OUMF visits AlliSport - March 2026

The Oxford Universities Motorsport Foundation has a habit of putting its members in situations they never quite expected. Standing in a professional aluminium fabrication workshop, TIG torch in hand, desperately trying not to embarrass myself in front of a man who makes it look effortless — that is a feeling I won't forget in a hurry.

A small selection of OUMF members were recently invited by MD Andrew Graham to make a trip to his company AlliSport, near Ledbury, which specialises in aluminium welding and fabrication, with two ambitious goals: to learn as much as possible through building a bespoke alloy fuel tank for our MG Midget rally car, and by fabricating an oil catch tank for our Elva Courier racer.

We arrived on the Wednesday extremely keen to meet new people and discover the intricacies of aluminium welding. The fuel tank design we had in mind was an amalgam of many different ideas researched beforehand on the internet, but soon after our arrival our concept was changed and optimised following the knowledgable advice and experience of Andrew Graham and his highly-skilled welder and fabricator Lars Jones. AlliSport aims to be the best at whatever they do, and this was reflected in their suggested mods - which altered the shape, and increased the capacity. It also included an ingenious baffled ‘flap-box’ around the pick up pipe, a protective second outer skin, and being filled with ‘explosafe’ foam for anti-surge and safety. It was clear that AlliSport was exactly the right place to develop practical skills and make our dream a reality.

While Roman Eastwood, Elliot Nash, and Zak Godding initially practiced cutting, folding and forming sheet alloy, myself, Tyler Wilkinson, and Sam Cox all had a go at aluminium welding while Lars looked on and offered advice and guidance. I will be completely honest: I had been quietly confident going in since I had completed a welding module in college. I was not remotely confident coming out. Aluminium welding is an entirely different beast to anything I had done before. The process is the equivalent to rubbing your belly and tapping your head while performing surgery - all of which looks deceptively simple in the hands of a professional. Lars made clean, consistent welds look effortless. The experience gave all of us a renewed and deserved respect for this highly-skilled trade.

The one setback on Wednesday was time; it seemed that we had bitten off slightly more than we could chew. As 5pm approached it became clear that the fuel tank was not going to be completed in a single day, and Andrew Graham kindly invited us to return on the Friday, to learn more, and finish the job.

When we arrived back two days later, AlliSport had almost completed the fuel tank by adding the fabricated mounting flanges and outer tank guard - a testament to what a professional shop can achieve when a bunch of students aren’t getting in their way! We helped with final details, before embarking on the next step, of fitting it to the car - and it was here that we hit the most significant snag of our trip. On offering the tank up, it became clear that the exhaust box we had brought with us was sitting directly up against it. This was - to put it in a nutshell - not ideal, and so it needed sorting out before anything else could happen. I set to and started refitting the exhaust, working on adjusting it so it cleared the lower mounting bolt of the damper, the Panhard rod assembly, and the tank itself. This was a fiddly job that required a fair amount of heat, hammering, reshaping - and more than a few choice words. Meanwhile, Charlie Stratton and Charlie Lemme cracked on finishing the fabrication of the oil catch can for the Elva Courier, which came together very nicely, and by the time we had to leave on Friday at 2pm, the exhaust had been repositioned and marked up for new rubber mounts, the fuel tank was fitted, and the catch can was complete. Result! 

The trip to AlliSport was a reminder of just how much motorsport engineering involves. It is easy to look at a finished race car and not see the amount of labour it took to achieve. Getting your ‘hands on’ in the process, even briefly, gives you an appreciation for the layers of skill required that you simply cannot get any other way than through practical application and long practice.

Our sincere thanks go to Andrew for his amazing generosity in time and materials, and his desire to help and encourage the next generation of engineers. Thanks too to Lars, Daryl, David and all the ravingly enthusiastic staff at Alli-Sport for their support (especially Lars for his patience!), their advice, their expertise - and for not laughing too loudly at our first attempts at aluminium welding.
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Vinnie Allan
1 st year Motorsport Engineering Student