Here’s the video again, if you missed it.

If  you missed the previous post, BritsOnPole’s Andy and LJH took part in the 2013 Boxing Day Dip at Cromer in Norfolk to raise money for the Henry Surtees Foundation.

We didn’t risk the video camera in the sea (only a disposable still camera), but apart from that here’s a record of the event from our point of view.

Please upvote on YouTube – and support two very worthwhile charities, the Henry Surtees Foundation and NANSA!

Andy’s Virgin Money Giving fundraising page is at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AndyDarley – it’s active until late January 2014.

The 45-year-old is travelling to Cromer in Norfolk to take part in the town’s infamous Boxing Day Dip with the target of raising £200 for the charity, which was set up following the 18-year-old driver’s death in a freak accident during a Formula 2 race in 2009.

The foundation was created by Henry’s father, multiple world champion John Surtees OBE, to assist people injured in accidents return to community living, and also to use motorsport to improve young people’s education, training and skills in areas such as technology, engineering, fitness and the media.

Mr Surtees is supporting Andy’s efforts, saying: “Most people would be dreaming of dipping into a warm sea on a Caribbean Island at Christmas. Andy’s choice of dashing into the North Sea on Boxing Day on behalf of the Henry Surtees Foundation is very welcome and appreciated. But it makes me shiver just to think about it! Good luck Andy and thank you.”

His words were echoed by Formula One test and reserve driver Sam Bird, who has worked with the Foundation in the past and was recently presented with the Graham Hill Trophy by Mr Surtees.

He said: “When I heard about Andy’s plan, my first thought was ‘rather him than me’. But the Henry Surtees Foundation is supported across the whole of motorsport and I’m very happy to back him in what he’s doing. When Andy hits the water on Boxing Day I, and a lot of other drivers, will be cheering him on – from a safe distance!”

Andy, who teaches journalism as well as running the motorsport website and YouTube channel BritsOnPole, said: “No-one involved in racing will ever forget the awful day Henry died. My students are mostly the age he was, and this motivates me even more to support the foundation.

“I’m nervous about the event as I’m no great fan of the cold, but I’m hoping the mad rush of everyone across the beach will carry me in before I have time to lose my nerve!”

Andy can be sponsored at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AndyDarley – the page will accept donations up until a month after the event.

BritsOnPole’s video team were at Brands for the second weekend to see Matty Graham crowned as champion, as well as the Brit Car championship in action.

Here’s out half-hour report, featuring interviews from the weekend, as well as news of Allan McNish’s world title – and a demonstration of the kit worn by racing drivers from our technical consultant Duncan Tappy.

But we also said we’d be back if we thought we could find a way of making it work, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.

BritsOnPole is back, as a video magazine. We still can’t run the full written news service that we used to, but a fortnightly video bulletin is something we believe we can do.

The first is up on our YouTube channel, along with the full version of an interview that features in it, with Alexander Sims. It’s not yet where we want it to be on quality, but we’re pretty pleased with it as a start.

So here, embedded, are those first two videos:

and

More will follow soon!

As days at the office go, Sunday at Silverstone counted as one of the rougher ones for Duncan Tappy. With only minutes left in a three-hour endurance race, a near-certain podium disappeared in the split second it took an electrical fault to strike down his team’s McLaren MP4-12C.

Watching helplessly from the ART Grand Prix garage, Tappy saw his team-mate Grégoire Demoustier suddenly fall more than 25 seconds off the pace, turning a weekend that had promised much into one of maybes and what-might-have-beens.

“It’s gutting,” he said afterwards. “I thought that was going to be a nice solid podium. We were looking very good for second in class and then there was an issue with the car, some kind of electrical problem because Greg lost the throttle. But we’ve shown we have the pace – we just have to work on a few other bits to get the full package.”

Tappy’s switch to GT racing came after several seasons hustling for drives in single-seater championships such as Superleague Formula, Auto GP and Indy Lights. These races brought podiums, a victory and a share in a team championship, but they rarely led to the sort of secure, season-long employment that allows a driver to relax and concentrate on their craft.

That’s all changed for 2012, as he settles into the well-established French team ART Grand Prix – best-known for a phenomenally successfully GP2 squad currently badged as Lotus – as part of its new GT operation in the Blancpain Endurance Series.

The single-seater veteran said the series is a strong one: “It’s the the biggest GT championship out there – everyone’s doing it, all the GT1 teams bar a few. It’s ultra-competitive, if you can be competitive here and beat these guys it’s really good.”

He sees it as a type of racing that plays to his strengths and where he can make an impression that may lead to a long-term future: “I think I’ve proven already I’ve got the pace. I’m out there out-qualifying the works drivers, and that’s what I’ve got to do. My ultimate goal is to be a factory driver and be here for a long time.”

“My thanks go to Frédéric Vasseur at ART for giving me this opportunity. I think it suits me really well – I always thought it would because it’s a case of staying out of trouble, being consistent and being a team player. All those are things I can do well. It’s proving to be a very good choice for me and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.”

That enjoyment peaked in qualifying, when he proved his speed by taking the second spot overall, beaten only by the former A1GP champion Adam Carroll in one of the pro class cars.

His pace was so strong that even when his best lap was struck out for a disputed penalty, his next-best was still good enough to start third.

However, a slow pitstop and the electrical failure meant Demoustier eventually brought the car home 13th overall and 6th in the pro-am class, not the reward the team was hoping for after he finished the opening stint in second place despite his status as the ‘am’ part of the pairing.

The Blancpain Endurance Series categorises drivers in the pro-am class according to their experience, from the ‘platinum’ drivers with F1 or equivalent experience to the amateur ‘bronze’ drivers such as Demoustier.

Tappy’s role at ART is to be the ‘pro’ driver of the pairing – as a proven race-winner, he ranks as ‘gold’ – and, in a two-driver pro-am team, that means he’s only allowed 70mins of the three-hour race while Demoustier does the rest.

That makes mixing it wheel-to-wheel with the pro teams for the entire race is a near-impossible dream, but beforehand Tappy was hopeful of mounting a respectable challenge.

He said: “The cars are exactly the same spec, the difference is the drivers. We’ve gone for a two-driver line-up, which has some advantages and some disadvantages but, either way, we’re pole for our class, which is amazing. It’s hard to compete with the pro teams, however I think we can do very well in our class – a podium is realistic, and if we can go for the win then great.”

Sadly for Tappy, it was not to be – leaving him looking ahead to the next round of the championship at Paul Ricard on June 29 where hopefully the team will be able to deliver on its potential.

Tappy, the 2007 Formula Renault UK champion, scored a race win and regular podiums in the now-defunct Superleague Formula championship and helped DAMS to the team title in AutoGP, finishing third in the drivers’ standings.

He partnered French driver Grégoire Demoustier in the Monza round of the Blancpain Endurance Series, the pair finishing as the leading McLaren, and the performance was strong enough to land him the drive for the rest of the season.

ART co-owner Frédéric Vasseur said: “At ART Grand Prix, we have always set the bar very high in terms of what we aim to achieve in any category we enter. Therefore, we knew that we wanted our inaugural season in GT racing to be led by a driver with pace, intelligence and full commitment to the team’s cause.

“I was already aware of Duncan through his titles in single-seater racing and he definitely confirmed to us that he is the right man for the job, during the first round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Monza. We are therefore very pleased to have signed him for the rest of the season.”

Tappy said: “I am delighted to be teaming up with two of most prestigious names in international motor sport in ART Grand Prix and McLaren. The car had a few normal teething issues at Monza but we were very competitive for most of the race and we managed to bring it home in the end.”