Alyssa’s Pedal Car lap record attempt at Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit in an Austin J40 to raise £7,600
8- year-old Alyssa to attempt a lap record at Goodwood to raise £7,600 at the Meyrick Cox Day
When 8-year-old Alyssa decided to raise awareness and money for Mission Motorsport, she knew straight away that she wanted to use her cherished J40 pedal car. Having raced at the Settrington Cup a couple of times, she wrote to the Duke of Richmond and her friends at Goodwood to tell them about her idea. Between them, they all soon decided on a great challenge - to set a pedal car lap record at the Goodwood circuit in the J40.
It's a pretty tough assignment. The Settrington Cup is run along the flat Start-Finish straight at Goodwood for about 250m. A full lap of the circuit is 3.8km, and it’s certainly not flat. While the elevation changes aren’t too significant in a 350BHP Jaguar E-Type at the Revival, they are certainly noticeable – and a major challenge in an original near 50kg J40 powered by an 8-year-old child.
It is going to take quite a lot of training from young Alyssa. The path round her local park measures 1.3km, and luckily it has similar elevation changes to the Goodwood circuit – an ideal training ground. Preparation began in late March, with a first run of 2km, so we knew that it was possible, albeit hard work. But Alyssa is absolutely determined: “It’s going to be very hard,” she said after her first training run, “but I’m going to give it my best.”
The lap record attempt will be made on 13 June at Mission Motorsport’s Meyrick Cox Day at the circuit, and Alyssa hopes to complete the 3.8km lap in around an hour, while the track is closed at lunchtime. With a lot of training over the Easter holidays, and fuelled by dried mango and lots of chocolate, Alyssa has now got up to just over 3km in just under an hour. Alyssa is certain she can make the distance, and is really going to try to complete the lap in less than an hour.
And Alyssa isn’t taking any short cuts. For the Goodwood lap record attempt, her J40 will be running as it does for the Settrington Cup: original and standard, including battery, spark plugs and functioning lights. And only she will be allowed to touch the car during the lap.
The team at Austin Pedal Cars will be doing their best to ensure that Alyssa’s J40 will be in fine fettle and running as smoothly as possible.
Preparing for the record attempt
As part of her preparation, Alyssa spent the day at the circuit on 30 May with the fantastic Goodwood team - huge thanks to Megan, Georgina, Jon and all the crew, and it was lovely for her to receive some fabulous words of encouragement from the Duke of Richmond when he kindly popped by.
Alyssa got on track to try out the main uphill through St Mary's and also the inclines at Madgwick and the start of the Lavant straight - St Mary's will be a challenge on the day! Mission Motorsport patron Derek Bell was on hand to talk Alyssa through the racing line and give her some tips on endurance racing - a huge thank you to Derek for spending so much time with Alyssa and giving her huge encouragement.
The Mission Motorsport team brought down one of the poppy cars, which looked fantastic alongside the J40, and the team from Austin Pedal Cars very kindly came over from Salisbury to do some running repairs and take the J40 away for some much-needed TLC before the big day - it has been taking a bit of a hammering on the 40km of training so far.
It is great for Alyssa to know the whole Goodwood team is behind her and to have the support of Derek and His Grace, and she is really looking forward to the record attempt on 13 June.
Alyssa Needs Your Support!
Alyssa, by taking on this mammoth challenge, hopes to raise £7,600, the equivalent of £2 for every metre pedalled, for the Forces’ Motorsport Charity where every penny raised will go towards Mission Motorsport’s programs, giving veterans the skills and support they need to thrive.
Here’s how your donations can help:
£50 will provide a day of motorsport training for a veteran, helping them develop new skills.
£100 will support a veteran’s participation in a racing event, giving them real-world experience.
£500 will help fund mentorship programs, providing veterans with career guidance and support.