New car tops Welsh highlights at Autosports show

A new Welsh made racing car was unveiled at the Autosport International show yesterday – and immediately sold. Now MCR Race Cars of St Davids is planning to build and sell ten of the £34,000 hand-built cars for use in the Sports 2000 series. Director Clive Hayes is also offering buyers a full support service including an arrive-and-drive leasing scheme which puts a driver on the grid for the eight round series at just £16,000 for the season. Clive, a qualified auto engineer who once built and tested the engines in the best known Welsh Gilbern cars, runs the company with fellow owner Cindy Pearce and technician Padrig Rees (right). Originally from the Rhondda, Clive is determined to source as many components as possible from within Wales for the MCR cars and chassis and dynamics are being developed at Swansea Metropolitan University automotive engineering department.
The spaceframe chassis is made in St Clears and the fully aerodynamic bodywork is produced in Fishguard. He is talking to two firms about supplying the suspension and wants to source components from members of the Welsh Automotive Forum. The Sports 2000 series dictates that entrants have to use an American produced Ford engine but Clive is hoping to expand the range and may use Toyota, Ford or PAG engines, which are made in Wales. He said, “MCR employs three people at the moment but even without any publicity we have had many enquiries and sold our show car from the stand.
	A number of Welsh drivers have expressed interest in the Sports 2000 series but Clive thinks there is a bigger market for the car. “It may be some way off at the moment but I would really like to look at creating a road going sports car if we can sort out the single vehicle approval process we would need to put it into production.” Hand-built in about ten weeks, the MCR can be specified in right or left hand drive for motor sport and the company can even make it bigger to accommodate larger engines than the racer’s 2.0 litre unit. Cindy, who has track-tested the MCR and created the show car’s dragon graphics, said, “We have very high hopes for the car in the series and there has been enormous interest shown in it at the Autosport International show.”

Autosport International was also the debut of Pajoe Engineering Ltd., of Swansea, who supply specialist electric steering systems to competition and niche road car makers. Technical director and owner Jon Peters supplies systems which go into Morgan and TVR road cars and they are also used in the Renault Clio Cup series and Darrian sports racing cars. After starting his automotive career with TRW Resolven, Jon worked with Tom Walkinshaw Racing and recognised there is a gap in the market for electric steering systems.
They use less engine power and are lighter and more efficient than traditional hydraulic steering. They save weight and aid fuel economy. He now has his own workshop to manufacture and calibrate the Pajoe electric steering systems for supply to individuals or car makers. “I can make about five a month but I want to concentrate on building up the sales and marketing and will probably contract out the calibration and assembly to a Welsh company who are interested in working with me on this exciting new area of automotive engineering,” he said.

Technium Performance Engineering in conjunction with International Business Wales and the Welsh Automotive Forum showcased what Wales has to offer at this year’s Autosport International Show. Technium Performance Engineering, a Welsh Assembly Government sponsored initiative, is offering young, aspiring businesses in the automotive sector the opportunity to take the next crucial step in their development by becoming part of the Technium Network, an initiative set up to drive forward enterprise and innovation in Wales. Technium Performance Engineering at Llanelli Gate, South Wales, forms part of the Technium Wales network and provides an ideal environment for businesses to receive the relevant knowledge, expertise, support and physical facilities that might otherwise prove too costly or difficult to reach. Andrew Phelps, Manager of Technium Performance Engineering, said, “We are exhibiting at Autosport International 2008 to showcase Wales as a business development environment which can play a crucial role in shaping the future of the automotive sector. “Companies involved in the stages of product design and development within the automotive and motorsport industry have a real opportunity with the infrastructure we have in Wales to turn their big ideas into big business. Swansea Institute will be taking part in this year’s Autosport International event and prepares to celebrate a decade of achievement in Autosport engineering. Held in Birmingham’s NEC from 10– 13 January, Autosport International is the world’s premier motorsport exhibition. Big names at this year’s event include F1 drivers David Coulthard and Mark Webber, and British Touring Car champion and Fifth Gear presenter, Jason Plato. Swansea Institute will be at Autosport to offer help and advice to individuals who wish to pursue a career in motorsport. Undergraduate courses available at the Institute’s Mount Pleasant campus include motorsport engineering and design, motorsport manufacturing engineering and motorsport management. Since launching the world’s first motorsport engineering degree in 1998, Swansea Institute has produced many students who have forged careers with some of the top motorsport and performance engineering companies in the world. These include Honda F1, Midland F1, Yamaha Tech3 MotoGP , Prodrive, Mitsubishi Ralliart and Ford Rally, along with Jaguar, Ford, Aston Martin and Bridgestone to name but a few. The Institute will also be represented at the event through a large number of ex-students now working with some of the motorsport industry’s elite. In recent years, Swansea Institute has been praised by FIA President Max Mosley and MotoGP’s Peter Clifford, for the quality of courses and students produced. A team of students from Swansea Institute finished an impressive 16^th out of 100 universities during last year’s high profile international competition, Formula Student. “Our attendance at the Autosport event also allows current students the opportunity to pick the brains of the world’s leading automotive and motorsport engineers,” said Head of Automotive Engineering, Roger Dowden. “By doing this they will acquire invaluable knowledge and experience of the industry as well as offering the potential to enhance future career prospects,” he added.
Welsh rally legend Gwyndaf Evans has launched a two car team with the WRC in its sights. GEMsport – the abbreviation for Gwyndaf Evans Motorsport - has secured full funding for 2008 to run young hotshots Elfyn Evans and Meilyr Evans in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy in the UK and Ireland , with a three year plan to reach the World Rally Championship. Last year Elfyn, the 19 year old son of Gwyndaf, was an impressive third overall in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy and 18 year old Meilyr was first overall in the Formula 1000 Gravel Championship. “This is one of the most exciting projects in which I have ever been involved and the prospect of taking two young drivers to the very top level in the sport is tremendous,’’ said Gwyndaf who is also involved in the Junior Rallying scheme to attract new drivers to the sport and will be based in Mid Wales. “Young drivers need a clear ladder to progress their careers and with the launch of GEMsport we are creating a structure aimed at building on the skills of the drivers and giving them the opportunity to realise their ambitions. If all goes well, then we hope to be in a position to help more drivers in the future.’’
He said the aim for 2008 is for the drivers to gain more experience in two notoriously competitive championships before moving up to the British Rally Championship in 2009 and onto the world stage in 2010. “We have an extremely strong team in place to run a professional and successful operation and with funding confirmed for 2008 we believe we are in the best position possible to produce a British driver of world class standards,’’ said Gwyndaf who will be the team’s manager and mentor. The 2008 project has been backed by the Carey Partnership LLP in association with hustings.com, a new website designed to allow the easy comparison of political policies on specific issues. “We are very excited to be working with someone of Gwyndaf’s immense talent and experience and his team on this project,’’ said William Carey from the Carey Partnership. “It is exciting to give young drivers such as Meilyr and Elfyn this fantastic chance and to see what they can achieve. We hope that this is the start of a long relationship between us and GEMsport, and that we will establish a strong reputation for producing top quality drivers and fully prepared cars.”

New car tops Welsh highlights at Autosports show

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