Tips from the top: winners of the race track and rally stage star in IAM RoadSmart advice videos

Stars from worlds of racing and rallying have come together to provide their best driving advice in a series of short videos produced by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart.

Race and rally legend Paddy Hopkirk MBE, Queen of Bikers Maria Costello MBE, rally champion Catie Munnings and war veteran turned racing driver Ash Hall all star in their own mini-videos produced by the charity, with the aim of getting across a clear piece of road safety advice in a bite-size segment.

Paddy, Maria, Catie and Ash are all ambassadors for IAM RoadSmart; promoting the road safety message during the course of their racing lives and promotional work.

All four have highly successful careers behind them and are well placed to share their expertise in a concise form:

Paddy Hopkirk MBE (IAM RoadSmart mature driver ambassador) has become a legend in the world of rallying thanks to his wins at the Monte Carlo and Acropolis Rallies in the 60s, but has also conquered race tracks as diverse as Bathurst, Sebring and Le Mans, as well as an amazing second place at the epic London-Sydney Marathon in 1968.

Maria Costello MBE (IAM RoadSmart rider ambassador) has made more than 40 starts at the Isle of Man TT and returned there in 2018. She became the first woman ever to claim a podium at the 2016 Classic TT alongside 23 times TT winner John McGuinness. For five years Maria held the Guinness World Record as the fastest woman to lap the TT course.

Catie Munnings (IAM RoadSmart car ambassador) has proved to be a trailblazer for women in the world of rallying, becoming 2016 FIA Ladies European Rally Champion in her first year of competing at the tender age of 18. She continues to rally around the world in her Peugeot.

Ash Hall (IAM RoadSmart ambassador on disabled issues). Ash served in the Royal Engineers for 10 years; while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, he was hit by an improvised explosive device causing serious injuries - which led to the amputation of both legs above the knees and shattered his pelvis. After bravely enduring many operations and surgery, Ash has now become a racing driver and become involved with Team BRIT, which is aiming to become the first ever all-disabled team to enter the Le Mans 24 Hour race by 2020.

To see each of their videos click on the links below:

• Paddy’s video, which covers the two second rule: https://youtu.be/hn2cvV6xOAc
• Maria’s video, which covers looking out for other road users: https://youtu.be/Z9PORn87hKs
• Catie’s video, which covers looking ahead and vision points: https://youtu.be/_JIYI13bdy8
• Ash’s video, which covers correct seating position: https://youtu.be/u3iiVoWH7LQ

Mike Quinton, IAM RoadSmart Chief Executive Officer, said: “Often the best advice is  simple, clear and short – and this is what our ambassadors have done in our videos. They are all highly successful in their fields, and we hope that drivers will enjoy watching what Paddy, Maria, Catie and Ash have to say, and take on board their words of wisdom.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Further information from:

IAM RoadSmart press office – 020 8996 9777 – press.office@iam.org.uk                                        

ISDN broadcast lines available

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On Facebook: www.facebook.com/IAMRoadSmart                                       

On Twitter: @IAMRoadSmart 

IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.

To find out more about IAM RoadSmart products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com                                   

To find out more about IAM RoadSmart’s Driver Retraining Academy visit www.iamdra.org.uk                            

To find out the name of your own local IAM RoadSmart group please visit: https://wwwiamroadsmart.com/local-groups              

ENDS