Record-breaker sees off classic Jags on tour for cancer charity
LAND-SPEED record breaker Don Wales has been back in Pendine to flag off a special convoy of Jaguar E-Types raising money for a cancer charity.
A man with a fair amount of records to his name, Mr Wales is the grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell and nephew of Donald Campbell, two of Britain’s greatest land and water speed record-holders.
He was back at the scene of so many special moments in speed history yesterday to wave a flag to set off the 2018 Round Britain Coastal Drive. The 19-day event will raise cash for Prostate Cancer UK. Now in its third year, it has raised £150,000 for charity.
The 4,000-mile tour around the circumference of the British mainland was originally created in 2016 to raise funds for the leading men’s health charity Prostate Cancer UK, and Don kindly agreed to support the event after recently undergoing successful treatment.
The 2018 Coastal Drive aims to add a further £70,000 to the amount raised in the event’s first two years.
Mr Wales said: “I am delighted to be part of this fabulous event and honoured to be flagging-off the entrants from Pendine Sands, where my grandfather set his first World Land Speed Record.
“I was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and have now been successfully treated.
“We need to get more men talking about this horrible disease. Events like this are vital as they help to raise awareness and valuable funds to stop prostate cancer being a killer.”
The Pendine Sands starting point is where Mr Wales set the UK speed record for an electric car in 2000 at 137mph (touching 160mph), and the world speed record for a ride-on lawnmower in 2010 at 87.8mph.
From Pendine, the Round Britain Coastal Drive will go as far north as John O’Groats and as far south as Land’s End, before concluding in the town of Tenby, on the opposite side of Carmarthen Bay to Pendine, on October 5.
The event comprises 19 individual stages, each of approximately 180 miles distance, and will be driven sequentially by groups of Jaguar E-Types in the style of a relay.
Most entrants choose to drive one, two or three legs, but this year six crews have committed to driving the whole way round.
The Round Britain Coastal Drive was devised by Jaguar E-Type Club co-founder Philip Porter, the renowned automotive book publisher and author, after he was successfully treated for the disease.
Mr Porter said: “The aim was to give E-Type club members a great driving event at the same time as raising funds for Prostate Cancer UK, and awareness of the disease.
“It was meant to be a one-off event but proved so popular that we’re now running it for the third consecutive year.
“We have cars and crews coming from abroad, including the States, and even have people who have bought an E-Type so they can take part.”
James Beeby, director of fundraising at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “We are incredibly grateful that Philip and his wife Julie have organised this event for the third year in a row and I am very much looking forward to taking part in the drive, from Inverness to Edinburgh. Currently one man dies every 45 minutes from prostate cancer but with support such as this we can fund vital research to stop more men from dying.”