, Paul Di Resta, Narain Karthikeyan, Timo Glock, Daniel Ricciardo, Jarno Trulli and Sebastian Buemi.
The assembled mass of stars proudly wearing their commemorative Richard Burns shirts can be seen on the Richard Burns Foundation website and its Facebook pages, with one new driver’s image released each day. The charity is promoting the sale of the commemorative t-shirts here and you too can rub shoulders with the stars by buying a shirt and posting your photo alongside the charity’s growing number of celebrity supporters.
Pirelli’s Paul Hembery, a Trustee of the Richard Burns Foundation who helped orchestrate the Formula One drivers’ shoot said, “Motor racing has endured a tough couple of weeks and the contribution of Formula One drivers to help support the Richard Burns Foundation is a great example of the sport coming together to give something back.”
Four short years after reaching one of the pinnacles of international motor racing, Richard lost his life to an aggressive form of brain cancer. All funds raised from the “Paint It Orange” campaign will help to address the startling lack of neurological provision in the UK. Neurological injury and illness is a bigger cause of serious disability in the UK than cancer, heart disease and diabetes put together. Over a million people – half of these children and young adults – suffer a head injury every year. Alongside neuro injury, neurological illness has an incredible diversity of manifestations, from foetal diseases such as Spina Bifida, through to conditions that afflict the young, such as Cerebral Palsy & Meningitis; the unrelenting assault from neuro conditions continues through adult life, with brain tumours about 30% as common as breast cancer. And neuro illness follows us into old age, with the widespread incidence of conditions ranging from Parkinson’s to Dementia & Alzheimer’s.
As the official charity of the Wales Rally GB, a select number of t-shirts signed and endorsed by WRC and Formula One drivers - along with other money can’t buy auction lots - will be released for auction on Saturday night of the Wales Rally GB at a specially convened auction in Cardiff.
The ambition of the Richard Burns Foundation is to fund the first hospital-based Brain Centre, where members of public can access walk-in support and advice to provide guidance for the array of neurological conditions from MS, Motor Neurone Disease & Schizophrenia to Autism and stroke, to name but a few. The Richard Burns Foundation is committed to supporting the Brain & Spine Foundation to spread the Brain Centre project nationally.
The Richard Burns Foundation is indebted to the following teams and organisations for their kind and generous support and without whom the “Paint It Orange” campaign would not be possible:-
Pirelli, TW Steel, Prodrive & Brand&, LAT Photographic, Team Lotus, Red Bull Racing, Haymarket Publishing, AT&T Williams, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS, Sahara Force India, Scuderia Toro Rosso, MINI World Rally Team, Hispania Racing F1 Team, Citroen Total World Rally Team, Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, Monster World Rally Team, Petter Solberg World Rally Team, M-Sport Stobart Ford Rally Team, Lotus Renault GP, Sauber F1 Team, Marussia Virgin Racing, McKlein, Performance Clothing, Vivacious World Motorsport.
