Richard Armstrong

Racing a Porsche 928 in the HSCC 70s Roadsports series my first year of racing at 55 has been a steep learning curve.

Paralysed from T7 down in a Scuba Dving Spinal Bends accident in 1989 whilst wreck diving off Eastbourne, I spent 9 months in Stoke Mandeville and told I would never walk again.

 Pah. After spending time in a wheelchair,then a pair of crutches, then a pair of sticks and finally a stick sometimes recovered enough to ride an adapted motorbike until knocked off and shattered right tib and fib.

The spinal legacy caused many problems and recovery was slow with the leg breaking a second time before fusing properly. After being banned from bikes by worried wife, bought a 928 then  I took up organising trackdays, which turned into a desire to race.

 
The MSA were cautious and thorough but granted a licence and here we are.

Right leg and foot are pretty good,but my left suffers poor propreoception and the fine control needed to effectively operate the clutch in racing makes for very hard work – hence now actively working on a modulating hydraulic hand paddle operated alternative, using power steering pump pressure to drive the electrically controlled hydraulic valve.

 
Being an automation and control engineer helps!

6 races to date, 6 finishes, and an improvement from the back of the grid to the middle.

Some way to go with the car development and especially the driver development. I have found that in-car video is very useful for analysing driving.

I still brake to early! 

Finally starting to feel the car and gain confidence.

I love the tracks especially Brands Hatch, and the general feeling within HSCC and especially 70s Roadsports is really friendly and welcoming.