Strakka
Racing has already had an extraordinary record-breaking
season. The team’s victorious run
in the Le Mans 24 Hours set a new benchmark for LMP2
in terms of distance covered, best lap time and overall
finishing position, and was followed by an unprecedented
outright win in the Hungaroring 1000 Kilometres a fortnight
ago.
Not
satisfied with going faster or further than anyone else
in his chosen sport, Strakka Racing driver Nick Leventis
is now aiming to go higher as well. In October Nick will
be attempting to set a new altitude record for a free-fall
jump over Mount Everest in the Himalayas. Alongside Guinness
World Record champion skydiver and cinematographer Wendy
Smith, who will be filming the descent, Nick will be
aiming to leap from a height of more than 30,000 feet,
not only to establish a new record, but also to raise
awareness and funds for a children’s
charity that is very close to his heart.
Strakka’s HPD racecar has carried the logo for the
Global Angels charity all season, and the distinctive emblem
is embroidered on the driver’s race suits and all
team kit. Founded in 2003 by Molly Bedingfield., Global
Angels is an international charitable foundation championing
the causes of children and young people all across the
world, helping in the development of creative and sustainable
solutions to issues such as poverty, hunger and deprivation.
Inspired
by Molly’s work, Nick became a Global Angels “Ambassador” earlier
this year, and in July he and his wife Sophie travelled
to Mae Sot, a town in northern Thailand on the border
with Burma, to visit one of the projects that Global
Angels supports through the Thai Children’s Trust.
"Our
hearts went out to the refugee children we met there,” explained
Nick. “Tens of thousands of children live in harsh
conditions in shacks or squalid boarding houses, with
too little food, and rudimentary schools. It is hard
to believe that they are safer and better cared for in
Thailand than in their own country, but they have fled
a brutal government and an endless civil war. Some are
with their parents, but many are orphans. We met one
girl whose mother had been killed by a landmine and her
father shot by the Burmese army. Some children have run
away after being conscripted as soldiers, porters or
human minesweepers. Burma has more child soldiers than
any other country in the world."
The
visit convinced Nick and Sophie that they wanted to do
more for the children of Mae Sot, and Nick’s sponsored
skydive is one way he can raise the funds to help feed,
clothe and educate these resilient but desperately needy
children. Nick is not new to skydiving and has made several
jumps before, but he will be completing a training exercise
in France
later this month ahead of the record attempt in Nepal
at the end of October.
Please,
step up to the mark and be an Angel. If you would like
to support Nick in his skydive, and help the children
of Mae Sot, please visit the Global Angels website, where
you can pledge your support and make a donation. The
full 100% of all money donated to Global Angels goes
to the cause – there are no
administrative fees or overheads.
Click
the images to access higher resolution versions of each photograph.
Please credit skydiving photos to: Wendy Smith at www.everest-skydive.com.
All others Strakka Racing. Check Alt Tags
for individual photographers.
Further
information: For
further information please visit the Strakka
Racing website.
You may also telephone 01327 351134
For details
relating directly to this release, please contact Piers
Phillips, Team Manager.
