LATEST NEWS AND AWARD RACE DATES
'Encouraging excellence through the power of opportunity'
2026 race dates
2025 Award winner Kacey Burgess will be making her racing debut in the Award's MGB GT.
The Historic Sports Car Club is celebrating its 60th anniversary in style, with a special 'HSCC @60 Summer Historic Weekend' at Castle Combe on 8th and 9th August. We can't think of a better event and location for Kacey's race debut!
The Walter Hayes Trophy weekend is always a tremendously popular event. This year it will be held over the weekend of 31st October/1st November and Kacey will be competing in the 'Mutton Grand Prix', a race founded in 1947 and revived by the HSCC at last year's Walter Hayes Trophy.
Lifeline Fire and Safety come to the rescue
13th FEBRUARY 2026
Lifeline Fire and Safety systems are a new Award Supporter.
Jim Morris, great pal of the late Simon Diffey, stepped up when the call went out for some urgently needed new equipment for the Award's racing MGB GT.
The shopping list included a new fire extinguisher and safety belts. (yes, Lifeline supply much, much, more than just fire extinguishers!).
Today Kacey, the 2025 Award winner, who will be working on the car, received a delivery with a Lifeline Zero 360 Mechanical 2.25 kit and a set of super smart Copse 6 point harnesses.
She is beyond thrilled.
With over 30 years of innovation, , the key to Lifeline's success has been safety innovation and today they supply products all over the world in every major motorsport competition from F1 down to Club level events. Of course it helps when the Boss is a petrol head!
Thank you Jim and to all at Lifeline for saving the day.
Diff's Award joins forces with Mission Motorsport Livery
26th JANUARY 2026
Social media is a powerful tool, as James Cameron, CEO of Mission Motorsport found out, having replied to a post on Linkedin announcing our Award news about the new race car.
Did you know that Mission Motorsport, the inspirational Forces charity has branched out into ' car wrapping' and producing specialised print and wallpapers to the motorsport world?
Lee Winstone, lead man in the Livery section of MM, has a wealth of motorsport graphic design knowledge, having been in charge of the livery for some very iconic race cars including the Jaguar XJ220c, TWR Volvo Touring Cars, the Jaguar Silk Cut XJR 9 and pre-season livery for a number of Williams F1 cars.
Simon's black and gold livery was very well known, as it emulated his love of the historic JPS F1 cars. With Simon always at the forefront of the Award, it was an easy decision to emulate this successful racing colour scheme for the Award's MG BGT, with the updated 'Diff's Award Winners Racing' sticker, which is based on the original 'Diffey Brothers Racing' logo, originated by Julian Balme.
The race car is nearly completed and we will update the news page and social media with pictures as soon as we can.
In the meanwhile, thank you Mission Motorsport. You rock!
LH image above shows: L to R: Lee Winstone; James Cameron, Mission Motorsport Founder and CEO; and Mark White, Mission Motorsport Operations Manager.
A new Race Car for the Award Winners
1st JANUARY 2026
There was great excitement in the Award camp at the end of 2025, when our Patron, Sarah Jane Adams-Diffey purchased the Metcalfe racing MGB GT at Christmas for the benefit of Simon’s Award winners. This will be a real game-changer for the Award moving forwards.
Patron Sarah told us: 'Finding a sensible car for the award winners to race has always been difficult to organise, with the insurance being a crippling part of the cost. It really was a no-brainer to buy the MGB GT, and I am ever-grateful to the Metcalfe family who enabled me to do that. I am absolutely delighted that all the winners will have the opportunity to use it, which was a very important consideration. Simon would be beyond excited and I know would highly approve.'
We look forward to seeing it out on track soon.
HSCC MOVES INTO THE AWARD DRIVING SEAT
31st DECEMBER 2025
The Simon Diffey Heritage Motorsport Apprentice Award is entering an exciting new chapter - from January 2026 the Historic Sports Car Club, (HSCC) will take over the organisation and responsibility of the Award.
The Award’s Lead Judge, Mr Andy Dee-Crowne, CEO of the HSCC will become the Chairman of Simon’s Award.
Andy Dee-Crowne commented: “I am immensely proud that HSCC and I have been entrusted with the responsibility of running such a significant and respected award. We are honoured to continue Simon Diffey’s legacy and ensure the Award remains a cornerstone of heritage motorsport for future generations.”
Award Patron, Mrs Sarah J Adams-Diffey, commented: "I am delighted that the Award has such strong support and look forward to seeing it grow from strength to strength helping more young apprentices to go racing."
STARS SHINE AT THE 2025 AWARD PRESENTATION
25th SEPTEMBER 2025
Kacey Burgess, our 2025 Award Winner, was presented with the Award's magnificent silver salver by former F1 driver Johnny Herbert in the splendid surroundings of the Mountbatten Room at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall, London.
With a distinctive Lotus theme to the event, including Jim Clark's magnificent world championship winning Type 33 in the Rotunda, 150 guests arrived for an inspiring evening with the great and the good of the motorsport world.
Supporters, the Royal Automobile Club admirably played host while Classic Team Lotus, for the third year, very generously paid for the champagne.
A new educational area named 'Diff's Village of Opportunity' was quite the success and the simulators from 'Perfect Acceleration' almost stalled the start of the Award proceedings as Johnny Herbert had gone AWOL and was found trying to get a sneaky fast lap in before everybody else.
Those who could not be there in person due to racing commitments at Spa sent best wishes to Kacey via video link which can be viewed here. They included Royal Automobile Club Chairman Duncan Wiltshire, Martin Stretton, Will Nuthall and Clive Chapman.
The 2026 event is already in the diary, Wednesday 30th September, same place same time. 150 tickets will go on sale in February 2026.
2025 AWARD WINNER IS ANNOUNCED
12th SEPTEMBER 2025
Kacey Burgess, an apprentice and employee of Road and Competition Engineering Ltd, has been selected as the worthy winner of ‘The Simon Diffey Heritage Motorsport Apprentice Award 2025.
Year Four of this award came with a very healthy entry list of applicants. After an intense initial round of judging the 20 strong apprentice nominations, approved by their employers, they were then whittled down to three finalists. Final interviews took place at the Royal Automobile Club, Woodcote Park, on 15 June 2025, followed by a drinks reception.
Kacey met the judge’s criteria at interview with aplomb, demonstrating her engineering skills, passion, enthusiasm, and exceptional commitment as a team player during her apprenticeship, and importantly with a clear desire to go racing.
Kacey Burgess, aged 21, joined Road and Competition Engineering Ltd and began her apprenticeship with Heritage Skills Academy in July 2023. She is in year two of her apprenticeship as an engineering technician. Kacey is proving to be an outstanding young automotive engineer committed to engineering excellence. Road and Competition Engineering is Kacey’s first employment within the industry and is a company which specialise in performance and classic car servicing, motorsport preparation, engine performance modifications and rebuilds including race support services.
Award judge, Andy Dee-Crowne, CEO of the HSCC, commented: “Kacey showed confidence and a sound knowledge of motorsport, demonstrating the skills, commitment, and determination needed to succeed and represent the Simon Diffey legacy. She is a very worthy winner and I look forward to working with her in 2025.”
Award secondment partner for 2025 and Director of IN Racing Ltd, Will Nuthall commented: “During the process Kacey’s passion for motorsport shone through immediately, coupled with her breadth of mechanical interest and knowledge made her a more than worthy recipient for the Simon Diffey Award.”
Commenting, Sarah Jane Adams-Diffey said: “I am delighted that Kacey is our winner for 2025. When asked to explain to the judges why she should be selected as the winner over the other finalists, her response was pure motoring passion as she exclaimed, ‘this is my dream, motorsport is my life!’ That is exactly what we were looking for in a winner, somebody who is passionate, inspirational and will be an ambassador and continue the spirit of Simon’s award.”
AWARD NEWS updates
The Award news updates - issued annually - provide a detailed summary of the activities for the previous 12 months. You can read the past three updates by clicking on the images below.
2025
2024
