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David Brabham news 2009-10-14

David Brabham, Special Ambassador for Malaria No More UK announces new plans for 2010 Celebrity Karting Challenge LONDON, UK -- Wednesday 14 October, 2009: David Brabham, winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours and newly crowned champion of the 2009 ...

Edited: Oct 15, 2009, 9:24 PM

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David Brabham, Special Ambassador for Malaria No More UK announces new plans for 2010 Celebrity Karting Challenge

LONDON, UK -- Wednesday 14 October, 2009: David Brabham, winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours and newly crowned champion of the 2009 American Le Mans Series is announced as a Special Ambassador for Malaria No More UK.

Within his new role, the 44 year-old sportscar racing legend has also confirmed that the charity will be the principal recipient for the 2010 Celebrity Karting Challenge at Autosport International -- the world's largest motorsport show, held at the NEC Birmingham in January.

In 2009, the team that David races for in the American Le Mans Series, Patron Highcroft Racing, created the inspirational 'Miles to End Malaria' initiative, pledging $10 -- enough to purchase one mosquito net -- per mile throughout the 2009 American Le Mans Series. Their efforts helped to engage the motor racing fraternity in the global effort to end malaria deaths, raising a fantastic total of $63,133.13.

Brabham explains his motivation in taking up his ambassadorial role with the charity; "It is a privilege for me to become a Special Ambassador for Malaria No More UK. I've decided to support the charity because I think ending the suffering caused by malaria would be one of the greatest humanitarian victories of the 21st century.

"The scale of malaria is mind boggling; it kills over one million people every year, mainly children in Africa and yet it is a preventable and treatable disease. It's great to be passionate about the country you live in, but we have to think globally. We are all neighbours and blood related, living on the same planet. It's insane to think that we still have problems such as malaria in the world, but the only way it's going to get solved is if people act now. It's ambitious but achievable and we can all play our part in making malaria no more a reality."

David Brabham's Racing4Charity Celebrity Karting Challenge will exclusively return to Autosport International, to offer the biggest and best event yet on Friday 15 January. The only charity event to host the world's top motorsport personalities, while offering the public the dream chance to race alongside them, has raised a staggering £92,000 in the past two years alone.

The 2010 Celebrity Karting Challenge promises to eclipse all others with the 90 minute endurance race to be hosted in the Autosport International Live Action Arena at 3pm. Boasting a 5,000 seater grandstand, this magnificent new event platform will allow more spectators to enjoy the race held on a specially constructed kart track, where up to 20 teams, each featuring four celebrities and two public drivers, race head-to-head.

The Celebrity Karting Challenge has become the annual battle ground for top racers from across world motorsport to prove which racing series boasts the best drivers, from karting to Formula One, sportscar racing to single seaters and rallying. Allan McNish, Johnny Herbert, Andy Priaulx, Darren Turner, Marino Franchitti, Emanuele Pirro, Matthew Wilson and Tom Kristensen are just some of the drivers who have previously joined Brabham for the spectacular showdown.

With a promising all-star driver line-up and two entrance tickets to Autosport International, on what is an exclusive trade day, included in the £300 public entry fee, places are sure to sell out well in advance. Be the first on the starting grid and book your public place now by contacting Bill Williams at bill@racing4charity.com or call 0044 (0)7712 578263. The latest race information can be found at www.racing4charity.com where you can also pay for your public place or donate via Paypal.

Sarah Kline, Executive Director for Malaria No More UK said: "David is an inspirational Special Ambassador for Malaria No More UK and his dedication and drive to end malaria will be a terrific resource for us. We're delighted to be the principal charity associated with the 2010 Celebrity Karting Challenge and it will be a highly appropriate event to kick start the year, taking us a step closer to our goal of ensuring every man, women and child in Africa has access to a life-saving mosquito net by the end of 2010."

"We're working hard to make this event the best yet," said Brabham, a co-founder of Racing4Charity. "The Celebrity Karting Challenge has always attracted great drivers and this year we hope to host more high profile celebrities from both inside and outside the sport. It should be a cracking event that will hopefully surpass all previous fundraising records for Malaria No More UK. A child in Africa dies from malaria every 30 seconds, so in the 90 minutes taken for the Karting Challenge, just a few thousand miles away 180 children will unnecessarily lose their lives to malaria. I hope that's a massive motivation to everyone supporting this year's event."

Malaria No More was co-founded in the US in 2006 by Peter Chernin, former president of the News Corporation and Ray Chambers, the first UN Special Envoy for Malaria. Malaria No More UK launched in April 2009 with the objective of raising mass awareness and funds to end malaria, a preventable disease which still kills over one million people every year, the majority being children in Africa. The charity harnesses the themes of sport and more recently fashion as tools to end malaria, specifically to help achieve the UN goals of universal bed net coverage by the end of 2010 and to put an end to malaria deaths by 2015.

100% of all funds raised for Malaria No More UK, including proceeds from the Celebrity Karting Challenge, will be used to fund life saving malaria control programmes in Africa in countries such as Ghana where the entire population is at risk of malaria.

-credit: www.davidbrabham.com

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