John Georges hits 100 at Snetterton
When John George takes his Honda Integra Type R on to the grid for round 16 of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton he will be taking part in his 100th BTCC race.
Over the 99 races that John has competed in, he has built a reputation for his all out approach to racing which over the last 4 years has seen John involved in quite a few scrapes and bumps. His commitment and enthusiasm for the BTCC has seen him build up quite a following over the years, with the hundreds of staff from JAG Communications following his every move and wearing TeamJAG kit on race days.
John said “ I have always loved the Pit Lane Walk About / Autograph Session because I like to meet the enthusiastic fans of the BTCC who have a fantastic knowledge of motorsport and who always turn up in their thousands rain or shine, I think over the years I must of signed thousands of TeamJAG / John George calendars over the years.”
He also has a few firsts under his belt which includes claiming to be the first driver from Cornwall to take part in the BTCC, and also competing in his Honda Civic which was the first ever LPG gas fuelled car to take part in the BTCC series.
John said “This was an idea that came about because all the company fleet of cars at our main sponsor JAG have LPG run cars and we thought it would be great to be the first to run an eco friendly car in the BTCC”
John hit the headlines in 2008 with his massive crash in the last round at Brands hatch. The crash took place on Sunday, September the 21st, 2008 on the first lap of the final race of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship season, when John’s Honda Integra Type R came into contact with Darren Turner’s Seat Leon (Seat Sport UK), sending the Team JAG Integra into the crash barrier at almost 100mph. John managed to exit the vehicle himself but was airlifted to hospital by helicopter, where he was kept in for several days for further observation.
He was heavily bruised and it was thought that he may have had some broken ribs, but was fortunate not to have been more seriously hurt.
John George from his hospital bed said: “I moved to the left to cover my line as I approached the corner, before moving to the right to open it out. As I moved out, Darren had a little overlap on me; he broke and turned to the right at which point the very rear of my car had the tiniest contact with the very front of his. The result was my car was pitched to the right, into the barrier.
The car was a was a complete write off, it had flipped five times before coming to a stop on its roof on the tarmac in the middle of the grid.
John also said at the time “The medical staff of the BTCC were spot-on, as were the other teams on the grid. The BTCC is a really close-knit community; we’ve been getting emails and telephone calls all day from people wanting to make sure that I was OK.”
The brightest high point of Johns British Touring Car Championship career was starting the race form pole at Rokingham in 2007 after he finished the 2nd race in tenth.
John commented “I can’t believe it’s almost 100 races, I’ve always loved competing in the BTCC because it’s a fantastic opportunity to on some of the best drivers in the UK”
He added “I’m very lucky to be competing this year after completely writing of the last Honda Integra we only managed to get a car together with only a week to go, which was a fantastic effort by the team.
The next round of the BTCC is at Snetterton on August 2nd
Ends
Date: 31/07/2009