Motors TV Weekend Highlights

One hundred Surrey school children took part in the inaugural Dare To Be Different event at Daytona Sandown Park today (13th April 2016). All of them girls and aged between eight and twelve, they were invited to be part of a nationwide initiative to inspire and encourage girls into the world of motorsport.The Dare To Be Different campaign is the brain-child of leading female racing driver, Susie Wolff who, with the support of the UK governing body, the Motor Sports Association, launched the nationwide initiative at the Autosport Show back in January of this year.

Known as D2BD, the non-profit organisation aims to inspire, connect and celebrate women in motorsport - the project strives to cover all aspects on and off the track as well as perceived male-dominated industries. D2BD is about inspiring women of all ages and backgrounds to break the mould and shatter perceptions.Today's event at Daytona Sandown Park, offered a totally unique experience to one hundred girls from ten different schools in the area. After arriving at the circuit, and being welcomed by Susie, the girls went on to experience the thrill of driving single-engine race karts on Daytona's Indy Circuit. This was followed by fun activities organised by STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Network) which saw the girls working in groups to actually construct a working hovercraft!Fitness and Nutrition experts were on hand with advice about healthy eating and the right exercise to achieve maximum performance both in and out of a race car. Fitness trainer, Gemma Trotter put everyone through a 25-minute aerobics class and Ceclia Clarke from Nurture-with-Nature, shared her extensive nutrition knowledge as well as her delicious, healthy snacks. The girls also got to check out life on the other side of the camera with Sky Sports F1 who brought a film crew to showcase media opportunities. Renowned Sky Sports F1 presenter, Natalie PInkham was there to chat about her life in front of the camera as well as share her experience from the media F1 centre. The Williams Formula One race car was also on display to get up close to and snap a selfie with. Thanks to Becky Hampton, Junior Partner Manager from the Williams Team, the girls were also able to gain insight into the aerodynamics that help to make this car perform at its peak.Under the careful guidance of Daytona's professional mechanics as well as top competition karter, Tamsin Germain, the girls were able to actually change a wheel on a race kart in a 'pit stop' challenge against the clock - just about as real as it can get! Susie Wolff, "Today marked the realisation of many months of hard work, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to everybody that helped to put it all together. Dare To Be Different began life as a vision at the end of last year, and now it’s a reality.She continues, "When all the girls arrived at Daytona Sandown Park this morning, it was truly a great moment and they all looked to be having a lot of fun during the day. It was fantastic to see them return to the pits after the karting with huge smiles on their faces and asking when they could go out again! The whole concept of Dare To Be Different is about pushing them out of their comfort zones and encouraging them to try something new. Ultimately, we want to see more girls coming into motor sport at grass roots level, and karting is certainly one aspect of that."The breadth of potential careers within motor sport is immense, and to reflect that, we also offered the girls journalism and media presentation skills with Sky F1’s Natalie Pinkham, building a hovercraft with the help of the STEM ambassadors, fitness workshops and nutrition advice. Today is just the start of the Dare To Be Different journey – there’s so much more still to come.”

Looks like we’re in for a long haul this weekend, ladies and gents, as the High Speed Television Channel is serving up a number of live endurance racing extravaganzas – and much more besides – to keep you firmly glued to that sofa of yours!

After an agonising wait, the pinnacle of sportscar racing – the FIA World Endurance Championship – races back to your screens this weekend with the first round of the highly anticipated 2016 season, the 6 Hours of Silverstone. The LMP1 combatants went full throttle in their quest to dethrone the dominant Audi outfit last year and, after winning the hallowed Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time in 17 years, Porsche seized both the Drivers’ and Teams’ crowns. With new challengers in multiple categories and a highly intriguing Prologue throwing up a number of burning questions ahead of the traditional season opener, the pecking order up and down the grid could well be turned on its head once more. Can’t wait? Better not miss it then.

There’s even more continental long-haul competition from where that came from, with the European Le Mans Series also set to tear up the home of British motorsport as the 2016 season gets underway. Like its globally contested cousin, the ELMS features a grid bursting at the seams with world-class drivers and technologically advanced LMP2, LMP3 and GT machinery to propel them towards championship glory. Last year’s LMP2 title winners Greaves Motorsport took the four-hour Silverstone showdown by storm 12 months ago with a sensational win on home turf, but having put on a strong showing at the 2016 pre-season test, close 2015 title runners-up Thiriet by TDS Racing will be looking to capitalise on their electrifying pace when the lights go out. Make sure you tune in to our live coverage to keep up with the action.

The FIM Motocross World Championship also returns to the track this weekend for some gloriously muddy racing at the Leon Parque Metropolitano circuit in Mexico. The fifth round of the series will see second-placed MXGP star Tim Gajser attempt to eliminate the hairline three-point gap to 2015 champ Romain Febvre at the top of the standings, whilst MX2 Red Bull KTM rider Jeffrey Herlings is set to gun for yet another round win once more. The talent is there and the venue is all set for a fiery showdown, but who knows what the exotic contest will throw up!Your weekend wouldn’t be complete without injecting some of Stuttgart’s finest engineering into the melting pot. Whilst that might sound like rather a niche viewing requirement, the one-make racing master class that is the Porsche Carrera Cup GB should be nothing short of staple for all serious petrolheads. Using 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars identical in every detail, it isn’t power or performance that makes the difference between winning and losing in this series, but the piece of meat sitting behind the steering wheel and the weight of their right foot. Sounds like good fun to us, but our live and delayed-as-live coverage is even better!

Actually, we feel like chucking even more into the mix, so you can have our highlights of the FIM Enduro World Championship, BSMA Motocross, FIM Snowcross World Championship AND Caterham UK Racing to boot! Saturday 16th April09:00 – FIM Enduro World Championship, Rd 1, Morocco09:35 – BSMA Motocross, Rd 110:35 – FIM Snowcross World Championship, Norway14:15 – LIVE European Le Mans Series, Rd 1, 4 Hours of Silverstone18:45 – Delayed-as-live Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Silverstone (Race 1)20:00 – Caterham UK Racing, Brands HatchSunday 17th April09:00 – LIVE Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Silverstone (Race 2)11:30 – LIVE FIA World Endurance Championship, Rd 1, 6 Hours of Silverstone18:10 – LIVE FIM MX2 World Championship, Rd 5, Leon (Race 1)19:00 – LIVE FIM MXGP, Rd 5, Leon (Race 1)21:00 – LIVE FIM MX2 World Championship, Rd 5, Leon (Race 2)22:00 – LIVE FIM MXGP, Rd 5, Leon (Race 2)


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