Pit Crew Paras 572
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ZOO Man meets the grid girls! The Infiniti Paras Team! FROM THE BATTLEFIELD TO THE RACETRACK! 50 WWW. FACEBOOK .COM/ ZOOMAGAZINE 51 WWW. FACEBOOK .COM/ ZOOMAGAZINE Few arenas can replace the danger and thrill of the battlefield, but the pit lane of a real-life race circuit runs it pretty close... PIT CREW PARAS! A s the British Touring Car Championship revs its engines for the first race of the new season at Brands Hatch this weekend, one team will be more eager than most to see the green light. The Infiniti Para Racing Team has a backroom staff featuring seven injured ex-Paratroopers, who have all suffered life-changing injuries in combat. Forget learning how to change a tyre: some of these boys have had to learn to walk again, after suffering injuries in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, they have re-trained as a working pit crew who’ll be on the circuit for the entire 2015 BTCC series. But if these Paras thought being thrown out of an aeroplane was tough, this is really being chucked in at the deep end. These guys will have to kit out a super- charged vehicle under race conditions, starting at the world famous Kent circuit against 16 other professional teams – all in front of a raucous crowd of 40,000. Back in action Colour Sergeant Darren Fuller, 38, lost his right arm and helped bring the team together despite their lack of experience. “Twenty years ago, I joined the Paras and didn’t think for one minute I’d join a British Touring Car team,” revealed C/ Sgt Fuller. “We don’t have mechanics in the Paras, so most of us had little know-how. The learning curve is massive. “You’re given a worksheet and you have a month to tick all the elements off. The technical side is the hardest bit to pick up.” The BTCC, which features Audi, Mercedes and BMW among others, was won last year by Team BMR’s Northern Irishman, Colin Turkington. The quality of the grid means there is no hiding place for amateurs, but Corporal John Price, 40 – who left the forces with severe knee and back injuries – is undeterred. “I wouldn’t be happy sat behind a desk in an office somewhere. To come into something like this is Watch the Infiniti Paras Team during their Brands Hatch debut, starting 5 April at 10.30am on ITV 4. Qualifying starts on Saturday 4 April from 3.30pm on itv.com. unbelievable. We’ve been told not to scratch the cars though – or don’t come back!” While the first season will see Infiniti teaming touring car veterans Derek Palmer Jr and Richard Hawken, the long-term plan is to see the Paras getting behind the wheel themselves. As C/Sgt Fuller says, “Eventually, all our team will drive the car and be trained up. The hope is by our third season, one of the lads will be sitting in the driving seat. We’re all highly competitive, but it’s more competitive to the point where if you’re not fast enough, what’s the point in being here?” Team effort Leaving the Army is a big wrench, something wounded serviceman Private John Brookman, 26, understands. “None of us wanted to leave, and being told by a doctor that it was time to go was like, ‘Oh, thanks for that.’ This has given us the chance to be a team again. We wouldn’t be able to hold down another full-time job, so some of us are full-time, some part-time, and some just do as much as they can.” Pvt Brookman also reveals how the team is accepting of any physical issues. “It’s not just a job you love. It’s being with people who understand if I say, ‘Lads, I’ve got to go and lie down for 10 minutes,’ they know it’s not because I’m tired; it’s because I need to lie down. “If someone’s doing an odd stretch, we know something’s hurting and they can just shake it out. We all have individual problems and injuries, and now we don’t look like weirdos!” The Paras are not here as tourists: the team’s unique spirit and drive is summed up by Private Mark Lloyd, 29. “When we were coming back to the paddock earlier, a Honda was on our right-hand side, so we blocked it off. That’s making a statement. We want to win.” TENA Men is sponsoring the Support Our Paras Racing Team to break down taboos about bladder weakness, with one in four men suffering from leaks. For more info visit tena.co.uk/men WORDS: Drew Middleton PICS: Getty Images
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Transcript of Pit Crew Paras 572
Z O O M a n m e e t s t h e g r i d g i r l s !
T h e I n f i n i t i P a r a s Te a m !
F r O M T h e b aT T l e F I e l d T O T h e r a c e T r a c k !
50 w w w.FA CEBOOK . COm / Z OOm A G A Z INE 51 w w w.FA CEBOOK . COm / Z OOm A G A Z INE
Few arenas can replace the danger and thri l l of the battlefield, but the pit lane of a real- l i fe race circuit runs it pretty close. . .
PIT CREW PARAS!A s the British Touring
Car Championship revs its engines for the
first race of the new season at Brands Hatch this weekend, one team will be more eager than most to see the green light.
The Infiniti Para Racing Team has a backroom staff featuring seven injured ex-Paratroopers, who have all suffered life-changing injuries in combat.
Forget learning how to change a tyre: some of these boys have had to learn to walk again, after suffering injuries
in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, they have re-trained as a working pit crew who’ll be on the circuit for the entire 2015 BTCC series.
But if these Paras thought being thrown out of an aeroplane was tough, this is really being chucked in at the deep end. These guys will have to kit out a super-charged vehicle under race conditions, starting at the world famous Kent circuit against 16 other professional teams – all in front of a raucous crowd of 40,000.
Back in actionColour Sergeant Darren Fuller, 38, lost his right arm and helped bring the team together despite their lack of experience.
“Twenty years ago, I joined the Paras and didn’t think for one minute I’d join a British Touring Car team,” revealed C/Sgt Fuller. “We don’t have mechanics in the Paras, so most of us had little know-how. The learning curve is massive.
“You’re given a worksheet and you have a month to tick all the elements off. The
technical side is the hardest bit to pick up.”
The BTCC, which features Audi, Mercedes and BMW among others, was won last year by Team BMR’s Northern Irishman, Colin Turkington. The quality of the grid means there is no hiding place for amateurs, but Corporal John Price, 40 – who left the forces with severe knee and back injuries – is undeterred.
“I wouldn’t be happy sat behind a desk in an office somewhere. To come into something like this is
Watch the Infiniti Paras Team during their Brands Hatch debut, starting 5 April at 10.30am on ITV 4. Qualifying starts on Saturday 4 April from 3.30pm on itv.com.
unbelievable. We’ve been told not to scratch the cars though – or don’t come back!”
While the first season will see Infiniti teaming touring car veterans Derek Palmer Jr and Richard Hawken, the long-term plan is to see the Paras getting behind the wheel themselves.
As C/Sgt Fuller says, “Eventually, all our team will drive the car and be trained up. The hope is by our third season, one of the lads will be sitting in the driving seat. We’re all highly competitive, but it’s
more competitive to the point where if you’re not fast enough, what’s the point in being here?”
Team effortLeaving the Army is a big wrench, something wounded serviceman Private John Brookman, 26, understands. “None of us wanted to leave, and being told by a doctor that it was time to go was like, ‘Oh, thanks for that.’ This has given us the chance to be a team again. We wouldn’t be able to hold down another full-time job, so some of us are full-time,
some part-time, and some just do as much as they can.”
Pvt Brookman also reveals how the team is accepting of any physical issues. “It’s not just a job you love. It’s being with people who understand if I say, ‘Lads, I’ve got to go and lie down for 10 minutes,’ they know it’s not because I’m tired; it’s because I need to lie down.
“If someone’s doing an odd stretch, we know something’s hurting and they can just shake it out. We all have individual problems and injuries, and now we don’t look like weirdos!”
The Paras are not here as tourists: the team’s unique spirit and drive is summed up by Private Mark Lloyd, 29. “When we were coming back to the paddock earlier, a Honda was on our right-hand side, so we blocked it off. That’s making a statement. We want to win.”
TENA Men is sponsoring the Support Our Paras Racing Team to break down taboos about bladder weakness, with one in four men suffering from leaks. For more info visit tena.co.uk/menW
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