Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2008/January 2009 | Page 28

life

INTERVIEW

Photo: Mitsubishi Evo 10 driven by James Kaye

Island Racing Driver
James Kaye
It may seem ironic with the state of many
of its roads that the Island boasts any
talent in the motorsport world. One who
confounds expectations is James Kaye.
Despite being a proud Yorkshireman
James is one of the Island’s biggest fans.
He says: "It is a wonderful place to live
and bring up children.”
James Kaye was born in Yorkshire and
motorsport is in his blood. His father
competed internationally in the European
Sports Car Championships, his mother
drove in autotest trials and his brother
Richard also races. It is no surprise that
from an early age James loved cars. He
started racing go-karts, and from karting
moved on to racing cars.
James trained as a development
engineer, to finance his ambition to
be a professional racing driver. It is a
very expensive sport, but James was

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able to find sponsors. Derek Warrick, a
Formula 1 driver, and Rowland Dane,
based in Hampshire, sponsored him
and he achieved considerable success
in the Uniroyal Production Saloon
Car Championship, winning class
championships throughout the 1980s.
He attracted the attention of Honda
and drove for the Honda works team until
2006, when their focus changed and his
contract ended. At this point he moved
to Mitsubishi UK and in 2008 raced in
the Long Distance Championship with the
completely new Evo 10. The Evo 10 was
specifically designed with long distance
racing in mind. The car’s first outing
was at Silverstone in 2008, in a gruelling
24 hour race. This endurance race was
the debut for the Mitsubishi on the
International stage and marked the move
for Mitsubishi into racing rather than just

rallying.
Having successfully completed the 24
hour race there are plans to manufacture
100 road-legal Evo 10s for the world
market, and an order for one to come to
the Island has already been placed.
Following on from Silverstone the season
continues in Dubai, the Nuremburg ring,
Europe, and finishes in Japan.
Silverstone was an amazing spectacle
but it was a hard test for the car and the
drivers. James’s fitness allowed him to
drive more than half of the race, in total
about 13 hours, with his fellow co-drivers
completing the remainder. A serious
accident shortly after the start of the race
meant the drivers had to follow a safety
car for the first few laps whilst the drivers
involved were dealt with. All drivers
involved in the accident were treated at the
site or taken to hospital and there were no

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