Faye Smith Championship Race
12th November 2011
Klarius sponsorship and QH parts help Faye Smith keep-in-the-running for Ministox championship
Since Klarius Group announced its sponsorship of Ministox driver, Faye Smith, the young racing driver has been enjoying her most successful season to date. However, even the best drivers have days that don’t go their way, as Faye discovered at the recent championship race at Buxton Raceway when an early crash put her car out of action. Fortunately, her team mechanic was able to put the QH parts that her sponsors provide to good use and get her back on the road and competing the same day.
The Ministox series is a junior formula for stock car racing, a full contact motor sport that sees drivers navigate strengthened and modified minis around a tarmac or gravel track. After two successful years racing in the series Faye Smith managed to secure sponsorship from the Klarius Group, Europe’s largest manufacturer and distributor of aftermarket automotive components, for her third season. The deal has helped to keep her competitive through the physically tough rounds and she has risen to the top ranks of the sport.
Her consistent results meant that when the championship race was held at the beginning of September, many spectators considered her to be one of the favourites for a win. However the other drivers disagreed and soon after the start she was pushed off the track in a collision that removed a front wheel and broke her suspension. With two other races being held in the afternoon it was a race against time for her mechanic (Faye’s father, Stephen Smith) to get the car back on the road.
Stephen comments: “After the crash the car was in a bad way, she had lost a wheel, had no driveshaft and broken suspension. It was a rush to get the car repaired, including having to re-fit the front sub-frame. Thanks to Klarius we had spare hubs with ball joints and bearing assemblies already built-up ready to be installed. All season the QH parts have really stood-up to the punishing nature of the series; we actually found that in this case the ball joints had survived and it was the hub that had broken.”
Faye continues: “After all our hard work this season I was so disappointed to retire from the championship race; I really thought I would get at least a top three finish. Luckily my dad was able to fix the car in time to race in the afternoon, so I didn’t lose any more championship points. It has been so exciting to race under the Klarius name this year and their support has been a big factor in our success.”
Also present at the championship weekend was Klarius Group Marketing Director, Annette Forster, and Technical Centre Manager, Doug Bentley. Doug discussed with Steve Smith ways in which the Klarius Group could help to improve the performance of Faye’s car and the possibility of developing a low-emission racing exhaust and catalytic converter for the car.
Annette Forster said, “This year we have sponsored some young drivers that we believe stand out in their respective fields. Hopefully, with our support, they can continue to progress up through the ranks of their chosen motorsport. The sponsorship deals also provide us with a superb test-bed for our road car components, we supply standard parts for the stock car and Sara Williams Subaru rally car, the harsh treatment they receive gives us an accelerated real-world conditions trial of the parts, giving us the confidence that they provide the safety and reliability that customers require. If we can confidently send our parts out in a full contact stock car race or onto a Welsh rally stage, then we can be sure that they will go the distance on the road.”
…END…
About the KLARIUS Group
Klarius Group is the largest European manufacturer of aftermarket car parts today. The Klarius Group operates five high-volume Manufacturing Plants, a Research & Development Centre, four European Technical Centres, eight International Logistics & Distribution Hubs, and eighteen national and regional Stock Warehouses based across Europe. Klarius Group Headquarters are located in Manchester (UK).
The Klarius Group employs 1,200 personnel across Europe, and has an annual turnover of 350 million Euros.
The two current major market brands within the Klarius Group are Klarius Emission Control Products and QH Automotive parts. Both the QH and Klarius product brands represent a range of OE quality replacement automotive products. Klarius Group companies now offer over 100,000 parts, covering the majority of the European Car Parc, supplying over 80,000 parts every day, to over 5,600 delivery points in more than 136 countries.
Editor Contact: DMA Europa Ltd
Roland Renshaw
Tel: +44 (0)1299 405454
Fax: +44 (0)1299 403092
Web: www.dmaeuropa.com
Email: roland@dmaeuropa.com
Company Contact: Klarius Group Ltd.
Véronique Auger
Tel: +44 (0) 161 489 3764
Fax: +44 (0) 161 489 6617
Web: www.klarius.eu
Email: Veronique.Auger@Klarius.EU