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In 2007 RML competed in the
Le Mans Series and attempted to secure a hat-trick
of wins in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Sadly, the latter
eluded them after a serious accident relatively early
in the race ultimately lead to an engine failure some
15 hours later. However, a string of excellent results
in the Le Mans Series, including third overall at
Spa, secured the LMP2 drivers' title for Mike Newton
and Thomas Erdos and the team title for RML. This
page records the group of dedicated and hard-working
personnel, both trackside and behind the scenes, who
helped to achieve that success.
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Ray
Mallock - Founder and Chief Executive, RML
RML’s
Managing Director, Ray started his professional
career with an apprenticeship at Aston Martin,
before joining the family motorsport business,
Mallock Racing. He worked there with his father
Arthur and brother Richard, producing the famous
Mallock U2 racing cars that started the motorsport
involvement of many people in the sport today.
Ray
then went on to carve out a successful driving
career, being a Grovewood award winner (the
forerunner to today's Autosport Awards) in 1971,
when he was acknowledged as being one of the
'up and coming' British drivers of the early
1970s. He went on to win the British Formula
Atlantic Championship twice, before moving into
sports car racing. He won nine world championship
events in Group C2 in the 1980s.
Ray's
engineering and business skills enabled him
to form RML in 1984, combining his joint passions
for driving and engineering. This ultimately
led to his being responsible for the build and
development of the Ecurie Ecosse and Aston Martin
Group C cars of the 1980s. Ray retired from
his professional driving career in 1989 to concentrate
on the business and spend more time engineering.
Since then RML has gone on to win in every category
in which it has competed, including being multiple
BTCC champions for Vauxhall and Nissan; rally
champions for Vauxhall and Opel, designing,
building and developing America's first supercar,
the Saleen S7, and winning LMP2 twice with the
RML-developed MG Lola EX264.
In
2004 he retuned to Le Mans as a driver for the
first time since 1989 driving the Roger Bennington
owned Aston Martin Nimrod in the Group C GTP
Motor Racing Legends race that preceded the
2004 Le Mans 24 Hours. He finished third in
class. This was also an opportunity for Ray
to reacquaint himself with the Aston Martin
Nimrod that had been such an important part
of his driving career and RML’s development.
Ray
still finds time - as often as he can - to race
his historic Mallock U2 Clubmans cars and he
regularly competes in one of the Aston
Martin DB4’s owned by Marsh Plant
and prepared by RML. In 2004 he shared a Saleen
S7-R in the Spa 24 Hours with his son Michael.
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Phil
Barker – Team Manager & Race Operations
Director
The
RML Le Mans and Le Mans Series team is headed
by Phil Barker, whose motorsport career started
more than 20 years ago in the World Sportscar
Championship with John Fitzpatrick Racing.
Phil
set out as a motorsport technician in 1984 but,
utilising his engineering qualifications, soon
progressed to chief mechanic, developing a specialist
knowledge of transmission preparation and development.
His early assignments included the World Championship-winning
Ecurie Ecosse C2 and Aston Martin C1 programmes
before he joined Tyrrell F1 to manage its transmission
department.
Phil
returned to RML in 1995, where he race-engineered
John Cleland to the driver’s title in
the highly competitive British Touring Car Championship.
He continued to engineer the Scot's car until
1997, when RML was retained by Nissan to run
its BTCC programme. Phil then spent three years
race-engineering another Scot, David Leslie,
culminating in a championship runner-up spot
in 1999.
Throughout
his BTCC era Phil also worked as development
engineer with particular emphasis on transmission,
steering and damper development.
When
RML returned to GT/Sportscar racing with the
Saleen programme in 2000 Phil was a key member
of the development team, and then went on to
lead the championship-winning ELMS programme
in 2001.
Over
the last few years Phil has been running the
majority of RML’s race activities, including
entries at Le Mans, the FIA GT Championship,
the LMES, Le Mans Series and winning the UK-based
ASCAR oval stock car series two years in succession
in 2002/3.
Since
2005 Phil has been the mastermind behind RML’s
successful LMES and Le Mans Series campaigns,
culminating in two class-winning performances
from the MG EX264 in the Le Mans 24 Hours of
2005 and 2006.
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Adam
Wiseberg – Motorsports Director, AD Holdings
AD
Holdings is the principal sponsor of RML’s
sports prototype programme. Within that context,
Adam performs a complicated role, not only acting
as the chief point of contact between AD and
the race team, but also being the visible face
of the squad as far as the team’s guests
are concerned. During race weekends, Adam co-ordinates
the links between the team garage and hospitality,
organising pit visits, taking driver interviews,
explaining the complexities of the car and ensuring
that the day runs smoothly for the visitors.
At other times Adam is responsible for all the
team’s marketing and public profile –
everything from taking the final decision on
issues relating to the MG’s livery and
sponsor placement, to merchandising, branding,
negotiating additional sponsorship, and publicity.
This façade, however, hides a die-hard
motorsport enthusiast – and not merely
from the relative comfort of a hospitality suite!
Adam is also an accomplished driver in his own
right, and while his regular outings are at
the wheel of a historic rally car or classic
sportscar, like his favourite MGA, he has also
competed at international levels in contemporary
GT racing. He co-drove an RML Saleen S7R with
Ray and Michael Mallock in the 2004 Spa 24 Hours,
and in 2005 made his British GT debut with Emotional
Engineering at the wheel of the team’s
Monaro GT. Other outings are planned for this
season.
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Michael
Jakeman (Jakey) - Chief Race Technician
Michael
is the most senior member of the engineering
team at RML and also one of the most experienced.
His CV reads like a who’s who of top-flight
motorsport, with entries for Williams, Benetton
and Jaguar Racing in Formula 1, and drivers
like Michael Schumacher relying upon Jakey’s
skill and understanding to see them through
to the chequered flag. Michael knows just about
all there is to know about hydraulics, gearbox
and car build management, but he’s never
likely to admit it!
2007
was Jakey’s
third season with RML, where he has been the
king-pin of the squad’s pit apron activities.
His signature pose is to stand directly in front
of the car during each pitstop, stopwatch in
one hand, whistle in the other, and right foot
resting on the nose cone of the MG. Why the
foot? “It’s so I know when the engine’s
running!” he says with a laugh. “Sometimes
you can’t hear it in the pitlane –
not with the headphones on – so I rest
my foot on the car and I can feel the engine
when it starts up again. Then I know to step
out of the way and let the driver go.”
Michael
is evidently proud of the men he works with.
“It’s a great team,” he declares.
“In fact, I‘d go so far as to say
this is probably the best-prepared team in the
pitlane. We’ve got all aspects covered,
and our understanding of the car is second to
none. We build all the car’s components,
and if we encounter a problem, we know how to
react and, hopefully, we can fix it.”
As for the car’s prospects . . . “You
just never know. You think you’ve looked
at everything, but that’s not to say that
something else can’t come along and catch
you out. We’ll just do our best.”
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Rick
Perry – Race Technician
Rick is one of the most experienced members
of the RML sportscar squad, having spent more
than half his life in motorsport. He’s
worked in Formula 1, DTM German touring cars,
GT and sportcars, and his list of satisfied
employers includes names like Mercedes, Jaguar,
Stewart Grand Prix and Lotus.
2007
has been Rick’s
fourth year with RML. “I love the people
in this team, and I love working with them,”
he says. “Right from the very top, from
Ray (Mallock), the drivers and the team management,
and all the way through, it’s like working
for a huge family, not just another race team."
"I
have a very wide competitive streak,”
he adds, “and I like to be on the winning
side. It’s so good to feel you’ve
had a hand in a something that’s successful,
and because of that competitive steak, I get
a huge sense of achievement whenever we do well.
You also know that it’s never down to
one person. This is a real team effort, and
we all work together really well, but it’s
very satisfying work.”
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Volker
Muschick – Race Technician
This
was Volker’s first season with RML, although
he’s been involved in motorsport since
1989. Having been born in Germany, and then
based in Belgium for some time, he moved to
England three years ago. At first he commuted
to work around Europe, but decided at the end
of 2006 to find a full-time job in England.
“I went to RML to be interviewed for a
job with the WTCC team,” he says. “I
ended up joining the sportscar programme!”
One
view of his CV explains the thinking behind
this decision. Vast experience with BMW, in
DTM, touring cars, GT and sportscars made Volker
a natural choice to join RML’s MG squad
after the departure of Vince Mitchell. He has
overseen cars in more than a dozen twenty-four
hour races, and his record is extraordinary
– especially in the Nurburgring 24 Hours,
where he has engineered four one-two class finishes,
or “double victories”, as he describes
them. He has also guided his cars to class wins
in the Spa 24 Hours (BMW M3 in 2004), in the
ALMS and at Petit Le Mans, and also in the Japanese
GT Chmpionship.
Volker
comes to RML after a successful season in WTCC
with Team Schnitzer BMW.
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Adam
Hughes – Race Technician
Although
still labelled as a “Junior”, Adam
is by no means a novice, as Rick Perry explained.
“Experience belies his years,” says
the team’s Senior Race Technician. “There
are not many in this business who can get to
the age of twenty-one and claim to have been
on the winning team at Le Mans twice. Adam is
one of those guys who always wants to improve,
do better, and achieve more. He’s not
just a body-polisher, even if that’s where
he started out. No, he’s a sharp, effective
member of the team and he's an excellent mechanic!”
That’s praise indeed from someone of Rick’s
experience and standing.
Until
the arrival of Janos, Adam was the youngest
member of the team’s sportscar squad.
He’s been with RML since he left school,
joining as a trainee mechanic and working though
to become one of the key members of the team.
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Teddy
Pedersen - Sub Assembly Technician
Teddy
is one of the longest-serving members of the
RML squad, having been with the team for thirteen
years now. Danish by birth, Teddy started out
as a mechanic, completed a stint as truckie
between 2001 and 2003, and is now predominantly
employed as Sub Assembly Technician. This is
a demanding job, with considerable responsibilities,
but doesn’t go without recognition. “Teddy
is a remarkably capable member of the team,”
says Phil Barker. “He’s very loyal,
a meticulous worker, an excellent mechanic and
a huge asset to the team.”
When
RML was running the Vauxhall and Nissan squad's
in the British Touring Car Championship, Teddy
acted as Number One mechanic on the test team
during the period when RML.
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Paul
‘Chirpy’ Smallcorn – Fabricator
and Race Technician
Hard
working, dependable, and yet ever ready with
a joke, ‘Chirpy’ had been with RML
for more than twelve years before deciding to
leave in September 2007. Right to the end he
continued to love the work, the camaraderie,
and the challenge of each race. “I do
what I do, but I’m still just a spanner
man at heart,” he insisted. “We
all turn our hand to anything and everything,
when we have to. It’s all part of being
a member of a cohesive, efficient team.”
Back
at the factory, Paul worked in the production
department, where he was called upon to work
on a wide variety of projects. When not involved
with the MG Lola programme, he was just as likely
to be found building one of the team’s
WTCC Chevrolet Lacettis or working on some historic
sportscar. “We’ve just completed
a sympathetic restoration of a Ford GT40,”
he explained in June. “I’m not necessarily
race-team based all the time, but where there’s
metal, I’m likely to be there!”
Over
the years Paul has established a reputation
for being one of the finest fabricators in the
business and RML was fortunate to be able to
call upon someone with such diverse skills and
abilities. Married with four children, Paul
now works full time on restoring historic cars.
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Matt
Beers – Electronics and Data Management
Bearded
Matt Beers is a full-time member of RML’s
MG sportscar programme, and attends all the
team’s races. He also works in the development
and design department back at base, where he
has been closely involved in the collaborative
venture with AD Holdings to create the X-Pro
Digital Image Recorder. Tested to extremes aboard
the MG EX264, the DIR offers the ultimate in
on-board CCTV and video imaging resources.
Trackside,
Matt looks after the team’s data logging
and telemetry systems, and will be seen at each
pitstop, laptop in one hand, and cable in the
other, downloading electronic data from the
car’s on-board systems. “I act as
Phil’s assistant,” explains Matt.
“I’ll be looking into race simulations
and set-up options, and advising on aerodynamic
configurations, gear ratios and the like.”
He also acts as liaison between the team and
Karl Duschene of Life Racing.
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James
Gritt – Electronics and Data Management
James
is a full-time employee at RML, but 2007 was
his first time at Le Mans as anything other
than a spectator. “It’s so much
better being actively involved in a team than
sitting in a tent!” he says, having watched
the team race to victory in 2006.
James
is a project engineer at Wellingborough, and
heavily involved inn the nitty gritty of designing
new technology products for RML. One of his
first tasks upon joining RML in January this
year was to take over and perfect RML’s
innovative X-Pro Infra Red Tyre Heating System
– widely recognised as the most efficient
tyre-heating technology currently employed in
motorsport.
Having
completed that first challenge, James is now
engrossed in several more “top secret”
development projects. “Any time anything
needs designing, Hide or I will get called up
to sort it out,” he grins. At Le Mans
James is assisting Matt Beers with the MG’s
electronics and data management systems.
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Graham
Malyk – Number One Truckie
Graham
has been working as a driver in motorsport for
ten years. He started in Formula 3, with Fortec,
but then found himself spending eight years
as a truckie in Moto-GP and Superbikes. “The
highlight was probably winning the championship
with Suzuki in 2000, but I also enjoyed two
seasons with Petronas in World Superbikes. Those
things sounded fabulous!” His contract
with them ended last year, and he joined RML
in time for the start of the Le Mans Series,
driving out to Monza, and then Valencia, for
the first two rounds.
Graham
developed a love for cars from his father, who
used to be a mechanic for vintage cars on such
things as the London to Brighton run. “I
just love fast sports!” he insists, having
tried his hand at motor-cross in the late Eighties.
“I’m really enjoying working with
RML. You get to use your brain, and you’re
expected to work very hard, but it’s very
rewarding.”
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Matt
Sankey – Number Two Truckie
The
newest member of the squad, Matt only joined
RML at the beginning of June 2007, so Le Mans
was his first outing with the team. It was not
his first motor race by any means, and his experience
should see him fitting in perfectly with the
team.
Matt
comes to RML form Team Jota, the squad that
ran the works Zytek in the Le Mans Series last
season. He has worked at Le Mans twice before,
but has been a regular here (on the other side
of the fence) for eight years. He used to come
with a group going by the name of Larry Le Mans
(they even have their own website!)
and still keeps in touch. His two passions are
motorsport and cooking – his father runs
a restaurant in Tunbridge Wells called Sankey’s,
where Matt still fills in as assistant chef
from time to time. He suggests that the highlight
of his life so far is being taken around the
Nordschleife by Stefan Johannson. “I got
out and couldn’t stop giggling!”
he says. “It was awesome.” Matt’s
other contribution to the team is to have introduced
a keg of bitter from the Larkins Brewery to
the hospitality. It proved very popular!
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James
Brown – Transport
James’s
first admission is that he cannot sing. “No,
dreadful,” he admits. “I cannot
do a good impression, so don’t ask!”
James is freelance to RML this season, but would
have joined the team earlier in the year if
he hadn’t been rushed to hospital over
Christmas with a burst appendix. Thankfully
he returned to full fitness far quicker than
expected. “I come and go wherever and
whenever I’m needed,” he says.
James
has worked with RML numerous times over recent
years, and always looks forward to his next
job with the team. “It’s always
enjoyable to work for a really professional
outfit, and that’s certainly something
you can say of RML.” His duties, when
he’s not driving the trucks, include cleaning
wheels and tyres, and collecting the new tyres
from the Michelin facility in the upper paddock.
“It’s not such a bad job,”
he insists. Actually, it’s a vital job
– the last thing the guys working on the
car want to encounter when they’re dealing
with delicate electronics or transmission components
is dirty wheel rims. This is James’s first
Le Mans.
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Janos
Kerti – Pit Support Technician
Twenty-year-old
Janos is the youngest member of the RML’s
Le Mans team 2007. Named after his Hungarian
grandfather, Janos is a full-time employee at
RML. Back at the workshops in Wellingborough
he is Purchasing and Materials Assistant, and
works in the stores. “My Dad had a garage
and I’ve been around cars all my life,”
he says, “but, actually, I’m better
with computers!”
Although
Janos attended RML’s World Touring Car
Championship race at Brands Hatch last year,
this will be his first time at Le Mans. “Everyone
keeps telling me how hard it’s going to
be, working through the race, but it’s
not one of those things you can prepare for.
I just don’t know what to expect, but
I’m going to do my best to keep going
through the night!”
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Mark
Deacon – Pit Support Technician
A
community police officer with the Metropolitan
Police by trade, Mark Deacon joined RML for
the Le Mans 24 Hours. His story was one of chance
and nerve. “I’ve been an MG enthusiast
for years,” he stated. “Last year
I was trawling the Internet and I came across
the RML website. Obviously, I was aware of what
the team had been doing with the MG EX264, and
I was a huge admirer of everything they’d
achieved. I looked at the job vacancies page,
and there was an advert for some highly qualified
technician. It was nothing I could ever have
done, but I downloaded the application form
anyway. In the space where it said Job applied
for I just put ‘Anything!” I never
expected to hear anything more, so I was absolutely
amazed when I got called in for an interview!
That
was April. He spent half an hour being grilled
by Phil Barker, and two months later, he was
assisting in the pit garage at Le Mans. “I’ll
do just about anything they ask me to,”
he said. “I’d be quite happy just
making cups of coffee, but they’ve got
me doing real work. It’s a dream come
true.” Please, don’t all write at
once!
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Russell
Sames – Engine Technical Support (AER)
Russell
took over from Stuart Parmenter as AER’s
full-time representative on the RML squad in
2007, acting as technical support for the MG’s
two-litre turbocharged AER engine. Described
as one of the “top guys” in the
business, Russell is just “happy that
they go on believing that!”. He’s
been with AER for five years now, having come
to the company via Pi and, before that, Pectel;
one of Mike Lancaster’s earlier companies
before he founded AER.
Last
year Russell oversaw the Chamberlain Synergy
LMP1 Lola, also powered by an AER unit, but
moved to RML from the start of this season.
Not only is he with the team for the Le Mans
24 Hours, but he also accompanies RML to all
the rounds in the Le Mans Series. “Once
the engine is installed and running, one of
my main duties is to keep an eye on the engine
telemetry and management system, and try to
pick up on any potential problems before they
arise.” He enjoys the satisfaction of
bringing together fine engineering and complex
electronics, and achieving a balance that works.
“It’s enormously satisfying,”
he says.
Russell
has been associated with MG and Le Mans since
the very beginning of the sportscar programme,
having been involved with the works MG EX257
project from 2000. This will be his seventh
Le Mans.
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Gary
Dann – Engine Support (AER)
Gary
joined the team exclusively for Le Mans to assist
Russell with Engine Support. Gary is the engine
build supervisor at AER.
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Karl
Duchesne - Electronics Support (Life Racing)
2007
was Karl’s second Le Mans with RML, having
been on permanent secondment to RML since the
start of 2006. As a representative of Life Racing,
Karl has expert responsibility for design and
maintenance of the MG's wiring loom and all
the car's electrical components and installations.
“We do a lot of work with AER,”
he explains. “Although I work exclusively
with RML, Life Racing also deals with several
other teams using the AER engine, including
Radical and ASM.” Aspects of Karl’s
work cover the Engine Management system, Chassis
Control and all the peripheral wiring. It’s
a great responsibility, and a challenge. “The
entire installation is unique to the MG,”
he says. “It has been specially designed
for RML, and for this car, and there is hardly
any carry-over, not even to the other cars based
on the similar Lola chassis. They’re all
different.” Karl works closely with Rick
Perry, RML’s Senior Race Technician.
Life
Racing is an affiliate company of AER Limited.
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Anne
Morel - French Liaison
This
year was Anne’s fourth Le Mans with RML,
having first joined the team in 2003. Since
that time she has become a regular member of
the team at events and races all around Europe,
acting as Liaison Officer between RML and the
ACO.
Although
Anne has a long-standing interest in motorsport,
her last full-time job was as Finance and
Administration Director for the French
Chamber of Commerce in England. Based in London,
it was a post she occupied for eleven years.
Outside
her direct responsibilities towards RML, Anne
also works to help young and talented drivers
make their way in motorsport. Her past “charges”
include Nic Minassian, now enjoying international
recognition with Peugeot Total, and Briton Adam
Sharpe. She was also instrumental in helping
Thierry Sabin establish the Paris-Dakar Rally
as one of the most gruelling and demanding motorsport
challenges in the world.
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Sam
Mallock (née Clarke)
– Marketing & Hospitality
Looking
after the team’s hospitality, and offering
a welcoming face to visiting journalists at
Le Mans was Sam Clarke. A freelance events manager,
Sam had recently returned from the Caribbean,
where she had been looking after the corporate
hospitality side of the Cricket World Cup. Previously
she had worked at Wimbledon, Royal Ascot, Twickenham
and at conferences as far afield as Prague and
St Petersburg.
Her
motorsport background includes a period with
Pirelli and the World Rally Championships, and
assisting the Sultan of Bahrain with overseeing
hospitality at A1 Grand Prix events. If you
think you recognise Sam, that may be because
she has also pursued a modelling career, and
appeared on television and in magazines, including
assignments in Cosmopolitan, GQ, Zest and Esquire.
In
September Sam become Mrs Michael Mallock. See
news
item
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Michael
Mallock – Press Liaison
Michael
is one of those people that has motorsport flowing
through his veins. For all his twenty-four years,
he has lived and breathed motor racing - as
a child, as a member of the Mallock family,
and now as a racing driver.
Much
as it frustrates him, Michael didn't have a
drive at Le Mans this year, and offered instead
to act as Press Liaison for the team, based
in the team garage and hospitality. His job
was to keep the journalists up to speed on what’s
happening in the garage, and out on track.
Michael
would much prefer to be out there driving a
racecar – and he’s no mean peddler.
In recent years he’s raced in the Spa
24 Hours, co-driving with his father Ray one
year, and then sharing a Saleen S7-R with Thomas
Erdos, Mike Newton and Phil Bennett in 2005,
when they finished 8th in class, 10th overall.
He has also raced in the FIA GT Championship,
FIA Sportscar Championship, British GT Championship,
National Supersports Championship (UK champion
2000) and is particularly associated with racing
late historic sportscars, and is unbeaten at
the wheel of the Marsh Plant sponsored Aston
Martin DB4.
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Marcus
Potts - Press Officer
2007
was Marcus’s fourth Le Mans with RML,
and his twelfth working as Press Officer for
one of the race teams competing in the 24 Hours.
His
first post at Le Mans was in 1995 with Team
Marcos, when he was nominated for the ACO’s
Media Communication Award, narrowly losing out
to Yves Courage in the final analysis, but still
gaining an honourable mention – the only
time to date that a “runner-up”
has ever been acknowledged. Since then he has
worked for a variety of teams, including Marcos
Racing International, Chamberlain Motorsport,
Skea Racing International (second in GT2 in
2000) and PK Sport (three times). He was also
Press Officer for Porsche GB in 2001, covering
Kelvin Burt and Marino Francitti’s dominant
run to the British GT title. He followed that
with two seasons as Press Officer for GruppeM
Motorsport, assisting the team to the British
GT2 title in 2004, and then following them through
to the FIA GT Championship GT2 title as works
team for Porsche in 2005.
Marcus
prepares Press Releases for the team, takes
many of the team’s photographs (both trackside
and in the pitlane) and writes, designs, hosts
and maintains the team’s website. A graphic
designer and copywriter by trade, Marcus has
been a motorsport enthusiast since the Group
C days. His first visit to Le Mans was in 1988,
with a group of friends from TWR Jaguar in Kidlington.
They cheered Jan Lammers, Johnnie Dumfries and
a certain Andy Wallace to victory that year.
Little did Marcus know that one day he’d
be working with Andy at Le Mans.
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