Who are we?
My name is Neil Cogan. I have been interested, passionate and involved in motor racing from an early age. My lifelong ambition has always to be a professional racing driver. I currently hold a racing license and have tested in many different varieties of racing which I feel has given me more experience and knowledge of the sport and what is required to be successful.
My experience:
- Go-Karting since I was six years old in various karts and at various venues.
- MG ZR test
- Renault Clio scholarship where there were two timed sessions and my quickest lap time improved by 2.5 seconds from the first session to the second
- MINI Cooper Challenges at Oulton Park and Donington Park
- Go-Karting race at my local venue where I claimed pole position and won with lapping everyone in the process
- BRSCC Mazda MX-5 Championship at Oulton Park. Prior to qualifying I had never driven the car, or driven a RWD car on a circuit before, despite this I managed to improve my lap time from qualifying to race 3 by 10 seconds.
Why are we crowdfunding?
I am seeking funding to compete in the 2025 MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy, then progress to the MINI Challenge JCW, with my main future target and compete in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). I am aiming to achieve these targets within 5 years.
2025 MINI Challenge Cooper Trophy Calendar:
12/13 April – Snetterton - Norfolk
10/11 May – Brands Hatch Indy* - Kent
7/8 June – Thruxton* - Hampshire
28/29 June – Croft (MINI Festival) - Darlington, North Yorkshire
30/31 August – Donington Park GP* - Derbyshire
27/28 September – Silverstone - Northamptonshire
1/2 November – Brands Hatch Indy - Kent
* – BTCC support (races live on ITV4)
The remaining races with be shown live via the MINI Challenge social media platforms.
How we’ll spend the money raised
The funding will cover all the following areas:
Team Fees (which consists of):
- Standard car preparation between race weekends.
- Car hire for Friday test day and race weekend.
- Support for the 3 days.
- Awning space for the 3 days.
- Normal wear and tear is covered by us.
- 1 clutch friction plate for the season.
- Fuel for testing and race
- 1 set of brake pads per weekend.
- Shared team manger.
- No1 mechanic for you and Shared tyre tech.
- Shared assistant.
- Light hospitality.
These are additional to team fees:
- Driver Entry Fees
- Tyres (Championship Allocation)
- Insurance
- Damage Excess
Any donation large or small would be greatly appreciated.
Everyone who donates will have their name on my race car as part of the cars livery (subject to donators permission).
How you can play your part
There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.
1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!
2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.
3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!
4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!