MY MOTORSPORT James Cameron served for 17 years in the Royal Tank Regiment and returned from his last tour of Afghanistan in 2011 determined to help those whose lives he had seen impacted by military service. A motorsport fan from birth, he used his enthusiasm and vision to set up Mission Motorsport providing ex-service men and women and their families with opportunities in motorsport aiding them on a journey of recovery What first made you interested in motorsport? When I was a kid, I used to race my bike against anything I possibly could. My first opportunity to do things with engines on was driving tractors and Land Rovers on the farm where I used to work, and that turned into Cross Country trialling as a student. My first exposure to non-off road motorsport was the Harewood Hillclimb. That was near where I grew up so I went to watch it and eventually I went up it myself. How did your Army career and motorsport combine? I joined the Army out of University but they did not consider motorsport as a sport until 2009. The only four wheels stuff done under their auspices was the armed forces Rally team. Despite that, I participated in motorsport wherever I went. I spent a chunk of time in Germany, an hour from the Nürburgring, and from the late 1990s and I spent Wednesday ‘sports afternoons’ as a Nürburgring instructor. I was also 36 posted to a large RAF air base in East Anglia in 2000, where Triumph ran the bike that became named the Bonneville and Classic Team Lotus and Lotus themselves ran cars up and down. How did that evolve into Mission Motorsport? I had always used my motorsport connections to raise money for services charities. I was in Afghanistan 11 years ago, commanding the armoured group in Helmand, and I had arranged lots of things to auction off when I returned – gifts, opportunities and experiences. On my way back, I was reflecting on the fact that actually, those most affected by their service would have really loved some of those things themselves. So I spoke to the donors and said ‘instead of auctioning them, can I use them for the guys’ and that set the conditions for Mission Motorsport. I firmly believed it was the MOD’s responsibility to help people like them and it was that which led to the formation of the charity on 1st March 2012. Revolution - March 2022