Every Summer British F1 fans get very excited about our home Grand Prix. Despite the criticisms of Silverstone and traffic in the past, we have always been patriotically keen on the race and the fans always make it look amazing, regardless of weather!
At Daytona, we looking forward to British Grand Prix week and not just because of the race itself. Throughout the week, we host and organise events for F1 Teams and their sponsors and various charities. This year for example, we are hosting events for three F1 Teams, Sky TV and are providing our Dmax karts for  the Henry Surtees Team Challenge at Brooklands and running the Halow Challenge at Daytona Sandown Park.

Last night I was trying to work out how many current or former F1 drivers would be attending these events and I lost count! With Sebastian Vettel coming to Brooklands, Damon Hill hosting the Halow Event (and driving at the Brooklands event), Johnny Herbert and David Brabham filming a young drivers’ special on Monday at Daytona Sandown Park and a number of private F1 sponsor events later in the week, we will see at least 10 of the top drivers in the world at our events.

Some of you may have seen our Superstars Boards in the tracks. Notable drivers’ lap times are recorded on the boards – much like the Top Gear Star in a Reasonably Priced Car feature. F1 drivers see their times around Daytona go up on the board and sometimes it isn’t a fair reflection of their driving ability. Rushing from one personal appearance to another, the drivers are thrown into one of our karts and told to set a lap-time on a track they may not know well. Whilst the driver may not be that proud of their time, our drivers love it when they can then compare their times to their F1 heroes.

On that note, I must dash off and make sure everything is ready for this afternoon’s event at Daytona Sandown Park where Johnny Herbert and David Brabham are meeting and racing the current cream of the British Junior Formulae – with Sam Bird (Monaco GP2 winner) and a host of ther GP2, GP3 and Formula Renault drivers keen to impress in front of Sky F1’s tv cameras.

Jim Graham
TEAM DAYTONA