Background

Graham Rumsey started karting at the age of 14 with London Kart Club at Tilbury circuit in Essex. With an extremely tight budget, this was not his most successful period although he would often be racing alongside some now, well-known names such as Johnny Herbert and in later years David Coulthard. Budget depleted and junior career over, but the passion never died and he returned to karting after a few years and at the age of 35! Got his first works drive. Graham won the (Veteran) ‘0’ plate in 2000. Business pressures, unfortunately, forced another “sabbatical” from the sport, although soon after a brief dip into the word of Oval Autograss, kept the trophy shelf topped up.

This was not really for Graham, so only lasted a short season. Having always been a fan of Rallycross, late in 20I6 he bought a Production Specification Citroen Saxo and entered the British Rallycross Championship with some success. With a few wins and regular podiums, Graham finished 2nd overall in the championship in his inaugural year and was awarded the “Newcomer of the Year” at the end of the season. Unfortunately, the British Championship dropped the production class for 2017 so Graham entered the BTRDA Clubmans championship which regularly had over 25 entries and became overall production champion. A new challenge was needed, so after a look around and many conversations in different paddocks, Graham met Paul Austin of NHA Motorsport and decided that the highly competitive Mazda MX5 championship ticked all the boxes. So an ARDS test was taken at Brands Hatch and after a couple of hours track time in one of the NHA cars a deal was agreed on an Arrive and Drive package for the upcoming 2018 season

Overall a great season and a great experience but a very steep learning curve! Graham enjoyed learning the car and the circuits and was ever amazed at the level of competition among the regular 50+ entries.

2019 A new car, but staying with the NHA Motorsport team, but with a full season now behind us, maybe a slightly different approach and eyes wide open!