Rob Sayell wins silverware in first meeting at Silverstone.
A six-times world champion motor racing driver from East Anglia has gone back to the starting grid – to try his hand at a different type of racing. Rob Sayell, who dominated the Grand Prix Midget class of racing for several years, has switched to the new Formula Jedi Championships.
And in a gesture of support, Norfolk specialist motor insurance broker Adrian Flux Insurance Services has announced it is sponsoring Rob’s new Jedi car for his first season in the formula’s Club Class championship.
"I am so pleased to be sponsored by Adrian Flux," says Rob. "It is a high profile national company and the name will be recognised wherever I am. Even better is the local connection to my home town of King’s Lynn. I love the logo and am proud to have it there."
Adrian Flux’s sponsorship of Rob is a natural one for the company, based at East Winch. It specialises in insuring classic, performance and modified cars throughout the UK, and is a major East Anglian employer.
Racing is in the Sayell blood, as Rob succeeded his father Harry, also a former world champion in Grand Prix Midget racing. For several years Rob, a professional heating engineer in King’s Lynn, has dominated the Grand Prix Midget sport, winning a record six World Championships, six National points championships, as well as two European Championships and many British Championships.
Formula Jedi is a step up. It’s club car racing that uses the long circuits such as Silverstone, Snetterton, and Brands Hatch, instead of the Grand Prix Midget’s smaller, shorter ‘ovals’.
A couple of years ago Rob tested a Formula Jedi car and was delighted with its power and agility.
Formula Jedi runs two championships. Rob has opted for the Club Class, for cars with engines built 2003 or before. Nonetheless, the extra cost of running the cars and entering the races meant he had to look for sponsorship.
"Rob is a local lad and at Adrian Flux we are very committed to our East Anglian roots," said Gerry Bucke, Commercial Director at Flux. "He’s already an established champion in Grand Prix Midget racing, but we like to support the up and coming stars. When he said he was switching to the new Jedi racing, that put him back in the contender stakes, and we reckoned he deserved our backing."
Compact and light, and driven by an R1 1000cc Yamaha Superbike engine, Jedi cars are astonishingly fast and manoeuvrable, reaching top speeds of 150mph. With all the cars in the formula being similarly specified, it’s a real test of driving skill.
"Jedi racing on the long circuits is something completely new to me, and I don’t expect to be a champion again in my first season" says Robert Sayell. "In many ways I’m starting afresh."
Yet in his very first appearance at Silverstone, over Easter, Rob finished 12th overall and also won his Class, taking home silverware.
To contact Adrian Flux Insurance freephone 0800 505 3000, email the company at quotes@adrianflux.co.uk, or see the Flux homepage on www.adrianflux.co.uk
Notes for editors:
Formula Jedi:
Formula Jedi originated in 1996 as ‘Formula 600’ as a conventional-looking but light racing car that used a Honda 600 cc motorcycle engine fitted to the rear of the car, and using the Jedi chassis constructed by John Corbyn at his Northamptonshire workshops. The idea for a race championship after the Jedi chassis was being used very successfully on sprint and hill climb circuits throughout the UK. Formula 600 was created to produce identical performance single seater racing cars, providing a more cost effective way to go motor racing on classic circuits. In 2000, Honda UK gave their support to the formula and the series became ‘Formula Honda’.
Formula 600 was recently discontinued in favour of an all-1000cc series with two classes: Championship Class (for engines built post-2003) and Club Class (the one Rob Sayell is competing in) for cars with engines built 2003 or before.
Regulations aim to keep performance close between cars, producing close and exciting ‘gladiatorial’ racing that focuses on the drivers themselves rather than the cars.
Grand Prix Midgets:
Grand Prix Midget racing takes place over ‘small oval’ quarter-mile tracks. The cars are designed for phenomenal acceleration using highly tuned engines, but at very economical prices.
Average speeds are lower than ‘long’ tracks such as Silverstone, but the acceleration is phenomenal as the cars burst up to seventy miles per hour for a few seconds before the driver slams on the brakes and turns into the bend. Powering out of the corner, the motor howls into life once again before the driver is back on the brakes for the next bend. Typically 15 or more cars compete in the race over around 15 laps.