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The Welch Motorsport History and Philosophy
The History
The Welch motor racing history has spanned over 30 years, John Welch
having retired at the top of his career in European rallycross with two
British Championships and numerous International titles to his name.
Over the years John has
been involved in most aspects of motor racing; activities from karting
to manufacturing development. Now considered to be an ambassador for
British motor sport, John promotes his own philosophy with Welch Motorsport.
The Philosophy
Motor racing today
is far more than a sport – it’s an entertainment industry, and a
major employer that supports a significant manufacturing infrastructure.
It calls upon a broad range of skills, possibly the most important being the
understanding of what it’s like to be a driver, and the ability to
engineer the car for optimum performance. Without these basic skills it
is impossible to run a successful racing team.
To say that John Welch knows a thing or two about the
basics is an understatement. Those with long memories will recall him as British
rallycross
champion, the man who carried the UK banner in European rallycross and a
past winner of the British rallycross Grand Prix. All of these
achievements attained in cars that he built and engineered himself, in
consultation with serious industry players Gartrac and Xtrac. The cars
produced around 700 bhp and could accellerate from 0-60 in 2.1 seconds.
Exciting stuff!
Having been involved at the
top level in many formulae: karting from Cadets to Formula A, dragsters,
Formula Vauxhall, BARC Renaults and Formula Renault 2000 for the last
seven years, a tight knit efficient team has evolved that runs competitively at the front of the field.
We feel it is important for
the drivers to be involved in all aspects of the racing - participating
in setup, understanding suspension tuning and interpreting data logging.
Involvement in these disciplines gives drivers a feel for the car
ultimately enabling them to move on to even the most complex levels of
motor sport, possibly even ultimately Formula 1. We expect our drivers
to do far more than just turn up and drive. We expect them to treat
every test session and race as an invaluable opportunity to
develop every aspect of their motor racing skills. Call us a hothouse for
race training if you will - we don't mind, we probably are.
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