Team TIL raises over £1000 for McRae Vision charity karting grand prix

A fantastic fundraising drive saw The Inside Line rewarded with second place on the grid at the Colin McRae Vision Charity Karting Grand Prix.

The generous support of family, friends and work associates mean that only the famous Coltness Car Club raised more than the Strathaven-based PR and marketing agency, which was delighted to present McRae Vision with total of £1,022 before the race.

The Team TIL line-up for the two hour endurance charity karting event, held at Scotkart Cambuslang on June 9, 2011, saw staff members Graeme Cleland, Gavin Miller and Willie Paterson joined by British GT Aston Martin racing driver Jonathan Adam plus Travis drummer Neil Primrose.

With some serious talent among the other 12 teams taking part, including both young and old kart, race and rally champions, the event was hotly contested right from the start.

Team TIL's star turn Jonathan Adam took the wheel of the number two kart for the first stint and immediately showed why he is one of the UK's top racing drivers at any level, setting a new track record within the first few laps and building a comfortable lead at the head of the field before coming in to hand over to Neil Primrose.

Neil, just returned from a gig in Moscow and an endurance race at Snetterton the previous week, quickly settled into a rhythm and clocked up some seriously quick lap times on a par with the rest of the front runners, proving he's got as much talent on racing slicks as with drum sticks.

Gavin Miller was first of the TIL staffers to climb into the hot seat, but disaster struck shortly after he hit the track as the chain snapped on the kart and it ground to a halt in the middle of the track, bringing out the red flag and halting the race.  A replacement kart was trundled out but the incident cost Team TIL a lot of time and Miller subsequently reported the new number two kart was a bit 'eccentric' in terms of handling, meaning Team TIL dropped down the order to eighth place.

Having taken over from Miller, Graeme Cleland's stint passed off without incident until he returned to the pits to hand the baton to Willie Paterson. Comedy ensued when he tried to jump out of the kart and Willie bustled in, causing him to fall backwards over it and leaving him sprawled flat on his back!

Despite the ungracious driver change Paterson still got away quickly and battered round, surprisingly only picking up two warnings for 'uncompromising' racing in the process in what was a relatively conservative display for team's senior statesman.

The closing stages saw Neil Primrose turn in another impressive and consistently quick stint and Jonny Adam once again display simply awesome racecraft to charge through the field and place Team TIL sixth overall by the end.

Having recorded the second fastest lap time during the race and collected the second highest donation total in an event that raised the best part of £10,000 for the Mcrae Vision charity, Team TIL left the venue satisfied but determined to raise the bar the next time out.

A massive thank you Jonny Adam and Neil Primrose for taking time out of their hectic schedules in order to drive, and to all our supporters but especially Allan Evans of ATE Trailers, Malcolm Wilson of M-Sport and Gerry Shields of Bathgate Dental Practice for their extremely generous donations.

Check out www.facebook.com/theinsideline for pics from the event.