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About Us

Our story, history and values

Chris Gilbert and Init Racing

The philosophy of our company is simple; to provide a complete and comprehensive service of the highest possible quality.

We have achieved this by structuring our company so that we are not driven by profit margins and can focus on providing the very best service possible.

Our History

After serving a 5 year apprenticeship as a tool maker Chris Gilbert was given the opportunity to join one of the most prodigious restoration companies in the world, Crosthwaite & Gardiner. Where he was able to work on some of the world’s most famous cars and their engines, he also had the responsibility for recreating the Auto Union V12 and V16 engines, the Mercedes-Benz W154, Vanwalls, Maserati Birdcages, Coventry climax FPF and Bentleys. One of his further roles in Crosthwaite & Gardiner was to commission a dyno and test the engines as well as providing trackside support.

After having spent 10 years with Crosthwaite & Gardiner an opportunity presented itself to join Ilmor and later Mercedes Benz AMG High Performance Power Train to work with the F1 engines for Maclaren. Where he was involved in the engine performance testing and durability of the F1 engines, he also supported the test programmes.

With his heart still inclined towards Historic motorsport, Chris left Mercedes-Benz HPE after working there for 10 years, to set up “Initracing” and get back into the Historic car business.

While working at Mercedes-Benz HPE, Chris frequently travelled out to Germany to look after Historic cars owned by Mercedes-Benz. Even though he no longer works for Mercedes-Benz doing F1 engines he still looks after some of their historic race cars.

After spending 10 years in the pinnacle of F1 motorsport “Initracing” is uniquely placed to provide the complete service due to contacts in historic and F1 racing circles.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL US ON 01604 212 947