NEWS RELEASE: 20 JANUARY 2014

WHEELCHAIR RACER JAMES JOINS THE CUP FOR 2014

The Volkswagen Racing Cup will this season welcome another wheelchair user to the grid as 25-year-old James Pile embarks on his first full season of motor racing. The Dorset driver will join David Sutton at the SlideSports team and says he is looking to learn a lot from his quick team-mates.

A new DSG semi-automatic gearbox Mk VI Golf GTI is currently under construction for James at SlideSports’ Staffordshire workshops. Other than hand controls for throttle and brake, the Golf is technically identical to the others on the championship’s burgeoning grid.

James is following in the wheeltracks of disabled-racer pioneers Simon Andrews and Philip Morris, who began their track careers in 2010 in the Volkswagen Racing Cup. Both men are planning to return to the series for a fifth season of competition.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out there and competing,” said James, who has used a wheelchair since he was injured in a motorcycle crash when he was 17. “I passed my ARDS test last year and took part in my first races, in the CSCC’s Modern Classics series, but this will be my first full season.

“The car is well underway and I am hoping to be out testing in it soon so that I can get as much experience of the controls as I can before the start of the season. My aim for the year is to learn – I will have some quick team-mates and I want to learn from them – and then to progress in the VW Cup for two or three years.”

SlideSports team principal Mark Jenkins said: “We are looking forward to running James this season, and he will fit well into the team. He will race a Golf and we will have at least two Sciroccos also, one of those for David Sutton. All the cars will have the DSG semi-automatic gearbox, which we have worked hard on to perfect.”

Philip Morris is planning on a mid-season return to the championship following a serious crash at Donington Park in the final meeting of 2013. “My Golf was too badly damaged to repair and I broke three ribs,” said Cheshire-based Philip, “and that has forced a rethink for the coming season.

“With the help of KPM Racing we found a left-hand-drive Mk VI Golf in Germany, and that is being prepared for me now using what was salvageable from my old car. Hopefully it will be completed soon and I can get out testing with a view to returning to racing at the Spa rounds in the summer.” The 54-year-old driver lost a leg in a motorcycle accident, and his Golf features specially adapted foot controls as well as a DSG ’box.

Simon Andrews will compete again also, but has yet to decide whether he will race an updated version of his Mk V Golf or build a new Scirocco. “I’ll be back in the championship this year but we are still talking about which direction to go: build a Scirocco or spruce up the Mk V with the new bodykit. It’s great news that a fellow wheelchair user is joining the championship and bringing equal competition to the track. I can’t wait to see how things develop on circuit.”

The opening rounds of the 2014 Volkswagen Racing Cup are scheduled for Easter Monday (21 April) at the Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire, alongside the British GT Championship. Championship backers include ECM, CEVA, Hankook, Paragon and Prestige Performance Centre.