Kent team boosts profile of motorsport's 'secret' race

At the highest level, off-road endurance racing can attract big name drivers such as two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso, who raced the Dakar Rally in 2020.

But despite millions of viewers worldwide, many aspects of the motorsport are relatively unknown - particularly the UK's most successful team, Gigglepin Racing.

Jim Marsden, the UK's most successful driver, will be seeking to win the Kent-based team its third European title in Portugal this week.

"This type of racing is motorsport's dirty secret," Marsden said, as he outlines his vision for transforming the perception of off-road endurance racing.

"People have this idea that it's guys in high-vis vests standing around a muddy puddle, but the sport has literally millions of fans all over the world," he said.

"We can be racing in deserts, rainforests, rocks, you name it, we're racing on it."

Marsden races in Ultra4 Europe, a six-race, all-terrain series, with specially made 4x4s tackling everything from rivers to jumps, boulders and near-vertical gradients.

Gigglepin is named after the winches they make in Hildenborough near Tonbridge, which are used to pull the cars out of tough spots 50-100 times a day, and sold commercially.

Marsden has been racing since 2000, and Gigglepin have achieved over 100 win and two European titles during that period.

They sit second in the standings, and can win a third title with the final race of the season.

Similar races in the US, such as the King of the Hammers, attract massive audiences and involve racing teams with multi-million-dollar budgets.

The team raced in Poland at the end of August, and after every race mechanics strip the car, and they often replace components such as brake pads and electronics.

Michael Whitting, head engineer for Gigglepin, said: "We spend two days washing the car down then we have to check everything.

"It's a total stripdown, then we put it all back together again in about three weeks for the next race."

Marsden hopes there's room for growth for off-road endurance racing in the UK, where F1 dominates motorsport coverage

Although it does not yet have the publicity, Marsden says the impossible conditions and community makes the sport "special".

"My best friends are people I've met in a muddy hole, miles from home," he said.

"There really is a bond between us."

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