Kovalainen admits he was not so hot with a fishing reel

On Tuesday the famous circular lake at the McLaren Technology Centre was fished for the very first time.

The fishermen were 13-year-old Liam Fairhurst, an ardent McLaren fan, and Heikki Kovalainen.

Fairhurst first visited the McLaren Technology Centre in July, spending time with Kovalainen and Ron Dennis.

Fairhurst has been fighting cancer for the past three years, as well as raising money for the children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent in memory of his friend, Jack Wilkinson, who died of the disease. Over the past 20 months, he has raised in excess of £250,000.

Dennis was so impressed with Fairhurst's fund-raising abilities, that he set a charity challenge for Fairhurst - and the result was that Liam caught 25 fish in the McLaren Technology Centre's famous circular lake in a single hour yesterday.

Dennis pledged £50 for every fish Liam caught, which works out at £1250 - while dozens of McLaren Group employees and many of Fairhurst's family and friends also pledged to sponsor his fishing exploits.

As of midday Wednesday, the total was more than £1700 - which, topped up by Ron's £1250, is nudging £3000.

Liam Fairhurst
"Thanks to my brilliant fishing instructor, Martin Locke, we were able to complete our challenge and in the process caught 25 carp! Thank you to everyone at McLaren who came out to watch me and added to my ever growing total on my Just Giving page and to everyone else who has donated. With Ron's money we are nearly up to £3000 which will make a huge difference to families like mine and this now takes my grand fundraising total to just over £278,000. I'm back in hospital for chemo this week but wanted you all to know how much I enjoyed yesterday and how it took my mind off hospitals. Thanks to all of you. "

Ron Dennis
"Liam has shown great fighting spirit - both in coping with his illness and his determination to raise funds for and awareness of CLIC Sargent - which is a hugely worthwhile charity. Like myself, Liam couldn't resist a challenge and showed huge prowess with a fishing rod. He has earned the admiration and respect of a huge number of our employees who have stepped in to sponsor him, and the awareness raised via the internet has helped raise a significant amount of money for the charity. His efforts have been suitably rewarded and we at McLaren are proud to have played a role in his commendable fund-raising efforts."

Heikki Kovalainen
"I only caught one fish, but after that I spent some time coaching Liam during the hour. He did really well."

Click here Liam Fairhurst's Fishing Challenge.

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