Today Stevenage endurance driver Darren Standing will mark Remembrance Sunday not in a church or in front of the TV like the rest of us – but in a pit lane midway through an eight-hour endurance race.
The 49-year-old amateur racer will take part in the Race of Remembrance in Angelsey, raising money for wounded war veterans.
At 10.45am the drivers will pull off the track for a 30 minute service saluting those who lost their lives fighting for their countries.
But then it’s straight back to race action for Darren, who lives in Windrush Close and is a sprint driver in the Mazda MX5 SuperCup.
He said: “It is the first time in the history of motorsport this has been done and when I heard about it, it was something I knew I wanted to be a part of.”
His team paid £2,000 to enter the race and have been encouraging others to donate to the cause.
The money will be given to charity Mission Motorsport which helps injured forces personnel with rehabilitation and resettlement.
Part of its work is finding placements within some of the leading race teams in the UK.
Darren has no connection to the armed forces and first became interested in Mission Motorsport while seeing the team on the circuit.
“I chose the charity, not because of any military ties, rather from being humbled by the resilience, drive and sheer determination these injured men and women display, in overcoming their injury to lead as normal a life as is possible,” he said.
The father-of-two has dreamed of being a racing drive for as long as he can remember, but only started competing in 2010 after his children grew up and flew the nest.
He has been sprint racing – where drivers compete in short, sharp 20 minute contests – since 2010 and has competed at both Silverstone and Brands Hatch.
Sunday’s race will be his first endurance race and, alongside two team-mates, he will drive for hour long stints.
Darren’s day job is driving trains up and down the country from London to Newcastle for East Coast Mainline and he hopes that will help.
He said: “It will be a bit of a challenge but I have to concentrate for long periods at work – it’s not all just looking out the window.”
To find out more about Mission Motorsport visit www.missionmotorsport.org.
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