28 Jul Ian Abel from Upminster, Essex taking part in charity event A Driving Force for SSAFA next week
Ian Abel from Upminster in Essex is taking part in the charity event A Driving Force for SSAFA 2024 with his friend Sundeep Virdee from Ilford. Ian works in Finance but is also a keen racing driver with his MX5 in the MSVT Series and is a Karting Instructor and Marshal at Brentwood Karting Centre in his spare time.
A Driving Force for SSAFA, is a biennial charity event, raising funds for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. It involves one hundred people, in fifty vehicles, including participants and support vehicles, on an exhilarating 10-day driving adventure across the Iberian Peninsula and Gibraltar from 30 July to 9 August 2024, hoping to raise £120,000 for SSAFA. The event launches next Tuesday from HMS Excellent in Portsmouth. Entrants to the event come from all walks of life, coalesce around a common goal; to help others whilst having the adventure of a lifetime. The 2022 event which raised over £170,000 for SSAFA!
SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity offers practical welfare, health, emotional and financial support services, for the UK military’s serving personnel and veterans of the Royal Navy, British Army and the Royal Air Force, and their families.
Whilst combat operations have now ceased, our country must deal with the aftermath of 20 years of operations in the Middle East, where more than 150,000 UK military personnel were routinely deployed. As we conduct this event, we pay tribute to the hundreds of people who made the ultimate sacrifice on operations. Just as importantly our fundraising is aimed at sustaining people and their families who suffered life changing injuries.
It was Ian’s childhood dream to be a racing driver, and that never went away. He has been Kart racing since the age of 9 but always wanted to get into ‘proper’ racing cars and this year had the opportunity to step into racing MX-5’s in the Miata Trophy series, which is run by MSV.
He completed his first round on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit earlier this year where he supported the World GT Challenge which has Valentino Rossi racing in it, so that was a dream start! He had great battles straight away and managed to hold off an experienced GT driver, so Ian is really looking forward to more! Ian is contracted to race in 2 more rounds later this season at Oulton Park & Brands Hatch again, and has potential tests lined up with F1000 and Formula Ford, so is hoping to take things further forward for a full season next year.
About taking part in the A Driving Force for SSAFA 2024 event, Ian said:
“I have always wanted to do a road trip across Europe, and now feel I have got a car that is ideal for enjoying it. I only met the A Driving Force team at Autosport International at the NEC, Birmingham this year, so this is my first event with them. The high level of planning and support provided by the group at A Driving Force made this too good an opportunity to miss!
The team have a proven record of putting together top-notch road trips with precision planning, creating memorable experiences and making great friends along the way. Plus, both of my Grandparents served in the Army, so it will be nice to do something to remember them with and do something that is ‘giving back’ to our Armed Forces and helping those that gave their lives for our country.
I am really looking forward to taking in the stunning views from the mountain drives and creating memories with a great group of people that will last a lifetime, as well as hopefully raising lots of funds for SSAFA.”
If you would like to make a donation to A Driving Force for SSAFA, please visit: https://ssafa.enthuse.com/pf/ian-sunny-drive-europe—ssafa-2024
