Following his solid racing debut in 2011, Disabled Motoring UK ambassador Nicolas Hamilton will be returning to the Air Asia Renault UK Clio Cup for a second season in 2012 with Total Control Racing (TCR).

The 19-year-old said: “I’m really happy to be racing with TCR in the Air Asia Renault Clio Cup UK this year. I’m with a great team in a hugely competitive series, and the main aim for me this year is to continue to develop my race craft, using the knowledge and understanding I gained last year as a strong base.

“I’m still a novice relative to the other guys on the grid, as this is only my second season of racing, but that won’t stop me from pushing as hard as possible to be competitive. It would be great to reach being a regular top 10 runner during the course of the year.

“I’ve had a focused winter season with a lot of training and work with the team, and I am looking forward to getting started at Brands Hatch at the end of March.”

TCR team principal Lee Brookes warns rivals to expect a more competitive season from the young Hamilton in 2012. “With a year’s experience under his belt, Nicolas is definitely more confident going into this year. He’s made some good progress with various elements of his driving over the winter period, so it will be interesting to see where that puts him at the first race. As always, it is a great pleasure to have the Hamilton family with us again for this year”

Nicolas’ father and manager, Anthony Hamilton, added: “I’m really, really proud, excited and looking forward to the start of this season to see where Nic will be in the field. He’s been training hard over the winter break and has devoted and dedicated himself to keeping fit, focused and healthy and that deserves a good result in 2012. Fingers crossed he can achieve regular top
tens this year.”

Nicolas, who was born with Cerebral Palsy, has been heralded as an inspiration to those within the disabled community. “One of best things from last year was seeing more and more people who are disabled in the paddock,” Nicolas commented. “It’s a great privilege to have inspired people
to overcome their personal difficulties or challenges. To have their support definitely gives me that extra bit of motivation to achieve my goals in the sport, and I cannot wait until the first race”

The BBC documentary ‘Racing with the Hamilton’s: Nic in the Driving Seat’ which follows Nicolas during his debut 2011 season and includes the Alps Challenge which we organised on behalf of Disabled Motoring UK, is due to be broadcast on BBC 1 at 22.35 on Tuesday 6th March 2012.

 The BBC have announced that they will be screening the Nicolas Hamilton documentary; 'Racing with the Hamilton's, Nic in the Driving Seat' on BBC1 at 10:30pm on Tuesday March 6th 2012.

The documentary, which will focus on Nicolas's driving career so far, is also likely to feature The Lively Crew and Disabled Motoring UK on the Alps Challenge, which Nicolas, accompanied by the BBC film crew, joined us on in June last year.

We were delighted to be able to sign Nicolas up for the Alps Challenge which we organised on behalf of Disabled Motoring UK and saw a team, which also included Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and children's TV presenter Ade Adepitan, drive a 1930 Argson Mobility Trike from Norfolk, down to Dover, through France and across the Swiss Alps before returning to a prestigious reception at the Houses of Parliament in London.

Nic was so impressed with the charity that he agreed to become an official ambassador on his return to the UK.

We will be tuning in to see if Nic's driving is better than our Director Valerie Bullard's which you can see here. Compare that to the efforts of lead driver Dan McIntyre, negotiating some of the picteresque scenery, before strapping yourself in.

'Racing with the Hamilton's, Nic in the Driving Seat' will be shown on BBC1 at 10:30pm on Tuesday March 6th 2012.



 

Our gallery of images from the Alps Challenge is up and running, featuring exclusive shots of the trip as well as our celebrity supporters, including Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Ade Adepitan and Nicolas Hamilton.

We also managed to squeeze in a sneaky shot of Disabled Motoring UK CEO Graham Footer proudly displaying his Norwich City shirt on the roof of Europe, following their promotion to the Premier League.

We hope to update our YouTube channel with some more footage from the trip in the coming days, but in the meantime grab yourself a cup of tea and settle down for a 40 image romp across Europe on board a 1932 Mobility trike.

We are celebrating the completion of our first-ever international event, with the conclusion of the Disabled Motoring UK, Alps Challenge, which we organised and publicised for the national charity. The Alps Challenge highlights the fact that The Lively Crew can provide a full marketing AND event service for businesses looking to expand or re-brand their profile

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson and the Alps Challenge team crossed the finish line at the Houses of Parliament on Thursday 16th June, after a journey fraught with difficulties, of over 1,820 miles on a 1932 Argson mobility trike.

True to form the trike, which had already crossed the Swiss Alps back in 1947, under the steam of Disabled Motoring UK founder Denny Denly, broke down just 50m from the finishing line. However, team mechanic Sgt Dinger Bell of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was once more able to coax the trike back to life, and able to triumphantly make its way down College Green and over the finishing line, under the watchful eye of Big Ben, members of Disabled Motoring UK and well-wishers. Former Paralympian Baroness Tanni powered the trike through the finish line to cheers which would have brought back memories of Paralympic success.



The team, on board Denny’s original trike, covered the 1,820 miles from London through the Swiss Alps to Geneva via Paris and home again in only 13 days, in large part thanks to the skilful driving of Disabled Motoring UK member Dan McIntyre and Sgt Bell, who was often called upon to bring the trike back to life. The cobbled Alpine streets played havoc with the 80 year old vehicle, leaving Sgt Bell to pick up the pieces, including having to completely remove a broken idler, re-weld on the milometer and numerous puncture repairs. To that end the team were indebted to Sgt Bell and the support vehicles kindly loaned by Just Hire Solutions Ltd. The Alps Challenge also could not have happened without the financial support of Unity Law.

As well as running repairs to the trike and confused looks from the local populations, the team had to encounter the notorious Alpine weather which ranged from baking sun to snow, within a couple of hours in a trike which has no windshield, cover or roof.
With the journey completed the team enjoyed a reception with MPs including the Minister for Disabled People Maria Miller, Elizabeth Truss, Chloe Smith, Richard Bacon and George Freeman. At the reception Charity Chairman Adrian V Stokes gave a presentation on the history of the charity and Director of Policy and Campaigns Helen Dolphin spoke about the campaigning work of the charity and the battles disabled people still have to face.

Minister for the Disabled Maria Miller said “This journey has been truly remarkable and I want to thank all the members of the team for once more raising the public consciousness of the issues disabled people face. I am very grateful to organisations such as Disabled Motoring UK and I would very much like to arrange a further meeting to discuss how we can continue to move forward from here.”
Disabled Motoring UK CEO Graham Footer added “Having now undertaken the Alps Challenge and followed in Denny’s footsteps I truly realise the monumental nature of Denny’s achievement. I believe recreating the trip has shown just how far disabled equality has come in the 64 years since Denny crossed the Alps, but also how much further we still have to go.”

Disabled Motoring UK will celebrate the return of the Alps Challenge team, alongside other notable advancements for disabled motorists at the inaugural Disabled Motoring UK Awards on Thursday 16th September 2011.

The triumphant Alps Challenge team, including The Lively Crew director and marketeer Valerie Bullard, are on course to make their date with MPs at the Houses of Parliament tomorrow.

13 days after children's TV presenter Ade Adepitan led the team off Queen's House, Greenwich the team and trike have made it across the Swiss Alps, where they were joined by motor-racing star Nicolas Hamilton, and are on the way home. Weary, but unbroken the trike (and team) are scheduled to arrive in London tomorrow afternoon, where Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson will take over for the final leg, over Westminster Bridge, passed Big Ben and across the Finish Line opposite the Houses of Parliament.

The day will cap an impressive trip for the team, who have not only covered over 1,800 miles and climbed nearly 19,000ft but have also raised the profile of Disabled Motoring UK ten-fold. This was something we were tasked with and we are delighted to have not only acheived that, but also broadened the demographics that Disabled Motoring UK appeal to by securing the support of some notable celebrities. We can only thank Ade Adepitan, Nicolas Hamilton and Tanni Grey-Thompson for getting involved and for supporting both The Lively Crew and Disabled Motoring UK in the Alps Challenge.

One final mention should go to our Event Exectuive Barbara Reed who has worked tirelessy on making sure this international event has gone flawlessly. Barbara's expertise and commitment is the reason that The Lively Crew is now a Marketing and Events Agency and deliver any event need, from full-scale management, to attendance and everything in between.

The team are back just in time for the next big The Lively Crew event, with the launch of the South Norfolk Online Business Directory which is taking place with a free networking event for businesses based in South Norfolk at Park Farm Hotel, Hethersett on Tuesday 21st June.

The event will see the directory officially launched and is the culmination of months of database building and management work behind the scenes at The Lively Crew. With the South Norfolk directory about to join the Breckland and Broadland equivalents we already manage - we now cover over 11,000 businesses across Norfolk.

If you are a business based in South Norfolk and would like to be involved on Tuesday, please call Sue Morter on 08456 345 185.