Like many other drivers in the series Airwaves Racing men Mat Jackson and Liam Griffin have found ways to fill the six week break between the Croft round and next weekend's return to racing at Snetterton.
A series of appearances for the team's sponsors Airwaves, Leyland Paints and The Money Shop.
The near-tour of the country began over the weekend of the Croft meeting, with a visit to Leyland Paints' headquarters for a staff family and friends day. As well as spending the day meeting the assembled family, friends and fans the team also helped raise £300 for a local childrens' charity with team memorabilia being among the lots in a fundraising auction.
Griffin and Jackson also tried their hands at mixing paints in the factory and driving forklift trucks – potentially a worry given the BTCC's penchant for panel banging driving.
Jackson's next stop was Leamington Spa, helping open the 400th The Money Shop store, before completing the hat-trick of sponsor functions appearing with the rest of the team at the 2011 Airwaves/Wrigley Staff conference.
Working on a theme of 'how a team works' the Motorbase Performance squad welcomed 120 Airwaves/Wrigley employees under the race day hospitality awning for a sample of how the team operates on a race weekend with drivers and team on hand to answer questions to allow the Airwaves staff to learn how each member of the Touring Car squad that bares its name helps the team come together.
“Hopefully by coming here today, the Airwaves/Wrigley staff will gain an understanding of how we go about the racing and relate that to their business,” said Jackson. “It's a great way of showing how even in such a short time over a race weekend, with only just over an hour between races, pulling together as a team is huge and can produce amazing results.”
“I feel very pleased and excited about the day,” said Wrigley field sales director Simon Knight. “Having these types of session is really interactive and the guys have truly enjoyed it. You could see from looking around that people were really getting involved, milling around the cars, talking to the drivers and the mechanics and really understanding the importance of great teamwork and it's definitely something that we would look to do again.”
