FORMULA ONE stars past and present have helped raise £100,000 for Sir Jackie Stewart’s Race Against Dementia charity.
Scottish racers David Coulthard and Dario Franchitti were joined by McLaren’s Lando Norris and George Russell, from Williams, in a series of endurance kart races at Larkhall Circuit in Lanarkshire.
The fundraising was topped off with a dinner attended by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. It will help bankroll the Race Against Dementia Fellowship set up by Sir Jackie after his wife, Lady Helen, was diagnosed with the disease.
Sturgeon said: “I know how determined Sir Jackie is not just to support Lady Helen but to help advance the crucial dementia research agenda.
“I want to thank the Stewart family for everything they are doing through Race Against Dementia and assure them the Scottish Government is committed to exploring how we can work together. Later this year, we will launch Scotland’s first national Brain Health Centre.”
Sir Jackie said: “As a Formula One driver, if I didn’t have the best mechanics, I wouldn’t have been able to win. We need to bring the same creativity to dementia research to find faster ways to detect, prevent, manage and ultimately cure this terrible condition.”
David Moulsdale, founder of Optical Express, hosted the dinner and added: “Sir Jackie’s leadership on this issue is inspiring. This is why we’re in talks with Edinburgh University about a collaboration regarding a predictive index for dementia using clinical data.”
