PHILIP JOHN BRANTHWAITE

The organisers of the Pirelli International Rally have been dealt a devastating blow with the sudden death, following a massive heart attack of the event’s Service Area Co-ordinator Phil Branthwaite. Phil, who was 48, had been the driving force behind providing service facilities on the rally for the last few years and, with the events return to Carlisle, had been instrumental in turning the semi derelict Hadrian’s Camp into a state of the art facility into a first class Service Area, complete with scrutineering venue and helicopter landing pad.

Speaking on behalf of Cumberland Sporting Car Club, the organisers of the Pirelli International Rally, the event’s Media Manager, Ed Graham, said, “We are a very close knit team on the Pirelli, Phil was, first and foremost, a very good friend of us all and this is shattering and unbelievably sad news. Phil has done a phenomenal job at Hadrian’s Camp and was very proud of what he had achieved. We have now to pick our selves up and carry on and will do our utmost to run a first rate event in his memory, albeit with a very heavy heart. At this moment our thoughts and prayers are with Phil’s wife and family at this most trying of times.