KartForce and Team BRIT founder joins task force leading work into advances in disability motor sport. Dave Player, the founder of KartForce and Team BRIT, has presented to the international governing body for world motor sport.
At a meeting of the Disability Working Group of the Federation Internationale de L’automobile (FIA) held on Thursday 4th May, Dave was among a number of experts looking to take forward work to improve access to motor sport for those living with a disability.
FIA president Jean Todt instructed Graham Stoker, FIA deputy president for Sport and Professor Gerard Sallient, president of the FIA Medical Commission, to launch this project to develop a plan with leading industry experts.
Dave and Team BRIT’s team of mechanics are leading the way in disability motor sport, having developed the world’s most advanced hand control technology to allow Team BRIT’s injured military veterans to drive against able-bodied competitors.
The controls are easily removed and use an advanced electronic braking system never seen before, which allows drivers with injured legs or feet to share a car with able-bodied team mates.
The meeting agreed that a task force will be formed to take this work forward, made up of key industry experts, with a view to developing recommendations and advice to be provided to all motor sport governing bodies, supporting them in encouraging and running disability motor sport.
“I was honoured to be invited to this seminal event, which will be crucial in revolutionizing the opportunities available for disabled drivers,” said Player. “We have an opportunity to really make a difference and to normalize disability. With the right support, even more disabled athletes will inspire and change the lives of other disabled people, showing them that there are no limits to what they can achieve.
“For the past seven years we have been making huge developments in this area through KartForce and Team BRIT. We introduce and encourage disabled people to get into motor sport and then assist those that are suitable to step up to higher levels of racing. We have developed and supplied the kit needed to make it possible and have created the world’s most advanced technology. I am very much looking forward to sharing this with the wider industry through the FIA.”
Team BRIT stands for British Racing Injured Troops and is a branch of the charity KartForce, a charity set up to inspire people with disabilities, PTSD and mental health issues by demonstrating what can be achieved through motorsport. It aims to show injured military personnel that they can achieve what they never thought possible, that they can compete at the highest level, and to equip them with a wide range of personal and professional skills through understanding the business of motorsport.
