Written by Motorsport Tutor, Ed Sarling
Last year I was at a race event, working with a team whose owner seemed vaguely familiar, but neither of us recognized each other at all. It wasn’t until he saved my number in his phone under “Ed Supra”—a common practice among car enthusiasts to save names alongside the car they drive—that we realized we’d crossed paths before. After about ten minutes of chatting, we pieced together that it had been sixteen years since he’d bought some car parts from me. Even then, we couldn’t remember each other’s faces, but we knew we’d crossed paths in the car world. It’s funny how, in the car community, you might forget a face but never the car, the wheels, or the engine mods someone had.
Now, we’ve both come a long way. I’m a University level motorsport engineering tutor, working as a race engineer, and rebuilding high performance race engines, and he’s now a team owner with multiple GT cars, a sarkly race truck, and ambitions of Le Mans. It’s incredible to think how our journeys, which started with humble, grease-stained beginnings, have led us to where we are today, influencing and contributing to the professional racing world.
But my journey started long before that encounter. My very first taste of working with engines came even before I was old enough to drive a car. On my 15th birthday, my dad got me a TS185 Suzuki motorbike. Racing around the fields, I learned how to handle it, tinker with it, and fix it up whenever something went wrong. That motorbike was my first real encounter with the mechanics of engines, laying the groundwork for everything that followed. After that was an AR 50 and then a GS550, both of which got the fettling treatment which was a sign of how pretty much every vehicle since has been treated: I have to modify it somehow.
My first car project saw me elbow deep in a burgundy 1989 Fiat Tipo. Through my 3 year ownership I swapped its 1.4L engine for a 1.6L, fitted a big sound system, and had my first experience with the furry chaos that is fibreglass when I crafted a shonky custom body kit. With 16-inch wheels (this was the 90s remember, when fitting 18s was considered crazy big) and a unique look, it was a testament to my passion for out-of-the-ordinary modifications and a preference for custom solutions over off-the-shelf parts.
It spent most of its time—and racked up most of its mileage—on Mansfield’s 1.1 mile inner ring-road, which was known as “The Circuit”, tackling legendary bends like Village Corner, Toot Hill, and St Johns. That loop of tarmac became my proving ground, teaching me invaluable lessons and shaping my skills behind the wheel.
By the way, I definitely in no way condone or recommend street racing and saw some bad accidents over the years. Always take it to an organised track day event and dont risk your own or anyone else’s safety.
From those adrenaline-fueled nights, we gradually transitioned to legitimate racing, moving from backroad runs to organized track days, and eventually into the heart of professional motorsport. It’s amazing how far we’ve come from those garage gatherings and late-night cruises to now working with top-tier teams and drivers. And that’s the beauty of motorsport: it’s not just about the cars or the tracks, but the journey and the community that propels us forward.
With all that said, the moral and takeaway I am hoping you get from this, is that if the passion and desire is strong enough, and if the effort is put in, then there is no reason you cannot achieve your goals and find yourself one day reminiscing on your own journey and how far you have come.
Written by Ed Sarling
NMA Engineering Tutor & Race Engineer
