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“A Spin and a Win – OUMF Takes P1 at the Donington Historic Festival!” May 3rd / 4th 2025

3/5/2025

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In true OUMF last-minute fashion, the weekend kicked off with an email sent out at 10:39, requesting the team to gather for an 11:00 start at the barn. As cars rolled down the drive and students poured out, a warm blanket of sun saw the team don sunglasses, hats, and suncream – a welcome change from the dark, wet evenings we had all grown used to while working on the projects over winter. As the first race of the season – and the first ever race for some of the lucky freshers to make the team (myself included) – a buzz of excitement filled the barn and yard during the final preparations before departure. We secured the race cars onto the trailers, shut the van doors for the last time, and all piled into the convoy vehicles (smallest person goes in the middle seat!), stopping briefly before the circuit for a Sainsbury’s pit stop for some student essentials – beer, energy drinks and sweets.


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HRDC Finale Silverstone Race Report 2024

20/10/2024

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The 20th of October marked the final round in OUMF’s 14th year racing in the HRDC. Our Riley One Point Five competing in the ‘Jack Sears Trophy’ and the Austin Healey Seabring Sprite in the ‘Dunlop Allstars’. This event would be impossible without the support of the HRDC’s Race Director, Julius Thurgood; him being a key player into letting us race at some of the UK’s finest circuits. This weekend to many of the new freshers, including myself would be their debut race weekend, meaning Ding had his work cut out to pick out a team with the 92+ different members who had joined the club the month prior. The week of Silverstone a list was organized, being a team of 9 previous members to be supported by 10 freshers to ensure the weekend would run as smooth as possible, along with giving the opportunity to see how the freshers would fit in the team and compare to many professional race teams there that weekend.
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The Team and cars in the Silverstone pits

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Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation … gets soaked at the HRDC ‘Allstars’ and ‘Jack Sears Trophy’ at the Castle Combe Autumn Classic Festival - September 2024 Race Report

22/9/2024

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Riley 1.5 leaves the flooded pit lane
​Following OUMF’s historic return with their Elva Courier Mk 2 to a remarkably wet but enjoyable Goodwood Revival 2024, the team came back to dry off their pants and take a small breather before their next event just a fortnight afterwards, as the HRDC family reassembled themselves at Castle Combe for the “Autumn Historic Festival”. This entailed the team getting both the Elva and the Riley 1.5 into a fresh race-ready state, while also handling Oxford Brookes University’s “Freshers Week” which culminated as always in our annual Open Day BBQ for the new members. However this year great logistical skills were required as it fell on the same day that we had to pack the van, load the cars, and make our way to the circuit in time for food at the pub!

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OUMF Triumph at Brands Hatch 'Festival Italia' – 11th August 2024

11/8/2024

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The OUMF team continues to ride high this season, maintaining our flawless record with yet another victory at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit during the 'Festival Italia.' It was a weekend packed with excitement, challenges, and ultimately, triumph as we brought home another class win in the HRDC's 'Jack Sears Trophy.
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Riley 1.5 battles the Austin A40
​The preparations for me began on Thursday evening when I arrived having been away from OUMF due to the start of my placement. It was good to be back at the barn and part of the team again. The team gathered to give our trusty Riley a final once-over before the big weekend. Everything was looking good and by Saturday morning, the Riley was primed and ready to go. We packed up the van, loaded the Riley, and hit the road at 4 PM, bound for Brands Hatch with excitement and optimism.

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OUMF Race Report Donington Masters Historic Festival, August 3rd 2024 - One Month to Build a Race Car

3/8/2024

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On June 24th the OUMF student team returned victorious from a week of serious stage rallying in Belgium with their Riley 1.5 after scoring yet another Class win on their 10th Ypres Rally. Hardly had the DFDS ‘floating palace’ of a ferry disgorged the team at Dover before our attention turned back to competition on track - and the mammoth task of getting the 1959 Elva Courier Mk 2 back to race fettle for what would be its first race in 15 years. We knew the format for the Goodwood Revival’s ‘Fordwater Trophy’ had reverted to ‘production-based sports cars up to 1960’, and that as the Elva is an original ‘Goodwood’ car that raced there in period (and in 4 Revivals too) it might be in with a chance of being invited again. However, as no invitation had arrived, we reckoned that getting it out on track at this big meeting at Donington, and trying to catch the eye of the Goodwood scouts, represented the best, and possibly only chance of getting the car invited back.

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Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation race in the HRDC ‘Allstars’ and ‘Jack Sears Trophy’ at the inaugural Snetterton Historic Festival Sunday 30th June 2024

30/6/2024

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A trailer wheel rolling past the van while leaving the HQ was not the best  omen with which to start a race weekend - but luckily the OUMF race team is not  superstitious! Attempt 2 to leave went much more smoothly, and the team made  their way north-east to the very technical Snetterton 300 race circuit in Norfolk.  The team had just returned from Belgium the previous weekend, where we had  scored a notable success with a Class win with our rally Riley 1.5 in the FIA  Ardeca Ypres Rally. Almost as soon as we got off the DFDS ferry, we had  continued the race prep our 1959 Elva Courier, in the hope of running it at  Snetterton 5 days later. While it was quite the valiant effort to try and get the ol’  girl ‘good to race’, it was eventually decided to put a much less time-constrained  effort in on the car after Snetterton. This meant the team fully committed to taking  our Sebring Sprite and Riley 1.5 racers, our tried and tested machines which only  required a quick refresh instead of a full buildup!
On reaching the circuit near Norwich, we set up our pit at the track and  then made our way to the pub for some grub. However, after previous all-nighter  of race prep took its toll on many of the team, and upon our return to the track, a  rare occurrence took place…the exhausted OUMF’s were all in bed by 22:00! 

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OUMF’s HRDC ‘Season Opener’ at Donington Historic Festival, May 5th 2024 - RaceReport

5/5/2024

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The OUMF Austin Healey Sebring Sprite had been lucky enough to spend a few months on sabbatical leave at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon – and some readers may have seen it on its own display in the entrance foyer. For us at OUMF this was an opportunity we could not miss; a chance to exhibit the 6 year practical project representing the engineering efforts of 100’s of students. At Gaydon – away from the racetrack - the public could get up close and personal with the car and admire all its beautiful details. 

Upon collecting our ‘Little BeWT’, a week before it was to be on track at Donington, Jeff Coope (the museum’s MD) kindly took Ding and I for some lunch, over which he described the huge public interest there had been in not only the Sprite, but the overall concept of OUMF and the incredible opportunities it gives us as students. Once we were full of sandwiches and cake, the Sprite was loaded onto the trailer in no time with the help of some visitors, and we set off down the M40, Oxford bound!
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The Oulton Park Gold Cup 2023

30/7/2023

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The OUMF team’s plan was to leave on the afternoon of Saturday 29th July for Oulton Park’s signature Gold Cup, as our race in the Riley - The Jack Sears Trophy - was on Sunday 30th July…or so we thought until 1pm on the Friday afternoon! At that point it was realised that the race was ACTUALLY on Saturday 29th! Now most of you, I’m sure, might say that once the simple mistake is realised, it's an easy fix: ‘just’ pack and leave immediately for the circuit, right? Well, yes, but at this point the team was heading out to collect a semi-dismantled TVR Wedge that had been

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OUMF at HRDC Castle Combe - The Jack Sears Trophy and The Allstars

29/8/2022

 
Just a week before these HRDC races, the OUMF team had scored an amazing result at the Ypres WRC Rally support event, which was a round of the Belgian National Rally Championship, by bringing our Riley 1.5 rally car over the Finish Podium in 16th Overall out of 30 entries. Given this was achieved in a car 30-40 years older than the rest of the much more modern field, our team spirit was through the roof! In this mood, progress was swiftly made to ensure any issues that had arisen at the Oulton Park Gold Cup, just before we left for Ypres, were all sorted.  Thankfully there were no major issues, and prep was mainly down to returning parts to the Riley racer that had been borrowed for the Riley rally car, alongside our thorough routine maintenance and race checking. The races being held on the August Bank Holiday Monday allowed the team a...

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HRDC at Castle Combe 2021

26/12/2021

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​​It was a dry and fair Sunday as the OUMF crew congregated early at the HQ ready for the off to HRDC Castle Combe. After finishing the usual rigmarole of prepping the car ready for race day, and of course hours of intense van packing, the car was loaded and great haste was made so as to not miss…our reservation at the pub later that evening


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HRDC: 'Historics on the Hill' at Lydden Hill

26/12/2021

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​Having completed all the various improvements the team had decided to make to the Riley racer after Thruxton on June 13th, and ‘fixed’ the Sprinter race van’s vast thirst for coolant, the OUMF team was eager to get back out on track at the ‘Home of Rallycross’ at Lydden Hill on 4th July 2021. This small, twisting and undulating race circuit is the polar opposite of Thruxton with it high speeds, and long fast corners, but both are notoriously hard on tyres, and we were immensely grateful to Phillips Tyres for supporting the team with a fresh set. 


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HRDC at Thruxton Historic festival 2021

26/12/2021

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After an unavoidable 9 month hiatus from racing, the weekend of the 12th and 13th of June 2021 saw the OUMF team finally make its long awaited return to the track; with a bustling, atmospheric and extremely warm Thruxton circuit being the venue, with two HRDC races as part of the Thruxton Historic Race meeting....


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Halls Garage Visit and HRDC Donington Park Finale 2018

25/10/2018

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Riley on track
After some great results throughout this season, everyone old and new on the team was excited for the final weekend of the HRDC season where the OUMF Riley 1.5 racer would be competing in the HRDC ‘Touring Greats’ and ‘Allstars’ races. Alongside the racing on the Sunday, the team were invited to visit Halls Garage on Saturday.

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Goodwood Revival 2018 - Jack Sears Trophy

27/9/2018

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Photos By Nikita Volkov
​The unexpected news of our invitation to debut the Riley 1.5 racer at the Goodwood Revival took the team very pleasantly by surprise, some time after our return from an astonishing performance on the Ypres Rally in Belgium in the Riley rally car. After all, the Revival is without question one of the most prestigious, exclusive and well-known events in the world of historic and classic motorsport, and it was a tremendous honour, and a privilege, to be asked to compete. It is famous for evoking the atmosphere of racing events back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, as well as attracting some very famous names, and indeed, some very famous cars. Needless to say we couldn’t wait to see our student-built Riley racing on the same track as 250 Ferraris, D-Types, pre-war Alfa Romeos and the cigar- shaped Grand Prix cars of the 60s.

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OUMF invited to Race at 2018 Goodwood Revival!

29/6/2018

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After nine years of racing, development and lobbying, the OUMF Riley Racer has been invited to race at this years Goodwood Revival! 

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