RAF Marham Richard Burns Memorial Rally 13/14th September

Digicamco · 23 May 2008, 07:05 (Ref:2209573)

Richard Burns Memorial Rally Ready for Take-off

A new charity rally event to celebrate the life of England’s only World Rally Champion has been announced.
The Richard Burns Memorial Rally will take place at Royal Air Force Marham, Norfolk (home to 8% of the Royal Air Force and a third of the Royal Air Force’s aerial warfighting capability), over September 13-14.
It will be a single-venue tarmac event on the Royal Air Force Marham airfield and take in stages of 10-12 miles. Organised by the Kings Lynn & District Motor Club (KLDMC) the rally will feature 120 competitors – with the proceeds of entry going to The Richard Burns Foundation.
It is intended that the event will raise in excess of £100,000 pounds for charity to be split between the Richard Burns Foundation – which provides support for people suffering from life-threatening diseases or injury and the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund which provides similar financial support to serving and retired members of the RAF.
The event will also provide a unique opportunity for amateurs to compete against some of the world’s top drivers – with World Rally Championship greats such as Markko Martin lined up to compete. The date of the rally was picked to coincide with the WRC mid-season break in order to attract the very best cars and drivers from the elite level of the sport.
The inspiration for the event was provided by Richard Burns’ visit to Royal Air Force Marham in 2000 when he was taken for a flight in a Tornado GR4 jet. On the same day Richard gave a member of the Royal Air Force Marham ground crew a driving lesson in a WRC car – which left a lasting impression.
The engineer he took out for a spin that day was Sergeant Chris Daykin. This encounter with Richard inspired a lifelong affinity with the sport, and Chris wanted to do something to pay tribute to the memory of his hero after he passed away due to a brain tumour in 2005.
Chris, an avionics technician with II (AC) Squadron – who will drive his own rally car in the event – said, “People ask me why I am so passionate about rallying and this event. My privileged meeting with Richard changed my life inspiring me to compete in rallying and introducing me to an entirely new group of individuals, many of which have become my closest friends. My immediate family has also recently been affected by cancer, and the grandmother I never had the opportunity to get to know was also lost to a brain tumour some years ago. In this, the 90th Anniversary year of the Royal Air Force, I hope to bring a wide range of people together for this event from the motor sport industry and the Royal Air Force so that our combined efforts can make a difference to people less fortunate than ourselves in health and wellbeing.”
As well as top-class rally action, there will be a number of social events during the weekend. More high-profile entrants will be announced as they are confirmed in the coming months.
The event is being held with the kind permission of Air Commodore Phil Osborn OBE ADC RAF, Station Commander Royal Air Force Marham
Initial interest can be directed to the club's FORUM pages

http://www.kingslynndmc.co.uk/index....oard&Itemid=30
http://www.kingslynndmc.co.uk/content/view/69/26/

To view & comment in the KL&DMC Forum, please create a "user ID" and "password"

In the 48hours since it's announcement KL&DMC have received many heart warming messages about Richard and about the event and requests for regulations has been unprecedented.

We look forward to seeing many of you there.

Regards

Bob

**BertMk2** · 23 May 2008, 08:15 (Ref:2209605)

Looks like an interesting event, we'll get Millbrook out of the way and then see what state the car/budget is in after that

September is a gap in our calendar at the moment so this could be a good one

**Peter Mallett** · 23 May 2008, 08:24 (Ref:2209611)

Good stuff. I hope it's a success.

BOY BLUNDER · 23 May 2008, 09:56 (Ref:2209658)

Just spoke to kings lynn motor club,it allready sounds a great event,i've already volunteered my services to marshall cant wait.

BB....

Suze · 14 Jul 2008, 17:54 (Ref:2250744)

The regs are now out and an entry list is here.

Digicamco · 2 Aug 2008, 06:51 (Ref:2261973)

Richard Burns Memorial Rally - Royal Air Force Marham - Update

Hello everyone ....

At last we have the security form to hand!

I know several of the 10/10th's forum members have volunteered their marshalling services already

and I will be contacting them in the next few days, but for anyone else who is thinking of coming along to help out, please contact me directly at

marshal@richardburnsmemorialrally.co.uk

or PM me via this forum and I will send the form to you.

The entry is looking very promising with lots of WRCs and some entries from several diffent countries.

We hope that you will be able to join us, but please be aware that there will be no facility for just "turning up" on the day for competitors, marshals or spectators [due to the fact that it is a live air base].

Thanks and Regards

Bob
Chief Marshal Richard Burns Memorial Rally

Digicamco · 13 Aug 2008, 06:20 (Ref:2268251)

Subaru World Rally Team to pay tribute to Richard Burns

August 12th

Subaru World Rally Team has confirmed it will enter the Richard Burns Memorial Rally running the new Impreza WRC2008 car as a tribute to the star who won the world title under its banner.

Rally legend and official Subaru World Rally Team test driver Markko Märtin will tackle the charity event in an Impreza WRC2008 at the Royal Air Force Marham airfield, Norfolk, over the September 13-14 weekend to celebrate the life and achievements of England's only World Rally Champion.

The announcement of the Subaru World Rally Team's appearance at the event underlines the high regard with which Subaru held its former driver and champion Burns - with Subaru UK and Hylton Gott Subaru dealership having both already committed to sponsoring the event.

The Richard Burns Memorial Rally is run by the Kings Lynn & District Motor Club (KLDMC). The single-venue tarmac rally will feature 150 competitors and take in stages of 10-14 miles. As well as a range of motorsport action there will also be a host of other attractions laid on for fans throughout the two days - including a 'Party in the Park' on party on Saturday evening with live music and entertainment for competitors, service crews and marshals.

A series of fundraising initiatives will also take place over the weekend, including a VIP Gala Dinner to be held in Officers' Mess with RAF officials - a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the tradition of a full Royal Air Force military dining-in night.

It is hoped that all Richard Burns and Subaru fans will turn out and support the special charity event in order to raise as much money as possible for the Richard Burns Foundation and RAF Benevolent Fund.

Two thirds of the entry slots available have already been snapped up, while spectator tickets sales have also been proving very popular. With limited numbers of each available both are expected to sell out quickly.

Richard Taylor, Managing Director of Subaru World Rally Team said, "SWRT are delighted to be able to support this event with Markko driving the new Impreza WRC2008. Richard was an icon of the team and a great World Champion for Subaru. We hope the event is a success and that everyone involved as a competitor, organiser or spectator has an enjoyable weekend"

For more information about entering the event or to buy spectator tickets please log on to www.richardburnsmemorialrally.co.uk

ENDS

EDITORS NOTES

Information supplied copyright free

Further details are available from:

Amanda Ellard
Media Communications Officer
Royal Air Force Marham
Tel: 01760 337261 Ext 7332
Mobile: 07906 097 894

Further Press contact and images available from

Graeme Cleland
t: +44 (0) 1357 523 188
m: +44 (0) 7795 388473
e: graeme@the-inside-line.co.uk

<<<<<ooooo00000ooooo>>>>>

Current Entries can be viewed at:
http://www.richardburnsmemorialrally.co.uk/entries.html

Help Marshalling or Radios [and FREE entry] - please fill in the security questionnaire -
http://www.richardburnsmemorialrally...%20Details.doc
and email it back to me at
marshal@richardburnsmemorialrally.co.uk

Spectator tickets can be purchased at:
http://www.rallytravel.com/index.php?page=product&id=1

cg7aa · 13 Sep 2008, 21:18 (Ref:2289274)

Well, did anyone make it today? I did. The weather was surprsingly dry and warm for September.

Not a bad day out overall. It took a few goes to find the entrances, signs were lacking a bit I thought. I don't think I could do two days because the eventas expected is quite small and based at one location.

The highlights for me were the Escort Mk2s! Do those things ever go in a straight line? Even within the tight confines of the course, the looked spectacular. The Metros were good too. I'd happily watch these all day compared to the modern WRC/Grp N cars.

I did wonder why the paddock was based within the base itself which meant normal spectators had no chance of getting in there. I was lucky enough to get in and I think most of the people would have enjoyed it. They would have seen Markko Martin and Robert Reid in the flesh at the Subaru enclosure.

It would have been great if Richard's time at Mitsubishi could have been acknowledged (same goes for his short stint at Peugeot). Maybe his car from 1999 could have been put on display in the actual spectating areas - assuming it was available of course. I noticed what looked like his 2001 Network Q rally car (presumably the car he and Robert Reid won the championship in) was actually in the paddock.

If the event happens a gain in the future, I hope more WRC manufacturer/team support can be gathered in terms entering cars even if they are just for demo runs, imagine samples of this year's WRC cars doing some demo laps.

Perhaps some of the manufacturers he drove for could lend some of Richard's cars to be on static display or even driven by some famous rally names e.g. Makkinen in Richard's Mitsubishi.

Well done to the organisers.

Simd1978 · 14 Sep 2008, 18:17 (Ref:2290136)

Hi all, having just got back from the event today i feel it necessary to say what a let down the event was, in my opinion. While i fully back the reasons for staging an event like this, i found the event to be a bit of a con in the value for money stakes !

On the one hand you have the promise of seeing a full works backed car driven by a seriously skilled and under credited driver in the shape of Markko Martin. Only to be penned in, sheep style , into a field where you are barely a part of the action.

As for the entry list, i feel that some of the other works/professional teams could have shown their support. While i'm a fan of seeing all things rally, i don't expect such an event to be donned with such a poor entry of top flight cars/drivers.

I also feel the fact that as a spectator and much admirer of Richard, the event could have been blessed with an accessible service area and at the least a static display of past cars used by the great man.

Just my opinion as a huge fan of this ever increasingly difficult sport to attend and participate in thats all ! . . . . Must Try Harder IMO.

Any backers of my comments ??

cg7aa · 14 Sep 2008, 20:42 (Ref:2290277)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simd1978

Hi all, having just got back from the event today i feel it necessary to say what a let down the event was, in my opinion. While i fully back the reasons for staging an event like this, i found the event to be a bit of a con in the value for money stakes !

On the one hand you have the promise of seeing a full works backed car driven by a seriously skilled and under credited driver in the shape of Markko Martin. Only to be penned in, sheep style , into a field where you are barely a part of the action.

As for the entry list, i feel that some of the other works/professional teams could have shown their support. While i'm a fan of seeing all things rally, i don't expect such an event to be donned with such a poor entry of top flight cars/drivers.

I also feel the fact that as a spectator and much admirer of Richard, the event could have been blessed with an accessible service area and at the least a static display of past cars used by the great man.

Just my opinion as a huge fan of this ever increasingly difficult sport to attend and participate in thats all ! . . . . Must Try Harder IMO.

Any backers of my comments ??

Hi Simd1978, I agree with your 'must try harder' comment - to a point. I've already talked about the non-accessible service area etc etc. I only got in there because a friend of mine was on duty on the base.

I think the issue was the lack of support (and we do not know the reasons for this so one cannot prejudge) from the current WRC community and the fact that the event was held on a live airbase with a security rating of 'heightened'.

Prodrive/Subaru were there doing their bit (one suspects they had to!) but you cannot help but wonder if somehow the rest of the WRC community could have taken a more active role. Perhaps they were not aware of what the event meant to those going to see it or perhaps logistics and finances prevented many from showing up.

As I said in my post, the main disappointment for me was the lack of involvement (to my knowledge anyway) of the manufacturers he drove for on the world stage. I was hoping to see at least a static display from Mitsubishi and Peugeot in the areas accessible to the public.

I'm not so sure about the word 'con', maybe you meant it as very poor value for money. You could argue that point, equally you could see it as giving a tenner to a worthwhile course.

You cannot be too hard on the organisers, the whole thing originated as one man's idea I think. I don't think those involved have ever had to do such an event before (I may be wrong), perhaps this reflects the lack of the top draw entries you were expecting.

Simd1978 · 14 Sep 2008, 21:28 (Ref:2290324)

Yes i agree 100% with adding to what is a fantastic charity, the word "con" was probably used a little hastily by myself.

I guess i just feel that Richard has been let down a little with the support from the community of motorsport to whom he drove and contributed so much.

The staff at the base i feel were excellent for the record.

Lets hope the organizers take a little notice of the spectators/publics eye view for next years event. By letting people into the service area and leaning on the "big wigs" of motorsport to lend their hand to this very worthy cause.

Hope i havent offended anyone with my rant ?!

**BertMk2** · 15 Sep 2008, 08:44 (Ref:2290637)

I think some of the 'problems' are a gap between the expectations of the organisers/competitors and those who paid to watch. As I understood it from the entry regs (we were planning on entering until our budget took a hit) it was a single venue clubman event - effectively the bottom rung of the ladder as far as stage rallying goes. Events of this nature are quite often closed to spectators as the venues are often MOD owned (or similar), if spectators are allowed access to the venue then they are generally 'herded' into a small area (again due to access restrictions on the site). Access to the service area is again largely dependent on where service is on the site - it may just be impractical to allow access to service if the specator enclosure is on the opposite side of the site - can't have people wandering about the place!

Certainly I think the fact that this was the first running of this event also had an influence - changes are more than likely for the future I'd have thought (end these will be based on things the organisers observed and also feedback from competitors and spectators). Certainly I can see the benefit of having more 'display stand' type things accessible from the spectator area, also more works or big name entries would be good - I'd have thought Mitsubishi UK would have at least had a presence (were they asked?), they turn up to events like rallyday (as do Ford) so an appearance on this event isn't out of the question.

Road Rally · 15 Sep 2008, 12:11 (Ref:2290825)

Any pics of car 44, blue BMW M3 compact please email to boltonmidnight@gmail.com

A single venue event was never going to be a fitting memory to a former world champion imho.

But the event was okay, a few niggles but to be expected I guess with a new venue.

**BertMk2** · 15 Sep 2008, 20:17 (Ref:2291219)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Road Rally

A single venue event was never going to be a fitting memory to a former world champion imho.

I'm not so sure - from a spectators point of view maybe. But from a competitors point of view that's not a problem -a single venue event is within the financial reach of a lot more competitors and allows the 'clubman' rallyer to take part in a high profile event. I'd have said that was a very fitting tribute to Richard.

chocolate cossy · 15 Sep 2008, 20:45 (Ref:2291240)

hi simd1978
having taken part in the rally at the weekend i do see your point we are a local rally team and our friends would have travel the 50 miles to come and see us but all decided not to because they couldn,t even just come and say hello , this i do understand as i would be the same .
as from an event point of view it was a car killer for what ever reason so if you only came on the sunday out of 110 starters only about 65 finished so you may have missed them
but i think you might have missed the point that this is a very active air base that was shut down for four days just for us to play on as for organising such an event i would want to do it ,but i do know that at least 20 people have spent months trying to get this off the ground dont forget this.
as for your pocket just think of the front runners who broke down one with a gearbox approx £15k ,
i know i spent nearly £17 k just to be there in a new car ,
without sounding harsh there was a lot of people enjoying it and also people trying to book next year already ,but if you dont speak up no one will know either catch you soon t

**BertMk2** · 15 Sep 2008, 21:15 (Ref:2291271)

I guess it was fairly similar to Abingdon in terms of the stages? That seems to break quite a few cars too but the stages are good fun and quite long (certainly in terms of £ per mile Abingdon is good value). Again Abingdon is an active base that is given over to the motorsport crowd to play with their toys - restrictions are in place but so be it, without the restrictions the venue wouldn't be available at all.

I guess there is an issue here with who this event is for? Spectators or competitors? If it's spectators then the event is in the wrong place, if it's competitors then no problem.

cg7aa · 15 Sep 2008, 21:19 (Ref:2291277)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simd1978

Hope i havent offended anyone with my rant ?!

Not at all, well, I wasn't offended anyway. You had something to get off your chest and you did so. You did make some valid points about the 'big wigs' of the rally world being leaned on to provide more support.

I think BertMk2 hit the nail on the head when he said the issue was a gap between the expectations of the organisers/competitors and those who paid to watch. Spot on! Perhaps there wasn't enough management of expectation, I knew it would be low key but I didn't know it was more or less a clubman event (as a spectator I didn't read the entry regs which presumably would have made it clear the kind of event it was) till I got there.

Something to address in the future.

Could the rally be held in forest stages elsewhere, could it joined with another rally? Of course this would have implications - mainly costs for competitors and spectators.

Suze · 16 Sep 2008, 19:48 (Ref:2292043)

What was with the F1 car there? [see http://www.mandh-photography.co.uk/e...s/img_1322.htm ]

Neil I presume you've seen Andy's pics, there's plenty more can be found via the above link.

Simd1978 · 17 Sep 2008, 18:55 (Ref:2292726)

Fair point Chocolate Cossy, i see your point, no offense intended to all involved, it was just my thoughts. like you say these new events need positive and negative feedback for them to progress in the future.

Road Rally · 19 Sep 2008, 16:09 (Ref:2293788)

Yep have, cheers Suze.

Road Rally · 19 Sep 2008, 16:10 (Ref:2293790)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BertMk2

I'm not so sure - from a spectators point of view maybe. But from a competitors point of view that's not a problem -a single venue event is within the financial reach of a lot more competitors and allows the 'clubman' rallyer to take part in a high profile event. I'd have said that was a very fitting tribute to Richard.

I was taking part not watching, a single venue is just that, the lowest run on the stage rallying ladder. Using the airfield and a few other tar venues would have made it good VFM.

Or bringing back the Rally of Kent but in his name would have been a better idea.

Just look at what they are doing with the McRae stages, now that is a great tribute and RB deserves similar.

At least Abingdon has the party atmosphere, autosolo, sprint etc to make it more of an 'event'.

I appreciate that it took Kings Lynn a lot of time and effort, but again why Kings Lynn, RB's club was Craven wasn't it?

Suze · 19 Sep 2008, 16:58 (Ref:2293808)

Bert just seen you had edited my post......if I'd left the link wrong, apologies!!!!

jason carter · 19 Sep 2008, 18:47 (Ref:2293857)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suze

What was with the F1 car there? [see http://www.mandh-photography.co.uk/e...s/img_1322.htm ]

Neil I presume you've seen Andy's pics, there's plenty more can be found via the above link.

Have a closer look at the car and you'll see the Qinetiq logo - Qinetiq being the defence R&D contractor that has a partnership (IE sponsorship) deal with Williams. Sadly, sidewinder missiles are banned under FIA regs.

Suze · 20 Sep 2008, 10:22 (Ref:2294121)

ah yes thanks Jason, more familiar with Qinetiq through the Longcross connections but makes more sense now, ta!

Digicamco · 20 Sep 2008, 10:39 (Ref:2294131)

The F1 Williams car was bought to the event courtesy of one of the RAF Liason Officers to whom we are most grateful. It was another item of motorsporting interest for the public to see close up and judging from unsolicited independent reports from the spectator enclosure the event was VERY well received and considered very good value for money, especially as it was helping two very worthy causes.
For your interest .... Squadron Leader "Baggers" Bagnall has actually driven a Williams F1 car

- another connection between the F1 & Marham.
Bob
[Digicamco]

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