Cambridge, ON - July 31, 2014
Photo via Race2Recovery
Race2Recovery, the British Rally-Raid team that holds the only back to back finishes in the world by a disability team in the Dakar Rally-Raid, have set another motorsport record.
Last weekend the team took part in the fourth round of the MSA British Cross Country Championship with driver Olaf Jones and co-driver Yanto Evans. Jones is an above the elbow left arm amputee and Evans is a below the right knee amputee. They set a record as the first disabled pair of competitors to complete a lap of the event in Radnor Forest in Wales. This makes them the first fully disabled team to complete a lap of an MSA BCCC event.
While the team did not complete the event due to a roll over caused by a mechanical failure in a wheel, they made history in more ways that one.
The MSA had to be lobbied by Race2Recovery co-founder Anthony Harris in order to allow both amputees to compete in the same vehicle, because the MSA had a policy that prevented two disabled competitors from being in the same vehicle at the same time. Harris successfully argued that if both Jones and Evans were able to pass the BARS assessment that both should be able to compete in the same vehicle in an MSA event without prejudice.
Motorsport sanctioning bodies around the world should be paying close attention to this particular decision by the MSA. More and more competitors are showing up to register for amateur and professional motorsport events around the world with a variety of physical and mental health challenges ranging from paralysis to Autism. If those competitors can meet the same requirements as any other competitor, there is no reason or excuse to exclude them from competition.
Congratulations to Race2Recovery on their new record and on successfully lobbying to change a regulation in favour of more fair, inclusive, and equitable competition. Cheers to the MSA for agreeing to follow good sense and logic in allowing Jones and Evans to compete together under the R2R banner.
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