Chesterfield’s Amigos Team Parker racing driver Seb Perez stormed to victory again last weekend for rounds 13 and 14 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship at Silverstone Race Circuit in Northamptonshire (15/16 September).

The 18 year old racer took to a double Porsche ProAm podium success, winning the second race and taking a third in race one keeping him on top spot and a good position to win the championship with only two races to go at Brands Hatch in two weeks time.

Fridays free practice at the circuit saw Perez and Team mate Nottingham’s George Gamble near top of the sheets.

A great qualifying session on Saturday saw the top ten grid positions separated by just over half a second and although Perez topped the category timesheet for much of the session, he could only salvage third fastest ProAm place within the 30 minute slot.

Race one on Sunday morning saw a mid-pack tussle for the opening lap and as the nose-to-tail group were about to complete the fist lap, Perez and rival Jamie Orton collided sending both spinning to the back of the field.

Despite the collision Perez knew this was going to be a difficult feat from back of the pack but in true fighting style Perez clawed his way through the field of 23 cars and by lap four, he had made his way to 16th place and showing no sign of let up.

His quest for a ProAM podium was on and by lap 18 he had seen off another six rivals holding onto same spot until the chequered flag after 28 laps to take third and a podium place

Perez lined up on row five and 3rd place ProAM racer for race two and as the lights went out his opening lap went better than in race one and by lap two he was in second place. Like a cat after a mouse Perez knew he needed to hunt the leader down and by lap three Super Seb had taken control of the race saying “Adios Amigos” to the rest of the pack

It wouldn’t be easy to retain however as title challenger Dan Vaughan was closing in and Perez would have to work hard to keep his ProAm lead. A tense handful of laps followed as the two tussled, confounded further when Pro runner Will Bratt made contact with Perez on lap 13.

Vaughan closed up once again, but Perez kept his nerve having to slow down having a puncture to take the chequered flag and another ProAm victory taking a fastest lap of the race too.

A jubilant Perez climbed out of the Porsche and said

“That feels great to add yet another victory to the CV and in a relatively straightforward race too,”

He added at the podium,

“I got a little held up behind Will (Bratt) which meant I was being forced back into the clutches of Dan (Vaughan) which was less than ideal and kept it closer than I’d like, otherwise I should have been well up the road. We have had some good pace this weekend as well which is a real confidence boost, although that puncture over the finish line meant it’s been a long run back to the podium to get the trophy.

“This win has certainly been vital to my championship hopes and it’s just so close at the top (of the championship standings) at the moment, every point counts. Let’s hope we can seal the deal at Brands”.

Team mate George Gamble retired on lap 26 with a puncture.

Perez leaves Silverstone leading the ProAm category by seven points , and second in the Rookie standings. Amigos Team Parker Racing are second in the Entrant Championship going into the last meeting at Brands Hatch on 29 -30 September.

You can follow Perez live and all the action on ITV4 as a support race to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Editorial and Images by Paul Horton Motorsport Media and Photography

Parents of year 6 pupils living in Derbyshire can now apply to us for their child’s secondary school place for September 2019.

Around 8,900 year 6 primary school children – who were born between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008 – have been sent information on the application process.

The deadline to submit applications is at midnight on Wednesday 31 October 2018.Applying online is the easiest method and can be done here.

Applying online is quicker and allows parents to make changes to their application at any point up to the closing date. Anyone who applies online will receive an email to confirm their application has been received. To find out other ways to submit, please click the link above.

When completing the application form parents will be asked to list, in order of preference, the 3 schools they would most like their child to go to.Although parents have a legal right to express preferences they have no automatic right to a place at any particular school.

Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered until places have been allocated to those children whose parents did return their form on time.

Parents who fail to meet the deadline may find that the school they want their child to go to is full.

Our Cabinet Member for Young People Councillor Alex Dale said:

“As the new school term begins, the time has come for parents with children in year 6 to apply for their child’s secondary school place for September 2019.

“It’s really quick and easy to apply – especially if parents do it online and we have a dedicated team on hand to help parents with the application process.

“Picking the right school is a big decision so we’re asking parents to take their time to explore all of their options and send in their application before the deadline on Wednesday 31 October.”

Councillor Dale added:

“Missing the deadline could mean parents are less likely to get a place at their preferred school and could mean their child may have to travel further to an alternative school or not get into the same school as their friends.”

Any parents who are a refused a place for their child have a right of appeal to an independent panel.

A bus company that is nationally renowned for its innovation has won the East Midlands Chamber Derbyshire Business of the Year Award 2018.

trentbarton is admired throughout the passenger transport sector as probably the most innovative bus company in the UK – a reputation built on decades of focusing on its customer experience.

Recognised as an industry leader because of its total focus on providing outstanding levels of service, it has invested in technology to communicate dynamically with customers and in staff training to ensure the continued helpfulness of its drivers.

Its 12-strong customer service team proactively and reactively tackles problems and complaints, using cloud-based software to rapidly assess customer contact and provide meaningful responses. The company also uses social media to make sure it maintains real-time contact with customers.

Receiving the award from Mazars, the headline sponsor of the Chamber’s Business Awards 2018, trentbaton Managing Director Jeff Counsell said: “It’s an absolute honour to be named as Business of the Year.

“This award is the result of having a great team. It is thanks to all the personnel and departments – from marketing, customer services, IT and technology, service delivery, commercial, training and the 120 maintenance staff across our five depots. Most of all, it’s about our 870 drivers who make us what we are.

“We are passionate about our customers and passionate about service delivery and it is fantastic to be acknowledged for this by being named Derbyshire Business of the Year.”

The company was one of 12 to win an award on the night, as the Chamber celebrated the strength and successes of businesses across Derby and Derbyshire.

To qualify as a contender for the supreme accolade of Business of the Year, trentbarton had already won the Excellence in Customer Service Award.

Chamber President Rob Mayo said: “One of the primary objectives for my Presidential year has been to celebrate the successes of our members and to encourage them to take advantage of the many opportunities for growth, both here in the UK and around the world.

“Taking part in the Chamber’s Business Awards, the only local awards to offer winners the chance to go on to compete on a regional and national stage at the British Chambers of Commerce Awards, is just one way to be part of that celebration. We congratulate every winner tonight and every organisation that made it through the final shortlist.

“Winning awards is not a vainglorious pursuit. Taking part in the competition encourages an organisation to look closely at what they do best. Making it through to the final is cause for celebration in itself and whether you get that far or walk off with the ultimate crown, you should shout about that success and proclaim to the world that yours is one of the best businesses out there.”

To see a full list of winners click here.

Residents are being urged to have their say about significant changes to Derbyshire County Council’s early help service. The public consultation started this week and will run for 6 weeks until Monday 22 October.

Early help service is support for children and young people aged up to 18 (or 25 for those with special needs or who are disabled) and their families early on when problems emerge. It may be required at any stage in life from pre-birth to adulthood and involves working with agencies to understand and support families to help them care for their children and deal with any problem they feel unable to manage on their own.

The service is currently delivered by 25 multi-agency teams (MATs) based across the county which bring together staff including education welfare, youth workers, children’s centres, family support and careers guidance working closely with schools, health visitors, GPs and community groups.

Derbyshire County Council provide a substantial Early Help Offer which is funded through their own budget and other grant schemes and changes to these arrangements have resulted in the need to review services to ensure that children and young people most in need of help continue to receive it. Their aim is to concentrate their resources on the type of activities which evidence shows support them most effectively in line with how many other authorities provide these services.

Councillor Alex Dale, Cabinet Member for Young People said:“Changes to the way our early help service is funded and a reduction in grants means we need to propose changes to concentrate our resources on children and families who need help the most and to ensure they continue to receive it.

“We also want to make sure we concentrate our resources on the type of activities which have been proven to work best for them.

“The county council currently provides a substantial early help offer but providing this kind of help is the responsibility of all public organisations including schools, not just ours, so we’re also taking this opportunity to consider more effective ways of working with partners as we look closely at all our services to ensure they’re as efficient as possible.

“For some services, including early help, this will mean taking a different approach to how they’re run or funded in future.

“With this in mind, our proposals also include supporting other organisations and the many community and voluntary groups which already provide this kind of help to families across the county.

“We’re encouraging residents to take part in our consultation and give us their views about the proposed changes which we’ll carefully consider before any decisions are made.”

The consultation will ask Derbyshire residents to give their views about proposed changes to the family support, youth support and careers elements of our early help service.

If the proposals are approved, new arrangements would not be brought in before September 2019 when support for young people currently using the service would be completed.

The closing date for responses is Monday 22 October 2018.

The Cabinet will consider a report detailing the outcome of the public consultation later this year. An equality impact assessment would also be carried out to ensure that any proposed changes to services would not discriminate against disadvantaged or vulnerable people.

To read the proposed changes in detail, provide feedback or for more information click here.