Veterans invited to join Mountain Road Racing program

The Mountain Road Racing Team is about to take on its first rally, and young veterans are invited to take part. Championing a team motto of ‘It’s always too soon to quit!’, Army veteran and Team Principal Robert Kilsby shares their exciting vision. 

From burning out to gearing up

The founder of the Mountain Road Racing Team Robert Kilsby

Veteran Robert Kilsby is a member of Tamborine RSL Sub Branch and served for more than 21 years in SAS, Commando, and intelligence special operations. After transitioning out of the military, he moved on to a career in crisis and emergency management. Unfortunately, these roles culminated in a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis in 2014. 

“I had a very unusual and busy career and I always had very strong coping mechanisms and kept pursuing excellence, but it all started to unravel around 2012,” Robert says. 

One of the activities that helped Robert through this difficult time was restoring his 1978 Alfa Romeo. This sparked his passion for performance driving, which eventually led to competitive racing. 

“I found some people racing their cars in Brisbane and my candlelight started to flicker again. It literally saved me, and I discovered that motorsport can be very useful for veterans’ recovery,” Robert reflects. 

It was through this love of racing and rallying that Robert had the idea to establish a team organisation and competitive program for other veterans like himself. Fast forward to today, and the Mountain Road Racing Team is gearing up for its first rally program. 

Keys in the ignition

The Mountain Road Racing Team's custom car

Following years of development and experience, and in partnership with the Australian Special Air Service Association (ASASA), the Mountain Road Racing Team has expanded to two Alfa Romeos, two drivers, a team manager, marketing director, sports psychologist, physiotherapist, team photographer and an ex-service organisation liaison officer. There have, however, been a few bumps in the road.  

“I’ve done about 15 major tarmac rallies and my last one was in 2018 at Rally Adelaide. My car wasn’t ready, so I ran my tow car,” Robert laughs. 

“I couldn’t do much after that, although in 2021 I trained and paddled a sea kayak 2,450km down the Murray River to raise awareness for our homeless veterans. On return home, I was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.” 

The Mountain Road Racing Team put their plans on hold for over a year so Robert could focus on his treatment and recovery. Today, he is cancer-free, and the team’s launch is back on track. Their first team of veteran participants will compete in the Snowy River Sprint, a national-level tarmac rally out of Lakes Entrance, Victoria in early September.  

“Our original plan was to have at least two tarmac rallies done in the first half of this season, but delays have occurred as we’ve been concentrating on getting our cars and the platform established for this program,” Robert explains. 

“We’ve been able to quickly build a team of terrific people. We’ve applied a lot of energy to it and now we are well underway with establishing our operating procedures and onboarding veteran participants.” 

Rallying around veterans

Robert served in the ADF for more than 21 years

Research has shown that participation in extreme sports, specifically motorsports, can act as a positive intervention for veterans with physical injuries. This is due to the high levels of achievement, team spirit, adrenaline rush, competition, equality and familiar environment that these activities offer. With this in mind, Robert has focused efforts on providing a safe space for young veterans to experience the major therapeutic benefits of motorsports, just as he did in his time of need.  

“This is all for the veterans; every dollar that we receive goes into this program. We understand that transitioning out of the military can be very difficult, especially for those recovering from physical and mental injuries incurred from their service. This program brings onboarded participants back to something akin to where they’ve come from,” Robert says. 

Robert anticipates the program will assist up to 120 veterans nation-wide – including all services, genders and abilities. Each year, 12 veterans will be trained as navigators, eight as crew chiefs, and many others as service crews and even event officials. Once fully established, the team will enter two cars in at least six national-level tarmac rallies each calendar year, with veteran participants forming both competing car’s teams. Robert and his nephew, infantry veteran Alick, will be the team drivers. 

All participants will undergo bespoke onboarding, and with training and travel expenses covered by the program, veterans can simply engage fully in the sport’s recovery benefits. Find out more and enquire by visiting the Mountain Road Racing website at mountainroadracing.au.

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