Kennet Valley TR Group members enjoy the Prodrive experience!

36 people attended the Kennet Valley TR Group visit to Prodrive, Banbury on a beautiful sunny Sunday which of course encouraged the TR's out of the garage. Jackie Irwin - PR & Tours provided detailed and very interesting information about the Company and the intricacies of this high tech and costly motorsport business. Jackie, a self confessed petrol head stated, at Prodrive we like to challenge convention. By combining our motorsport ethos with free thinking we create innovative products to short timescales, which inspire our customers in the automotive, aerospace, marine and other sectors to realise their ambitions. We also happen to make championship-winning race and rally cars. and now own the prestigeous Aston Martin brand whose badges are still hand made by a jeweller and after buying it from Ford a few years back. She also related stories as we stood close and up personal to the 1996 championship car, about Colin McCrash, I mean McCrae, Ari Vatanen, Richard Burns & Petter Solberg to name but a few, and of course recently retired F1 driver, Jenson Button who came third in the BAR car that then became, Brawn and now today's very successful Mercedes F1 car with Lewis Hamilton. Prodrive is a world leading motorsport and technology business. They are perhaps best known for motorsport, today it is just one part of an organisation, which has diversified to become a technology business working in a range of sectors with operations in Banbury and Milton Keynes in the UK and employing more than 500 staff. They are even involved in the Mars Rover which will be launched to investigate if there is life on Mars? The tour certainly breathed petrol head life into the attendees and the tour was well worthwhile with very detailed and interesting technical and historical information, if you get a chance it is thoroughly recommended. We even saw David Richardson's - Chairman, Morris Traveller which he uses frequently around the Cornish lanes where he lives. A BIG thanks to Prodrive especially Jackie Irwin and her husband David who guided us around and supplied ample refreshments on our arrival. Also thanks to KVG member Mike Field for organising the tour.