"The Office"

Recently my twitter feed/facebook news feed has been littered with drivers posting photographs of steering wheels of racing cars with comments such as "My office for the day".  For whatever reason it annoys me...An office is somewhere with computers, pens, paper etc. On the back of this, it inspired me to share some photos of my office, which although might not be quite as cool as a steering wheel and three pedals I like it and as far as offices go, its very comfortable!

BMW Z4 GT3- "My Office" for the occasional weekend!

My Amalgam model of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren MP4-22A. This is the last year where the regulations allowed all the extra flicks and wings and as such the detail is fantastic! Also in the display case is our 1:43 scale Ecurie Ecosse Aston Martin DBRS9 that we raced at Spa in the 24 Hours. This is very nice to sit and look at from the comfort of my desk!














Passes and tickets from the last 10 years. Hanging of a set of stag antlers! Its amazing how many race weekends you end up going to over the years!

 

Top: I use history refrence books every day as part of my day job and the history of the sport is a big thing for me, which is why its such a privilege driving for a legendary team like Ecurie Ecosse (note the two EE books on the shelves!) Also on the shelves are my old helmet, which I retired after 5 years of solid service last year and also Roger Wills' old helmet for whom I do a lot for.



Left: My desk. I switched to Mac last year and I think I would struggle going back to a PC! The post it notes are generally things I havent done!




Left: Some of my trophies which sit above me on the rafters. The big one in the middle is my Spa 24 Hours class winning trophy when I shared a Jota Aston Martin with Roger, Sam Hancock and Simon Dolan. Behind it is a model aeroplane which belongs to my father with whom I share the office.

Below: Hanging in the roof above my head is the front nose section from Ronnie Peterson's 1972 March 721G. This was previously in the Donington GP Museum but when I did a deal on the behalf of a client to purchase a few cars from the collection, Kevin Wheatcroft gave this to me as a Thank You.

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Busy Winter!

Busy Winter!

Although we haven't been racing throughout the winter, we have still managed to keep ourselves extremely busy throughout the winter! Together as a team we have worked very hard to put together our 2013 program to compete in British GT and the European Le Mans Series and with just one week until the first round, it's all starting to feel very real! 

Alongside season preparations, I have been working hard for a young driver who I mentor and coach, Cameron Twynham (not related to Joe) and shall be helping him throughout the whole season in the European Open Formula 3 Championship.

I first worked with Cameron in October 2012, in the Formula Renault BARC Championship where he was competing with SWB Motorsport. He was massively inexperienced compared to his competitors having done a very limited amount of karting and only one season in Formula BMW, yet he was still strong amongst the rest of the field. I could see areas that he could certainly improve on to take some big steps forward so we worked extremely hard throughout the winter on his fitness, mental preparation and simulator work which resulted in a podium at his first race, a result he thoroughly deserved! The first round of his main championship will take place at Paul Ricard on 28th April! 

As you may, or may not already know, golf takes up a lot of my time all year round! I have been putting a lot of work into my game throughout the winter with countless freezing cold hours on the driving range and the waterproofs have been used an awful lot out on course! My current handicap is 8 and on it's way down but just like motorsport the closer you get, the harder it is to improve and the more hours of practice you need to invest! The main reason I chose to take up the sport, was to train my mind for motor racing as golf is certainly the most mentally challenging sport in the world. There is never anyone or anything else to blame, you are totally on your own and your result will solely depend on how you play. 

So besides my golf, coaching and of course working hard to secure my drive for the 2013 season, most of my time has been taken up by training. I decided in the middle of the 2012 season that by the first race this year, I want to be fitter and stronger than I ever have been. However, putting these hours in solely at a gym can be extremely tedious so I decided to take up cycling, which is where I do he majority of my cardio training! I set myself a challenge and on the 3rd May 2013, I shall cycle 400km in 48hrs in aid of The Halow Project, a charity set up to support young people with learning disabilities.  To sponsor my ride and support this charity, please visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/olliemillroy

OM

www.olliemillroy.com

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Livery Design

Unlike most teams we do everything in house including the livery & overall design etc. As the season fast approaches this is actually one of the fun bits as it brings home how close we are to the start of the season (12 days and counting till round 1 of British GT!)

Sneak Preview of the 2013 Livery on the 79 BMW Z4 GT3

Olly Bryant has always dealt with the livery for the car and this season I have taken on the design for the overalls. We always have quite a bit of pressure to paint the car in the traditional Ecurie Ecosse blue but the issue with that is that the sponsors show up much better on white and whilst it would be lovely to think with our hearts and go down the old school route, we have to think commercially and do what the sponsors need! Following on from last year we will keep the saltire on the roof and mirrors and this hopefully pays enough of a tribute to our heritage. This year we have a number of new sponsors onboard and with it a number of new logos. Olly has done a great job with the design, but we have agreed not to post any photos of the car/livery until its rolled out for the first time in public this coming Friday for the final BGT test before the season.

P1 Race suits- Available through: www.nickygrist.com

This year, thanks to our friend Nicky Grist we will be wearing P1 race suits. P1 are an Italian brand and are breaking into the UK market with Nicky acting as their importer. They are a super lightweight suit made to the highest standards (Just ask Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi who wore them all last year for the Sauber F1 team). We are still going through the final tweaks but the suits should be ordered and produced for the first round of ELMS and 2nd round of BGT....Lets hope we all measured correctly!!




JT

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5th March Oulton Park

Today we shook down our brand new BMW Z4GT3 at Oulton Park.

Writing this from the circuit I will keep things brief and post as a photo-blog.

OB

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Sponsor Profile: Cotton Tree, Grand Cayman

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Cotton Tree becomes your vacation home, a private luxury hideaway where you can completely unwind and be soothed by the rhythmic sounds of the sea. Take a dip in the freshwater pool - just steps from your residence. Maintain your workouts in our fitness center, enjoy yoga or indulge in a relaxing spa treatment in the open air pavilions nestled among the seagrape trees. Guests can also experience activities hand-selected by Heather including biking to Barker's National Park, bird-watching, art and culinary classes, as well as the Cayman's world-famous watersports.

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For further information visit www.caymancottontree.com

AS

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Happy (belated) Birthday Jimmy

I had wanted to write this post yesterday as it would have been Jim Clark's 77th birthday. However with a pretty hectic work schedule and all day meetings it will have to be a Belated Happy Birthday!

Jim Clark 4/3/1936- 7/4/1968

Jim Clark was one of  the most successful racing drivers to ever come out of Scotland. Born to a Scottish farming family motor racing was never an obvious career choice for Jimmy, but despite resistance from his parents he started racing in local hill climbs and rallies.

Lotus Formula 1

The rest as they say is history and at the time of his death in 1968 Jimmy had won more Grand Prix (25) and taken more F1 pole positions (33) than any other driver. As a versatile driver Jim was quick in anything and everything he drove.

Jim Clark at Goodwood

Jim Clark drove for Ecurie Ecosse on just one occasion in the 1959 Goodwood Tourist Trophy. Sharing with the highly rated and experienced Masten Gregory, Clark was keen to guage his talent against the old master. Clark was actually quicker than Masten in qualifying and the duo were on for a good result when Gregory crashed at Woodcote corner, leading to their retirement.

JT

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First Test

Today (5th March) sees our brand new 2013 BMW Z4 GT3 on track for the first time. 

Olly Bryant and Marco Attard will drive the car at Oulton Park as part of their pre season testing programme, ahead of round 1 in less than a month's time.

To follow the progress of the team, keep checking our blog and follow us all on Twitter.

@ecurie_ecosse

@joetwyman1986

@andrewsmitht70

@olliemillroy

@alasdair_mccaig

@oliverjbryant

JT

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