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Through weekly episodes, The Shrewsbury Biscuit Podcast discusses everything and anything Shrewsbury in an attempt to capture the essence of what makes Shrewsbury such a great town.
Lee and Andy from Perpetuum Motorsport and Ryan from D4Drivers spent a Sunday afternoon with Alex – the voice behind The Shrewsbury Biscuit Podcast – discussing all things motorsports and medicals.
Whilst chatting to Andy and Lee, Alex delved into both driver’s pasts, the moment they were first introduced to motorsports and what it was that drove the pair towards their decision to form their own team – Perpetuum Motorsports.
In the podcast it was revealed that whilst Lee’s journey began aged three after a Christmas gift of a Quad, Andy’s driving career began much later on, having a previous passion for horse-riding until he later obtained horse-related injuries, with one of his first experiences of the sport spent watching Lee on the track.
Andy told Alex that ever since they formed their own team he believes that it’s made a huge difference to his driving, from once being back of the grid to becoming a mid-runner. This statement prompted Alex to share his concerns over competing with your own team mates.
“I do always wonder what it’s like to be in a racing team because you’re both rivals but you’re both a team at the same time.”
The Perpetuum boys also opened up to Alex and explained that what spectators see at the circuits is only really half of what goes on with testing, practices and engine building taking up a huge chunk of their time.
“When we formed Perpetuum originally it was just me and Lee. We realised we weren’t really organised.”
Fortunately, Lee’s dad is a builder so has helped the pair by building a purpose-built unit so they now have a dedicated workshop for their cars to help make the behind the scenes processes much easier.
Whilst Lee and Andy are both clear fans of motorsports – hence the creation of their own team – there’s no doubt that there can be some huge mental and physical strains on the body as a result of racing.
When Alex delved deeper into this topic both Lee and Andy referred to driving at speeds of over 140mph as “mentally draining”.
Alex also got Lee to open up about a major crash that he experienced in 2008 whilst driving in the European Championships in Germany where he sustained a broken pelvis, ribs and spent two weeks in hospital.
He spent little time away from the track and was straight back in the car with his first return race seeing him take a win – however due to his recent injuries his dad had to lift him out of the car and carry him back to their nearby caravan as his legs had seized up during the race.
Alex went on to ask the Perpetuum team about their experiences being the first driver over the line as “the closest (he’s) got to that is a video game. (He) will never know what that’s like”.
Lee answered his question by saying “You’re almost a bit speechless” and suggested that the emotion that he feels depends on “how hard you fight”. If it’s a tight race he feels that coming in first is more of an accomplishment.
D4Drivers first approached Andy expressing an interest in sponsoring the team and the partnership has grown from there.
Alex then spoke to Marketing Manager Ryan about the strong partnership between D4Drivers and Perpetuum Motorsport and how D4Driver’s sponsorship of the team has helped provide D4Drivers with direct access to those in the UK motorsport industry through being a Medicals Partner.
“It has been great for us as it’s gotten us an in-road into the motorsport industry”