North School Basketball team Kit launch

Andrew Sunderland, coach of North School Basketball Academy sponsored by System Store Solutions Ltd had a dream to produce talented young basketball players who had the skills to win scholarships at colleges in the USA.

After just over a year and a half as head coach, Andrew, 27 is convinced he is already significantly closer to achieving that dream.

For the full story, click on the link below:

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System Store Solutions has delivered a bespoke workshop solution to meet the growth of Carlin Motorsport’s team for 2012. It was down to Mark Owen, F3 race engineer to facilitate the refurbishments at the Carlin Motorsport base in Farnham. Owen and David Price, MD at System Store, worked together on the layout design in preparation for the installation of new Fami cabinets, worktops and units. Critical to Owen and Carlin was a seamless delivery and installation once the new flooring had been laid.

System Store has provided workshop solutions to many top teams and engineering companies in both the modern and historic markets. Its expertise extends across a variety of platforms and industries, including providing specialist constructions for the aerospace sectors, as well as for schools and colleges.

The design of workshop bays and engineering environments is critical to the overall smooth running of the business. But in addition, System Store believes that these areas are now a vital asset to the way the business is perceived by its partners, sponsors and clients.

In the case of Carlin, it is vital for the team’s technicians to have a clean and efficient working environment to match the standards of F1-team race bays. The workshop solutions installed by System Store mean each car has its own bay and units, including all electrical and compressed air outlets, located to provide the technicians with the most efficient work bay possible.

Team principal, Trevor Carlin said: “I am absolutely delighted with the finished workshops and the work System Store has done for us. It was an exciting addition to have the film crew here as well, and we now have a great log of the transformation of our facilities. As a team, we pride ourselves on producing motorsport’s racing stars, and the workshops now reflect this. It was a real pleasure to show off our new facilities to visitors and guests during our recent open day.”

View this article in PMW Magazine…CLICK HERE

Louise Cook from Maidstone in Kent made her World Rally Championship debut this weekend on the notorious Rally Monte Carlo based in Valence and the Principality of Monaco. Louise made a goal to finish the event and take the chance to look at all the special stages in order to gain the maximum much needed experience on the technical roads whilst knowing a definite finish would see her gain championship points for a minimum of 4th position in the Production World Rally Championship standings.

The event was a baptism of fire and also ice for the 24 year old female. The event started off with a bang, a police escort to the ceremonial start. “It was complete madness, the whole city of Valence was just stopped, I felt like royalty” said Cook. “It was intense, I felt pretty out of my depth and having such a high start position for the rally, with one of the slowest cars in the rally the pressure was firmly on.” “I tried to have the starting position amended but the organisers said they could not do anything, I just did not want to spoil anyone’s rally by getting in the way. All the cars behind me and my 150 bhp Fiesta had over 280 bhp engines, cost £90,000 to £300,000, was a little bit intimidating” said Louise.

An intermittent problem with the intercom made Louise’s first stage more stressful than it already was. “It is difficult because you get into a rhythm with the notes and being my first time on the roads the notes and rhythm is difficult to find. Then to have the sequence in and out throws out the flow completely.” Louise expectedly was caught by a number of cars on the first stage.

Stage 2 for Louise was a baptism of Ice rather than fire. Louise running behind on road time did not have a chance to change to a snow tyre for the 5km of sheet ice in the stage. Louise was on a medium RS7 slick which is basically used on a warm track in the UK, definitely not for ice! The first part of the stage was patchy ice but as the stage climbed Louise found the beginning of a 5km sheet ice section with zero grip. Louise was reduced to walking pace in places, “the car was uncontrollable, slicks have no real tread and the rubber is much harder than a normal tyre to withstand the heat that goes into them when working hard on a hot day, they are like pram wheels in the snow. I was heading towards a bridge a 5mph and it took everything I had to get it back.” Said Louise.

The second loop the organisers altered Louise’s road position and put her to the back of the field which at first was a relief, but there was more than a minute gap between the current last car and Louise. There was more than a minute gap between the current last car and Louise. This unfortunately led to Louise being faced with spectators leaving the stage and covering the road. “It was completely crazy, there was a wall of spectators across the stage and I had to slow right down so they could let me through” said Louise. In the 4th stage Louise came around a hairpin right and had to slam on the brakes as a van was parked horizontal across the entire road, whilst the stage was live and Louise was still competing. As if things were not fraught enough a dog was off its leash and when braking on a patch of ice down to a bridge the dog ran straight across in front of Cook and she locked all 4 tyres on the icy road nearly ending in disaster for the British hopeful.

The Friday stages brought more weather changes. In line for the second stage it started to snow. It was fortunate that Louise had took the safer option of using the road snow tyres for these two stages though the tyre would perform nothing like the competition equivalent. Louise took zero risk through the stage but the fresh layer of snow caused a lot of issues with traction and trying to slow the car down in time.

Louise found Friday night that she had made the cut. Louise was in the top 60 and had succeeded to take part in the 4th and 5th legs of the rally on the stages around Monaco.

The car was not going great, 3 blown dampers, worn drive-shafts and a worn jolting steering rack were not helping the cause. The suspension was clunking severely through the hairpins and the driveshafts were a worry, so a very cautious drive through to not agitate the issue. The drive-shafts were changed to a better second hand set for the Saturday stages which helped calm Louise a little, but they were still second hand, not new. “It would be great to have new spares ready to go but we struggle just to replace what is needed on the car let alone build a spares package” said Louise.

Louise made the final day and took part in the famous WRC Powerstage. Louise decided to continue to cruise to the finish and with only 1 pass recce to make notes on the stage, it was not a time to start trying her luck. Louise struggled to write her notes quick enough to fall in line with the recce schedule due to her note writing inexperience. Louise only managed a 1 pass recce for a number of stages.

“ I just wanted to finish the Rallye Monte-Carlo, it may be dull but it was my goal before the rally as I know my Fiesta ST could not catch the PWRC rivals in their 4WD Subaru Impreza’s and Mitsubishi Evo’s. Even though we just cruised the Fiesta through the rally, it was still so full on and stressful. We achieved our goal though and I am so pleased as anything could have happened with the car, the gearbox has never done more than 400 miles on a rally and was now faced with 1200, so that was a constant worry. We did it though, we got her to the end and gained second place in the PWRC, a result that we could never have imagined, but we had to be there at the finish to take it. I may have driven like my Grandma, but it would have been crazy to do anything else and risk it all, I am really, really pleased with the result!”

With 2nd place in the championship and to be the first ever female to make the podium in the PWRC, Louise has taken another small step towards her highly ambitious goal of being the first female to win the World Rally Championship. On a high, Louise is now working hard on raising the £70,000 required to contend the rest of the season the next round being the Greece Acropolis Rally in May.

Watch Louise in action!!

For more information, please contact Louise at: louise@rallyteamgb.com

In an era where there are more race championships on the calendar, and more and more high quality race teams are forming to meet the needs of drivers and sponsors, Carlin stands out above the rest. Not only do they use their extensive knowledge to select the championships that will feed into the F1, Carlin offers drivers and sponsors a high quality, professional solution that produces champions year on year.

Being larger than most teams, Carlin has a factory site encompassing a number of off track services, which support the drivers in their quest to be the best. As part of that service, Trevor Carlin, made the decision that their workshop facilities needed to reflect their professional approach, and set to re-designing a state of the art facility for 2012.

System Store Solutions, who provide workshop solutions to top teams in F1 and the historic markets, was brought in by Carlin to support the design layout and then kit out the workshops ready for the 2012 season. The decision was made to design a space for each car with its own bay and kit, so that Carlin could maintain a dedicated team for each car and driver. Working from a blank canvas, System Store worked with the construction team to lay out the bays and units to provide each car bay with a truly ergonomic space that would give each technician an area they can work cleanly and efficiently.

As an exciting part of the installation, a film crew was brought in to capture the transformation. The build was completed in 5 days, which made the filming and post production a fun challenge, as the camera and sound crew had to keep up with System Store’s build team as they worked.

“I am absolutely delighted with the finished workshops and the work System Store has done for us” commented Trevor after the build “It was an exciting addition to have the film crew here as well, and we now have a great log of the transformation of our facilities. As a team, we pride ourselves on producing motorsports racing stars, and the workshops now reflect this”

The North School Basketball Academy sponsored by System Store Solutions Ltd has been featured in Slam Magazine in the USA! The feature included 5 pictures, all of which showed off the teams fantastic new kit. This is the first time that an English school programme has EVER featured in the prestigious magazine and it is a significant step forward for The North School Basketball Academies quest to produce elite players who reach the College level in the USA.

You can read the article, titled ‘Hoop Dreaming’, online by going to the following link below:

http://www.slamonline.com/online/other-ballers/international/2011/10/north-school-academy-britain-hoop-dreaming/

The North School Basketball Academy have started the 2011/12 season from where they left off last year with 2 convincing wins in pre-season and 4 straight wins to open their East Kent Schools League campaign

The results have been as follows:

Pre-Season Friendlies:

• St. Edmunds 27, The North Academy 62
• The North Academy 144, Oakwood Park Grammar School 10

East Kent Schools Basketball League:

• Dover College 38, The North Academy 86
• The North Academy 40, Ashford School 26
• Harvey Grammar School 5, The North Academy 95
• The North Academy 114, St. Anselms 12

League Table so far:

U18’s East Kent School Basketball: League Table, Week 4

More news on The North School Basketball Academy coming soon…

System Store capture the theme of Goodwood Revival. Directors David and Paul arrived dressed in the mechanics overalls of past eras and even had on hand a retro press release about CKL Developments and their new workshops for guests and visitors. CKL’s drivers left the weekend with a great memory, with many commenting on the quality of the Fami kit.

For more information, please contact David Price at:

System Store Solutions Ltd,
Ham Lane,
Lenham,
Maidstone, Kent
ME17 2LH

Tel: +44 (0)1622 859522
Fax: +44 (0)1622 858746
E-mail: sales@systemstoresolutions.com
website: http://www.system-store.com

With the Goodwood Revival fast approaching CKL, specialists in Jaguar sports & race cars asked System Store Solutions to equip them for the event to show off the fantastic Fami workshop facilities designed and recently installed at the new CKL workshop in Battle, Sussex.

Chris Keith-Lucas, Melvin Floyd and Stefan Ziegler, directors of CKL Developments told us, “When fitting out our new premises at Battle, we wanted to reflect the professionalism of our company with the quality and appearance of our workshop equipment, as well as generally improving our efficiency. In supplying their Fami kit, SSSL have provided exactly what we were looking for: Not only are our customers reassured to see the high-quality environment in which their cars are maintained, but our technicians thoroughly enjoy using the Fami kit.”

CKL will be running two E types, one driven by Stefan Ziegler and Tony Jardine, the other driven by Mark and James Gibbon, a D type driven by Rob Hall, and the famous E type prototype “E2A” driven by Tony Dron.

David Price, Director at System Store Solutions said, “It is great to be at the Revival this year and we are looking forward to soaking up the atmosphere and that step back in time to the good old days.

Motorsport is very much a passion for us all at SSSL, even though it only forms part of our overall business. Creating a ‘dream garage’ for CKL has been very exciting and marks a new area for our Motorsport Division, showing that specialist historic and classic workshops and even private garages can enjoy the level of finish and design we have provided to Formula 1 teams such as RedBull Racing and Team Lotus”.

For more information on System Store Solutions please contact:
David Price
Managing Director
System Store Solutions Ltd,
Tel: +44 [0] 1622 859522
E-mail: sales@systemstoresolutions.com

Ben Willshire of RG Racing rounded off his 2011 BSA National Superkart Championship in fine style at Oulton Park this weekend, taking victory in both races, and becoming the 2011 National 125cc Superkart Champion in the process.  His team mate, Gary James, was unable to compete in the final round of the season but was trackside to support the team along with friends and family.

Willshire headed to Oulton Park lying second in the championship standings, with the other championship contender, Danny Butler, leading the points table. However, championship rules mean that dropped scores apply with the best 9 of 12 races from the season contributing towards the final standings.  With this in mind, Willshire was effectively leading the championship and Butler needed to win both races to prevent Willshire from being crowned champion. The race was on….

Qualifying proved to be very close with Willshire and Butler battling for pole position. Eventually Butler had the upper edge and claimed pole by just 0.134 seconds from Willshire.  The 2009 National champion, Danny Edwards, qualified in 3^rd position just over 1 second behind Willshire.

At the start of Race 1, the more powerful 250cc Superkarts would start in front of the 125cc Superkart grid so, potentially, there would be more to contend with than just a clear track ahead for both Willshire and Butler at the start of the race. Sure enough, this was the case and as the lights went out both Butler and Willshire had to navigate through a busy 250cc grid but both drivers got away well and eventually found some clear track to battle it out.  Ben Willshire and Danny Butler were then matched for pace and almost glued to one another throughout the first 6 of the 9 lap race, the lead changing several times across each lap. Eventually Butler’s pace began to fade and with 2 laps remaining Willshire was able to take the lead and retain a gap of around 1.5 seconds, which was extended to almost 3 seconds at the end of the race.

Willshire had won the championship in what was a spectacular wheel to wheel race.  In fact, the commentary team at Oulton Park even commented that it was the best racing they’d seen at the circuit all year – a compliment to all of the British Superkart drivers.

With the championship wrapped up, Willshire headed into race 2 slightly more relaxed.  The winner of this race would be crowned with the UK Cup Trophy and the right to display the prestigious and coveted  ‘O’ number plate for a full season. (quite an honour in British karting).  Yet again there was a scramble through the traffic off the start line but this time Willshire lost out and was in 5^th position at the end of lap 1, with Louise Colin, Matt Isherwood, Danny Butler and Dan Edwards all dicing for the lead.  Unfortunately Colin and Butler soon became victims of mechanical problems and were forced to return to the pit lane, promoting Willshire to 3^rd but some distance behind the 2 remaining leaders, Isherwood and Edwards.  With the leaders battling it out, Willshire slowly reeled them in and with 2 laps remaining was able to make a move on both drivers to take the lead.  Isherwood fought back bravely and momentarily re-took the lead from Willshire at Hislops chicane, but Willshire with better drive up Clay Hill regained the lead with two corners to go. The trio crossed the line with Willshire taking a close victory, Isherwood in a well earned 2^nd place only 0.1seconds behind the leader and Edwards claiming 3^rd.

Overall it has been a fantastic season for all of the team. Despite not competing at Oulton Park, Gary James had also retained his 7^th place position in the championship standings, achieving his best ever national championship position.   RG Racing will be attending shows and karting events during the off season to promote the team’s success.  RG Racing would like to thank everyone involved in achieving their goal of becoming National champions.

SEMA is the British Trade Association for the Storage Equipment Industry. The SEMA Distributor Company (SDC) qualification indicates that the company is dedicated to the supply of quality storage equipment. To become part of the SEMA Distributor Group (SDG), the company must demonstrate a high level of commitment to safety standards, work to industry codes of practice and be regulated by a random audit.

SEMA is an organisation committed to promoting and extending the safe design, installation and use of storage equipment manufactured and supplied by its members

SEMA is proactive in the development of standards for the Storage Industry in the UK. We develop and influence both National and European Codes of Practice and guidelines for the design, supply and installation of all types of storage equipment.

For over a decade, System Store Solutions has been dedicated to providing its customers with the highest standard of installation and service, backed by a quality product manufactured by Fami; a company that is equally dedicated to providing superb and unequalled quality in its vast product range.

“Our quality installations and extensive knowledge of the many industries that we are involved in allow System Store Solutions to continually provide the highest standard of delivery to our customers” says David Price, managing director of System Store Solutions.

“The majority if not all of our customers in what is now our 14th year in business continue to come back to us for new installations” adds David. “This is because we have earned their trust by providing the most practical, flexible, useable and commercial solution to their storage requirements. We do this by analysing each project carefully from the original consultation through to the design and installation process to ensure that the end result offers the most effective solution, maximising the storage space available”.

Storage solutions specialists, System Store Solutions supplies high quality storage and display equipment. Its impressive track record includes high profile museum and gallery clients, as well as major blue-chip companies in the engineering, aerospace, motorsport and warehousing sectors. The company’s success is founded on the expertise of its consultants and the all-encompassing service it provides, from consultation and technical advice to delivery and installation.

SEMA represents the UK’s national interests in Europe and constitutes the UK National Committee of FEM Section X, the European Federation of Storage Equipment Associations. European Codes are also monitored and administered by SEMA in the UK.

For more information on SEMA, visit http://www.sema.org.uk

System Store Solutions Ltd,
Ham Lane,
Lenham,
Maidstone, Kent
ME17 2LH

Tel: +44 (0)1622 859522
Fax: +44 (0)1622 858746
E-mail:sales@systemstoresolutions.com
website: http://www.system-store.com

After a useful test day on Friday, the team and rest of the race paddock were welcomed to Cadwell Park on Saturday by torrential rain that meant morning free practice was suspended.  Fortunately the weather improved and the track was deemed safe by the officials to begin qualification on Saturday afternoon.  Willshire qualified a solid 3^rd on the grid behind double Superkart GP winner Danny Edwards and reigning national champion Danny Butler.  James also  took to the wet conditions and qualified 12th on the grid.   Both races on the Saturday afternoon were to count towards the national championship so it would be all to play for.

Although the rain had relented by the start of the afternoons races, there was still plenty of standing water around the circuit to challenge the drivers.  Although Willshire had the pace to run at the front of the pack, he drove a cautious race in tough conditions to bring his RG Racing Superkart outfit home in a solid third place in both races, with Dan Edwards taking the double win.   James also recorded two finishes in the wet races with extremely limited visibility, achieving an 11th and 8th position finish, which would qualify him 7^th on the grid for the Grand Prix Pre-final on Sunday morning.  Wilshire would line up 3^rd on the grid.

Dry weather was welcomed by all on Grand Prix race day and Willshire was not in the mood for cautious driving, as he demonstrated by taking a superb win in the Pre-final. Working his way from 7^th on the grid (3^rd in the 125 Open class), Willshire passed Edwards on lap 1 of the pre-final and subsequently caught and passed Butler as well as the other 125 KZ2 karts competing in the same race.  With 2 laps remaining of the 12 lap race, the Lincolnshire circuit was the subject of further rain and, with the whole grid on slick tyres, it would be a fight to keep the 120mph Superkarts on the circuit.  However, Willshire shone in these conditions and extended his 4 second lead to take the win by 15 seconds at the flag, securing pole position for the MSA Superkart Grand Prix final in the process and adding a further 30 points to his championship challenge.  Meanwhile, James had also managed to keep his RG Racing Superkart outfit on the road and his consistent driving paid dividends as others pushed too hard and ran wide from the circuit.  James took the flag in 8th position and secured his chances of a top 10 finish in his 13^th Superkart Grand Prix.

The 125 Open class lined up later that afternoon for the Grand Prix final, the winner of which would be entitled to carry the famous ‘GP’ number plate for a whole year.  Willshire lead the pack around the circuit for the warm up lap and headed for the start. However, he suffered from a poor get away from the line with the lights being held on red for a particularly long period, allowing others to ‘get the jump’ on Willshire off the line.  Wilshire was lying 4^th at the end of lap one but fighting hard to regain his lead position.  By the end of lap 2 Willshire had passed Ian Reid and Jason Kitchen to regain 2^nd position and began to focus on reeling in Butler for the lead.  James had also made a sluggish start and was battling with Gary Avrill before a loose air box and primary chain forced him to retire on lap 5.  An unfortunate end to James’ weekend, although he was pleased with his haul of championship points throughout the weekend.  Meanwhile, Butler and Willshire were lapping the circuit in similar times, with Butler managing to retain his lead and take the GP victory with Willshire following close behind to take a well deserved 2^nd place.  Edwards had driven superbly from the back of the grid (due to a DNF in the pre-final) to take 3^rd position.

The team ended the weekend with a champagne celebration on the podium, content with 4 podium finishes over the weekend.  Willshire will head to the final round of the 125 Open National Superkart Championship at Oulton Park on 11^th – 13^th August where the final championship positions will be decided.