British Racing Greats

Games industry charity SpecialEffect and Solving Kids’ Cancer UK are coming together to stage a new fundraising and awareness event called British Racing Greats, taking place this year on Thursday 19 September to Friday 20 September at Goodwood Circuit.  

British Racing Greats is a first of its kind charity track event, celebrating the greatest racing games ever made and raising money for SpecialEffect and Solving Kids’ Cancer UK. This year’s event will be held at the iconic Goodwood Motor Circuit in Chichester.

Racing studios and games companies across the UK are already confirmed to participate, including Sumo Group, Playground Games, Electronic Arts, Sega, Codemasters, Lucid Games, NaturalMotion, Hutch, Escape Technology, Stainless Games, Criterion, Motorsport Games and many more. Every significant racing franchise developed in the UK over the last 30 years will be celebrated and represented. Each of the pit-lane garages will be adorned with memorabilia, merchandise and real world cars from the greatest games of our generation, including Need for Speed, Forza, Sega Rally, OutRun, Colin McRae Rally, Assetto Corsa, Sonic Racing, CSR Racing, Rebel Racing, Top Drives, and Formula 1.

What you can expect

Racing game-inspired cars will take to the Goodwood track for parades and demonstrations throughout the day. There will also be time dedicated for guests and sponsors to drive their own cars on track. Hot laps will be offered in classic, super and hypercars and manufacturers will also have their latest supercars on display and available to test drive on track. Expect to see everything from Formula 1, Rally, Hypercars, Touring, GT and Nascar represented. Maybe even the Batmobile and other surprises. Guest speakers include Ben Collins (aka The Stig) and there will be a PitStop challenge, Skid Pan Experience and a gaming experience centre. The event expects to raise much needed funds for both charities, while also giving its guests and sponsors the most memorable and unique day imaginable.

The significance of the event to our charities

With demand for the charity’s services continuing to rise, SpecialEffect’s Founder and CEO, Mick Donegan explains the significance of the event:

“SpecialEffect are thrilled to be able to be supported by and be part of British Racing Greats and be building what we hope will become an annual celebration of the UK games industry and its dominance in the racing genre. Funds raised from British Racing Greats will enable our work to bring the joy of video games to physically disabled people across the world. Our team is facing an ever-increasing demand for all of our services – accessibility advice, assessments, the expansion of resources such as gameaccess.info, our DevKit and our Eye Gaze Games website – and the generous support of the games industry in securing the future of these life-transforming, free-to-access initiatives is hugely appreciated.”  

Solving Kids’ Cancer UK CEO, Gail Jackson, said: 

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the support of the games industry in the last 12 months and, after being introduced by our new Patron, (and existing SpecialEffect VP) Carl Cavers of Sumo Group to SpecialEffect, several of our children currently receiving treatment for cancer are being helped to stay engaged with school and their friends through the BubbleBusters project. We can’t wait to attend this amazing event with some of our families and deeply appreciate the opportunity to raise awareness of our work within the industry.”  

The Tudor Family

Last year, Gracie and her family, supported by Solving Kids' Cancer UK, were invited to attend British Racing Greats and they created unforgettable memories despite Gracie's battle with high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer. 

The opportunity to attend British Racing Greats was more than just a trip for Gracie and her parents; it was a chance for the family to come together and enjoy a special day out.  

Gracie sadly passed away just a few months after the event, but the memories created at British Racing Greats will live long in the memory of her family. Mum, Claire, reflects on the significance of the experience: "to be able to get one day together to actually have fun was priceless. Considering Gracie was having chemotherapy at the time, this was a huge treat for us all and we’ll be forever grateful."

Would you like to be involved?

Whilst most of the sponsorship and event garage packages are now sold, if you’d like to be involved in British Racing Great, or for more details, contact anna.austin@solvingkidscancer.org.uk.