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The FORDS Team has been carefully selected for their range of skills and a staggering two centuries of short oval racing experience between them!
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Dave “DP” Pierce – Trustee, Chairman and Treasurer
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DP was Promoter at Buxton Raceway from September 1999 until the end of the 2010 season. Whilst there he established the Buxton Raceway Drivers Benevolent Fund and earned great respect from both Promoters and Drivers.
DP first started in short circuit racing watching F1 Stock Cars at the old Belle Vue Stadium some 43 years ago, and has been involved in some way ever since. As well as his knowledge of the oval racing world, a background in banking and insurance and his retirement from promoting make him the perfect man to lead the team.
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Nick “Nico” Hughes – Trustee
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Nico has been involved in the racing scene since the early 1980s, racing a few times and helping to build bangers, and his writing career spans 20 years and a range of publications. But his most dedicated and best known contribution to short oval racing lies in his long time association with Spedeworth.
As well as assisting on the promotional side at Spedeworth, Nico has been Banger Rep for many years. One of racing’s best known and most accessible people, with a proven track record in fundraising and an in-depth knowledge of the sport, Nico too is an obvious natural choice for FORDS.
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Jon “Wusty” Worstencroft (51) – Trustee
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A true gentleman both off and on the track, Jon is well liked and respected in the Banger world. He joins the team freshly retired after 27 years of reliable devotion to racing, mainly at Buxton and more recently at Mendips.
Twice injured himself, counting a broken pelvis in 1995 and ankle in 2005, Jon understands firsthand the difficulties faced by drivers when things go wrong. He was a keen supporter of a Benevolent Fund for injured drivers from the start, dedicating his Testimonial Meeting at Mendips to give FORDS its launch event.
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Derek “Des” Chandler (213) – Trustee
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Des started racing in 1967, aged 16, on a local banger track in the Midlands, then to Long Eaton racing Bombers. He moved into F1 Stock Cars in 1977, placing third in the World Finals at Coventry in 1989 and Hednesford in 1995. Des was instrumental in setting up the Legends in 1997, which he raced until his retirement. He was allocated the number “1” in 2003, after winning the UK World Final, having collected just about every Championship up for grabs along the way.
His racing career came to an abrupt end after a high speed crash at Mallory Park on11th May 2008 which sadly left him with serious head/brain injuries; his skull was broken in three places resulting in a period of 14 months off work. He too is well aware of the consequences of a racing accident, and sees all the benefits the new Fund has to offer.
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Bob Jones (151) – Trustee
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The most northerly of the team and committed to helping the cause of a better deal for injured drivers, Bob is the FORDS man in Scotland.
Bob started his racing career in Saloon Stock Cars 34 years ago, and was a regular competitor until around 1999, although he has had the odd outing since that time. The highlights of his career were his two World Final wins in 1986 and 1987, which he recalls with great affection.
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Ruairi Murphy – Friend of FORDS (Scotland)
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Our youngest member is known simply as ‘Murphy’ and he delivers an injection of fearless energy and dynamic ideas into the heart of the team. Murphy will be looking after FORDS (Scotland) alongside Bob Jones. Though he has yet to hit a track with a racecar, he enjoys some Prostock spannering.
Murphy has seen the ongoing impact after an accident becomes yesterday’s news, and spearheaded fundraising efforts for a friend in trouble. From this personal involvement he brings with him to FORDS a focused, energetic determination to reach out to others.
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Greg O’Connor – Friend of FORDS (Ireland)
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A respected household name in Bangers with proven dedication and ability, Greg first took to the banger track in 1987 and raced in the UK a few times in the early 1990’s before returning full time in 1997. After breaking his breast bone and ribs a few times in 2009, upon instructions from his wife, he retired from racing. Greg was responsible for arranging the Team Savage v Buxton Jerkey Boys head to head, the popular England v Ireland clash, and suggesting a 5 nations tournament.
Greg fully understands the problems that a drop in income can cause for a household, and supports FORDS plans to remedy this. Through his work in finance he meets people from all walks of life that were just caught out one day be it on a race track, golf course or a simple road accident, and suddenly household bills cannot be met.
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Roger Blitzman Hore - Friend of FORDS
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Blitzman is well known to Autospeed regulars and Ovalchatters, having been around racing since a very young age. He had a go at racing but says even Team Toilet wouldn’t want him, so he gave it up; he’s also been a spanner chucker for World Final drivers, but got heavily involved when St Day was under threat and has been a valued member of the Autospeed operation ever since.
Now, he puts up a Trier of the Day Trophy at Blockbuster, in his own words “to give something back to all drivers who spend their time entertaining us, week in, week out”. Due to health issues he has more time to give, so when we approached him for help he gladly accepted. He says he’s looking forward to doing his bit; we’re delighted to have him on board and grateful that he is so keen to do a bit more.
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Manuela Stento – Secretary
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Although a relative newcomer to short oval racing, Manuela helped to build bangers for three years from 2006 and has always taken an outspoken interest in safety. She has endless enthusiasm and a real passion for driver welfare.
Although she stays firmly on the safe side of the fence she does have a personal experience of how a relatively simple injury can have life-changing consequences after a broken arm in 1999 left her unemployed and homeless.
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