Meet the Lupine Racing Team

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The history of Lupine Racing

Back in 2019, the Trans European Race from London to Istanbul was born as part of Lupine Travel. Certain global events kept delaying the first edition, but finally in 2023, the inaugural race began and Lupine Racing was born. What originally started as a fun project for our group tour clients quickly evolved into a whole new world of public transport racing, thanks in no small part to our wonderful field of returning entrants who made these events far more competitive than we ever anticipated.

The second race to Albania followed a year later in 2024, along with our first charity partnership event: the JET Jaunt, in collaboration with the Jersey Employment Trust.

We’ve continued to grow and improve our events. By the end of 2024, Lupine Racing became its own standalone company, allowing us to focus on and expand these unique challenges. Spring 2025 saw our first event heading to Morocco in North Africa (notably our first event outside of school holidays) which was a roaring success. Events in Estonia and races in Japan are now on the horizon.

Below, you can find details of our core back office team. If you’ve joined any of our races, you’ll have also met many of the event-specific staff and teams from our regular sponsors, Jack’s Flight Club, who have been present at our start lines, award parties, layovers, and many other moments along the way.



  • James Finnerty James Finnerty – Founder and Race Director

  • My career began in software, but in 2013 I decided to take on a very different challenge and cycled from London to Shanghai. That journey sparked a passion for adventure travel and exploration that completely changed the direction of my life.

    After returning, I joined Lupine Travel and have since visited more than 100 countries and led over 40 group tours across 60 countries. Along the way, I developed a love for overland travel, unusual journeys and helping others experience the world in new ways.

    In 2019, I founded the first Lupine Race after wondering what would happen if I combined the spirit of bicycle touring and long distance car rallies with the challenge of travelling entirely by public transport. What started as a single event has since grown into a series of international races that test strategy, teamwork and endurance across the globe.



  • Dylan Harris Dylan Harris – Partner and Business Admin
  • I founded Lupine Travel back in 2008 and now provide my expertise to Lupine Racing supporting the business admin behind the scenes.



  • Tess Woolfenden Tess Woolfenden – Event Coordinator
  • You'll find me at nearly all of our start lines, finish lines, and awards parties, keeping things running smoothly. I also support the event teams throughout each race, helping with logistics and coordination.

  • Mike Pickering Mike Pickering – Assistant Race Director / Invigilation
  • I support race operations and rules enforcement, drawing on my background as a professional yacht racing strategist/rules expert as well as a background in the tourism space. I’ve been a core part of the Marrakesh and upcoming Slovenia event teams, and I’ll be working remotely behind the scenes for Vienna and Tokyo. During races, I help monitor participants, adjudicate queries, and keep the event fair and smooth.
  • Holly Barrett Holly Barrett – Marketing Lead
  • I joined Lupine Racing to support marketing, social media, and press outreach, building on several years of experience in higher education marketing. My goal is to share our exciting travel adventures with the world, and to make that happen, I’ll be asking for your best travel snaps and encouraging you to join me in creating great video content.