The Sports 2000 podcast

Host Sue Stockdale talks to Rob Whitwell about what it's like racing a Sports 2000 in Australia, including the circuits they race on, and what he enjoys about driving a Sports 2000.
Rob Whitwell from Melbourne, in the south-eastern Australian state of Victoria has always had a passion for cars and motorsport, growing up on a service station and garage. He studied Civil Engineering at Swinburne University and when career and family took priority over motorsport, his focus ended up in the construction and property market. Rob had major construction and development companies until he retired in 2016.
At age 50 he returned to motorsport with an Historic compliant MGB roadster which he ran for four years. He then purchased a MGB GT V8 full spec race car, and over the next 12 years Rob raced it whilst developing the car to finally have it producing over 500bhp. The MGB had a 6-speed sequential gear box and ran on 12" wide slicks. In 2015 Rob imported his Tiga SC85 and restored it over two years to begin racing it in 2018.
Leave your feedback about the podcast https://sports2000.co.uk/podcasts/
The Sports2000 Championship has been established since 1977 and features Duratecs, Pintos and Historic Pintos.
Connect with us at www.sports2000.co.uk or on social media
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/srcc_sports2000/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Sports-2000-Championships-327158720703344
Twitter https://twitter.com/SportsCarChamp
Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra (he/him)
Producer: Sue Stockdale (she/her)

Host Sue Stockdale talks to two of the new sponsors of SRCC Sports 2000 championship for 2022: Locks4Vans and Raceparts.
Terry Rayner is Commercial Director for Locks4Vans and has been using his extensive knowledge of the Commercial Vehicle market to spearhead the business growth plan at the UK’s market leading van security company. Born in Benfleet Essex, Terry Rayner is a self-confessed petrol head and unsurprisingly followed his grandfather’s footsteps into the Ford Motor Company, starting his 40-year career at the “Blue Oval” as a Technical Apprentice. He quickly moved through the Ford ranks in various Sales and Aftersales roles to become the first Commercial Vehicle Director to exceed 100,000 sales in Britain before moving to the Dubai office to successfully launch Transit in the Middle East & Africa. After taking early retirement from Ford, Terry re-emerged in the UK as Head of Sales for LEVC and helped launch the innovative VN5 as a viable Electric Van contender. In the summer of 2021 Terry moved to Locks4Vans, joining their Executive Team as Commercial Director. Find out more about Locks4Vans at https://www.locks4vans.co.uk
James Wills is involved in Technical Sales at Raceparts, a one-stop warehouse that has been manufacturing and supplying top quality motorsport parts and car rally parts worldwide since 1970, with knowledgeable staff who are able to advise customers. Find them at https://race.parts or call 01491 822000.
Leave your feedback about the podcast https://sports2000.co.uk/podcasts/
The Sports2000 Championship has been established since 1977 and features Duratecs and Pintos.
Find out more at www.sports2000.co.uk or on social media
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/srcc_sports2000/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Sports-2000-Championships-327158720703344
Twitter https://twitter.com/SportsCarChamp
Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra (he/him)
Producer: Sue Stockdale (she/her)

Sue Stockdale talks to Terry Scannell, a volunteer Motorsport UK race official who is the Permanent Clerk of Course for the Sports 2000 Championship. Terry explains what it’s like being in Race Control and having overall responsibility for the general conduct and control of a race event, and how he deals when unexpected situations like a change of weather, which can make life a little trickier for everyone involved.
Terry Scannell began marshalling on track as a Flag / Incident Marshal in 1969 and went on to assist Steve Bradley with running Karts in 1972 and Mark Dunham in Formula Ford 1600; then from 1973 running a fleet of Van Diemen Formula Fords, F2000 and a Lotus 69 F2 Chassis in Formula Atlantic. Over the years he has worked with other race teams, including assisting Colin Thorpe to run Ralt RT1, Argo JM6, Chevron B34, B38, B47 and March 773 F3 cars in the British F3 Vandervell Championship and European F3 Championships, and other F3 and F2 cars in the Monoposto Championship, winning this Championship outright in 1982 and 1984.
He has concentrated for the last 20 years being a volunteer Motorsport UK Clerk of Course working with clubs such as MSVR, HSCC, CSCC, BRSCC and MGCC, and is currently Permanent Clerk of Course for Sports 2000, Clubman’s Sports Prototypes, Monoposto Championship, Teideman Championship and F3 Cup.
About Sports 2000:
The Sports2000 Championship has been established since 1977 and features three championships - Duratecs, Pintos and Historic Pintos. Over the years several of the drivers have gone on to compete in British Touring Cars, Le Mans, F1 and other international series.
Website- https://sports2000.co.uk
Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/srcc_sports2000/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/Sports-2000-Championships-327158720703344
Twitter- https://twitter.com/SportsCarChamp
Key Quotes:
“I try to make it as painless as possible for the drivers concerned. At the end of the day, they're our customers from the point of view of the club organizing the meeting”.
‘When I was 14, I started marshalling at Snetterton as a flag marshal/Incident marshal which you could in those days at that age. There were no such things as safety cars, red flags and if there was an incident, we jumped down off the bank and dealt with it right in the middle of the actual race.’
‘It's basically very similar to the race director role in F1. You're having to make decisions based on what you're seeing happen, dealing with sudden changes of circumstance.’
‘I'm not one of those Clerks of the Course that locks myself in a dark room all day and never talks to drivers unless I'm printing out a judicial form with a penalty. What I really enjoy is the part of getting out in the paddock.’
‘I do find is one that helps to build a degree of respect between the competitors and the Clerks in that we actually try to understand their situation.’
‘We want to get the right answers for all the drivers concerned and make sure that everybody gets their full enjoyment of the meeting in the right manner.’
Support for this podcast comes from Broad Town Brewery – the microbrewery in Wiltshire with big ambitions. www.broadtownbrewery.co.uk
Sound Editor: Matias De Ezcurra
Producer: Sue Stockdale

Host Sue Stockdale talks to Mike Turner who has been involved in motorsport for many years. Mike reflects on being part of the Sports 2000 community since almost the beginning of its existence, and his career in racing.
Mike Turner first attended a race meeting with his parents at 5 years old and began club racing in 1968 in a Mini Cooper S. He then progressed to Formula Ford racing a Merlyn Mk 11A competing in the British and European Championships in 1969 and 1970. Mike was studying automotive engineering when the opportunity arose to join March Engineering in 1970. During this time, Mike worked on the Formula 1 and 2 teams, which included the team winning the European Formula Two championship in 1971 with Ronnie Peterson.
He later worked for a couple of other teams before starting a career in publishing, working for The Engineer magazine for thirty years. Mike started racing again, firstly in Multisports winning the championship in 1994, and then moving to Formula 2000 single seaters until 1997. In 1998 Mike started racing in Sports 2000, driving a Pinto, a Lola, and also a Shrike, where he won Class B. Mike then moved onto Duratec in the mid 2000s and has driven Van Diemen, Lola, and MCR Sports 2000 Duratec cars since then.
Key Quotes
‘The more you go back to a circuit, the more familiar it becomes, and you start to learn what you can do with the car.’
‘I think the thing with racing cars is you're never finished with them. No matter how much time you spend in the workshop or trying to get ready, there's always something else to do.’
‘We (the March team) won the European Formula Two championship with a guy called Ronnie Peterson. Another guy I’m sure people will have heard of was Niki Lauda who was an up and coming youth at that time, but turned out to be very, very quick.’
‘We (Sports 2000) still retain the ethos of fun racing at a sensible cost.’
Leave your feedback about the podcast https://sports2000.co.uk/podcasts/
The Sports2000 Championship has been established since 1977 and features four championships - Duratecs, Pintos, Historic Pintos and Mini Enduro.
Find out more at www.sports2000.co.uk or on social media
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/srcc_sports2000/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Sports-2000-Championships-327158720703344
Twitter https://twitter.com/SportsCarChamp
Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra (he/him)
Producer: Sue Stockdale (she/her)

Host Sue Stockdale talks to Howden Ganley, a New Zealander who was inspired as a child to become a racing driver having been a spectator at the 1955 NZ Grand Prix. Howden talks about how he turned that passion into a reality, ultimately competing in 41 Formula One Championship Grand Prix races before he turned his attention to becoming a manufacturer.
Howden went on to found Tiga Race Cars in 1975 along with ex F1-driver Tim Schenken with the name being derived from the first two letters of 'Tim & Ganley' and being pronounced “Tyga”. Tiga constructed racing cars for various forms of open wheel racing and sports car racing, with over 400 chassis being sold. He reflects on his life and the highlights of his career as a racing driver and manufacturer.
Key Quotes:
'My family used to say, you'll grow out of it by the time you're 21, but I never did grow out of the love of racing.'
'Drivers today do benefit from the improvement in safety because it was stupidly dangerous in my day, and when you are young you think you are immortal.'
'I went to my first F1 season as the number three driver. At the end of the year I was the only one left.'
'I suppose I do look at them (Tiga cars) as children and get terribly frustrated when I see how people have modified them.'
'I mostly achieved what I wanted to, but didn’t get to where I really wanted to be and that was world champion.'
'Sadly most of today’s Grand Prix drivers, with the notable exception of Sebastian Vettel, have zero interest in motorsport history.'
'Formula 1 engines have become so efficient. Its absolutely amazing. They are now aiming for 60% efficiency out of an internal combustion engine.'
The Sports 2000 Championship has been established since 1977 and features Duratecs, Pintos and Historic Pintos.
Leave your feedback about the podcast https://sports2000.co.uk/podcasts/
Find out more at www.sports2000.co.uk or on social media
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/srcc_sports2000/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Sports-2000-Championships-327158720703344
Twitter https://twitter.com/SportsCarChamp
Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra (he/him)
Producer: Sue Stockdale (she/her)