{"id":995798,"date":"2022-04-26T09:28:21","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T08:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/?post_type=issue_content&p=995798"},"modified":"2022-04-26T17:28:41","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T16:28:41","slug":"finding-your-way-in-to-historic-racing","status":"publish","type":"issue_content","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/archive\/article\/june-2022\/70\/finding-your-way-in-to-historic-racing\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding your way in to historic racing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Combining work with a personal passion is a goal for many \u2013 and achieved by a relative few. Harvey Stanley is one of that small number. By day he works as an acquisition consultant for respected Ferrari specialist DK Engineering in Chorleywood, Herts. He is also on the board at Pursuit Racing \u2013 \u201cI guess the best description of my role is driver relations manager\u201d \u2013 a fledgling preparation business that also devotes a lot of its time to coaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of Pursuit is that we look after the driver,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause they are the customer. This isn\u2019t GT3 racing, where the sponsors are paying for it. The driver is paying, so we want to look after them and their car.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might find two seconds per lap by spending \u00a3100,000 on a new period-type engine, but with an amateur driver you might find even more through coaching or simulator work, which costs only a tiny fraction of that. Historic racing has traditionally been about the cars, but as standards on the track become higher and higher, closer to a professional level, we need to start focusing on drivers a bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

And is there a similarly competitive edge to his role as an acquisition consultant for DK?<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some ways,\u201d he says, \u201ca particular type of racing car is almost like a ticket to an event, if you wanted to compete for instance at the Goodwood Revival or the Monaco Historic. And there are only so many tickets available.<\/p>\n

\u201cI even got to race a GT40 at Spa \u2013 that was a real pinch-yourself moment\u201d<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cFinding a car to fit the bill is exciting, but the closer you get to the event, the more money you pay for those cars. It\u2019s a balancing act, trying to source a car that will be accepted in the event, will be competitive and will also offer the best value for money.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not preoccupied with either of his roles above, Stanley is also an accomplished historic racer who has competed in many desirable cars \u2013 and in 2020 won the Peter Auto Porsche 911 2.0 Cup title, sharing with Richard Cook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started racing in 2015,\u201d he says, \u201cin an MGB, a popular choice that has served many people well. I\u2019m lucky to work at DK, where we have some great cars and some very good customers. One of them was a successful guy who wanted to race and didn\u2019t know where to start. We came up with a deal whereby he would fund the racing while I would organise everything, advise on which car to buy and which races to enter, sort out the forms and HTP [historic technical passport] renewal \u2013 all things that can be daunting for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ended up sharing the driving and we both got a lot out of it. Then other customers were also interested in sharing with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \"Harvey\n
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An MGB gave Harvey his first taste of racing. It\u2019s an ideal choice for a novice<\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

He went on to race E-types, an AC Ace, a Porsche 911, AC Cobras\u2026 and then a GT40.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was pretty daunting,\u201d he says. \u201cEverything I\u2019d driven before was essentially a road car turned into a racer, something that also applies to things like the Ferrari 250 GT SWB or 250 GTO. Suddenly I was driving something designed from the outset as a racing car. I felt super-nervous, but then I jumped in and found it did everything it was supposed to do. That was a bit of a game-changer for me \u2013 and I even got to race one at Spa, a real pinch-yourself moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

He describes his 2022 programme as \u201ca bit mixed\u201d, though he will be fairly active. \u201cI was hoping to do all the Peter Auto meetings,\u201d he says. \u201cCovid has obviously had an impact on racing in Europe over the past couple of years \u2013 and Brexit has also had an adverse effect, because all the carnets you now have to fill in are a real headache. Even so, I still hope to be able to compete in Peter Auto\u2019s Sixties\u2019 Endurance series, in a Cobra, and most rounds of the 911 2.0 Cup. There will also be events in the UK, including Silverstone Classic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn modern motor sport you might have an eight-race championship calendar \u2013 and that\u2019s it. With something like an AC Cobra, you can choose a greater selection of events. That\u2019s one of the great joys of racing historic cars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"author":751,"featured_media":996400,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[118730],"tags":[],"issue_decade":[122153],"issue_year":[129434],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/995798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issue_content"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/751"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=995798"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/995798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":996542,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/995798\/revisions\/996542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/996400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=995798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=995798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=995798"},{"taxonomy":"issue_decade","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_decade?post=995798"},{"taxonomy":"issue_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_year?post=995798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}