Reality television star Lachlan Mansell has announced a new initiative to raise valuable awareness and funding for charitable causes through his love of motorsport commentary.
Mansell recently rose to mainstream prominence following his success on Channel 9’s Beauty and the Geek reality television show, but the 33-year-old is well-known within the motorsport industry, having announced events all over Australia since 2005, across a range of broadcast formats including public address, television and live streaming.
Mansell’s initiative will be known as Commentating for a Cause and he is planning for it to be an annual occurrence.
“Since I was a teenager, commentating motorsport has been something I’ve been very passionate about and I’ve always been the sort of person who likes to do things for the benefit of the wider community – Commentating for a Cause brings those two things together,” Mansell said.
“Each year, I will choose a specific Commentating for a Cause motorsport event; instead of taking payment from the event organisers for my services, I will ask them to put that money towards the selected charity and members of the public will also be able to contribute donations.”
Mansell has decided upon both the event and charity for the inaugural edition of Commentating for a Cause: the V8SCOPS (V8 Sim Community Online Premier Series) Bathurst 1000 and the Burns Support Foundation.
“With most real-life motorsport in Australia on hold due to COVID-19 restrictions, many members of the racing community have turned to the online sim racing scene to fuel their competitive desires,” Mansell said.
“I’m not sure when I’m going to be able to commentate at a real race track again, so I thought I’d choose one of the most prestigious Australian sim races instead.
“Everyone is familiar with the Bathurst 1000 – even non-motorsport fans – and this is the virtual version. I’m expecting some well-known Supercars drivers to take part, along with most of Australia’s top sim racing competitors.”
Meanwhile, the Burns Support Foundation is a charity close to Mansell’s heart, after one of his close friends was involved in a horrific accident last year.
“Last November, my good friend Maddi Scordia was standing next to a fire pit when it exploded, and she suffered full-thickness burns to 60 per cent of her body,” Mansell said.
“The fact she survived was a miracle in itself, but her recovery has been nothing short of extraordinary – it has exceeded the expectations of even the most experienced doctors and surgeons.
“The Burns Support Foundation provides valuable support to victims during the recovery phase. The physical recovery is obviously a challenge, but one of the things I’ve learned from Maddi is that the mental recovery is equally important.
“I’d like this year’s Commentating for a Cause event to raise awareness about all the services offered by the Burns Support Foundation, along with generating some funding for a worthy cause.”
The 2021 V8SCOPS Bathurst 1000, held on the iRacing platform, will be live streamed by the SimSpeedTV network and broadcast on a range of platforms including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook Live. It will be held on Sunday, 19 September.
Donations to Commentating for a Cause can be made here: https://gofund.me/4e92aa4e. 100 per cent of donations collected will be payable to the selected charity (Burns Support Foundation).
