Metamark takes to the track with Steller Racing…

Adrenaline was first synthesised in a laboratory in the very early 1900s and it’s now available within and under the wrappers of numerous brands widely used in a range of clinical applications. Should you, however, find yourself compelled by unremitting urges to connect with the real, self-synthesised variation on the adrenaline theme, there’s a chance you may have become addicted - to Motorsport. 

Motorsport is the battleground contested by heroes who spend life on-the-edge on-the-track and at the wheel. They’re supported by an entourage comprising engineering skills of the calibre that sends rockets into space, steely-eyed tacticians, and the most skilled mechanics available. Big brands invest in being seen to associate with the sport and its participants. TV wants to air every second available. Colour and excitement radiate around motorsport like no other event.

Motorsports alter-ego is dedication and sheer hard work. Luck plays its part and can intervene in the blink of an eye to undo the most perfect of preparations. A minor intervention may rob a competitive car of a second or two, and in its turn, snatch a podium finish away.  If some factor conspires to see a car exceed its limits and take an off-track excursion, months of preparation and expense can be reduced to a tidy little pile of debris and big heap of frustration.

Metamark has a long-standing association with motorsport and its materials are used by the sport’s practitioners in a whole range of applications from branding and advertising livery work to component and paint protection. Metamark’s technical development efforts are informed by learning from the sport as are the aesthetic considerations reflected in the finishes of Metamark’s best-selling premium wrapping materials for automotive applications. 

Among the recent motorsport meetings where Metamark materials contributed to the spectacle was June 24’s Road To Le Mans races at the Circuit de la Sarthe, support events for the world-famous 24 Hours at Le Mans.  Steller Motorsport went into battle with its LMP3 Duqueine-M30-D08-Nissan, but the outcome wasn’t to be the one the team hoped for as motorsports’ fickle relationship with the luck element that comes along for every race bit hard.

The car suffered some serious damage in a practice session, and it took the crew some forty hours plus without sleep to get the vehicle back into the shape of something resembling a race-ready LMP3 - including wrapping the car’s front-end again - MetaCast® MCX got the job. The car then had to start its race from the back because it missed the qualification round. Luck had its final say on the subject with the car, again crashing off the track and causing sufficient damage to result in its retirement from proceedings for the rest of the racing weekend.

Metamark can claim a few benefits for its materials used in racing applications but keeping a crashed car intact isn’t among them. Metamark will though again be used when Steller Racing competes at Spa in its R8GT4. The team has its eyes on its winning goals and its appetite is undiminished.