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28^th July 2006 (Source: Richard Burns Foundation )

The Richard Burns Foundation celebrated its launch by raising £50,000 during the Goodwood Festival of Speed (7-9 July 2006).

During the weekend, five World Rally Teams and nine World Rally Championship drivers entertained 150,000 spectators at the Festival of Speed in memory of 2001 World Rally Champion Richard Burns, who passed away last year. Among the drivers were three WRC champions: Colin McRae, Marcus Grönholm and Petter Solberg. In addition, nine cars from Richard’s career were on display and driven on the track by drivers including Markko Märtin, Andrew Cowan and Colin McRae.

Robert Reid, long-time co-driver for Richard Burns and Chief Executive of the Foundation, said: “We’re very happy with the way the launch went and how much money was raised and I’m pleased to say there are still donations coming in. Thank you to all who donated and to the 150 volunteers who gave their time and helped make the launch such a success.”

The Richard Burns Foundation aims to inspire and support people whose lives are affected by serious illness and injury. As a World Rally Champion, Richard used his energy and focus to make his dreams come true. When diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 32, he used the same mental strength to fight his illness and live life to the fullest.

For its launch, the Foundation hosted the Youth Cancer Trust* (YCT) and six guests from the YCT were given a full rally experience in the rally cars alongside Markko Märtin and Subaru’s Chris Atkinson. The YCT is a charity that provides holidays for young adults living with cancer and its effort to supply young people with the energy and inspiration needed to sustain their fight against disease is a good illustration of the values backed by the RBF.

David Lapworth, who is Motorsport Director at Prodrive, has become Chairman of the RBF and was overwhelmed by the amount of support the Foundation received. “Our aim was for a successful launch with good exposure to get a sense of the level of support we might have. To be honest, we couldn’t have hoped for a better reaction as fans, drivers and Team Directors were all incredibly positive.

“We were also encouraged as on-the-spot donations significantly exceeded our and Goodwood’s expectations, which has highlighted that there is a great connection between the motorsport fans and the essence of the Foundation already. A lot of people made some incredibly nice comments and it has given us inspiration for moving forward with ideas for the charity.”

World Rally drivers that were in action during the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed included Petter Solberg, Chris Atkinson, Colin McRae, Marcus Grönholm, Mikko Hirvonen, Markko Märtin, Alister McRae, Martin Rowe and Gilles Panizzi. World Rally teams that ran cars at the event included Peugeot Sport, Mitsubishi Ralliart, Kizz-me Škoda World Rally Team, Subaru World Rally Team and BP-Ford World Rally Team.

The Richard Burns Foundation, which received official confirmation of its registration as a charity a few days before Goodwood, and Richard’s collection of cars were also present at the Rallyday 2006 at Castle Combe in Wiltshire on Saturday 22 July where the RBF also received incredible support (www.rallyday.com).

Supporting the Richard Burns Foundation is simple and donations can be made in one of three ways. Register your support online at www.RichardBurnsFoundation.com; Donate by mobile phone by sending a text with “RBF” to 82344 for a GB£2.50 donation (UK only)**; or send a donation by post to Richard Burns Foundation, PO Box 687, Oxford OX1 9LD, UK.

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Editor’s notes:

Established in memory of the 2001 FIA World Rally Champion who died last year of cancer, the Richard Burns Foundation raises resources and awareness to help people of all ages in their fight against adversity – supporting projects aimed at care, prevention, and giving quality of life to people living with brain cancer and other conditions that can have a severe impact on their lives.

The Richard Burns Foundation Ltd is a limited company and registered with the UK Charity Commission under number 1115158. Further information is available on www.RichardBurnsFoundation.com

* The Youth Cancer Trust is a unique charity based in Bournemouth which provides free, fun activity based holidays for young people aged 14 to 25 suffering with cancer or any malignant disease from anywhere in the UK or who are patients of any UK hospital. The Youth Cancer Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered at London No.3436893 and at the Charity Commission No.1064736. For more information, please see www.yct.org.uk or call .

** Messages are charged at standard rate. Senders will receive a confirmation messages, charged at GB£2.50. The Richard Burns Foundation will receive the contribution net of charges applied by mobile network operators and a processing fee. Further information is available on www.RichardBurnsFoundation.com.

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