Team UK - Cruttenden, Davies and Morton chosen for Junior Co-driver Programme

Cruttenden, Davies and Morton chosen for Junior Co-driver Programme

Posted: March 23, 2012 10:06 AM

The Motor Sports Association (MSA) has selected three promising young rally navigators to join the inaugural MSA Academy Junior Co-driver Programme, which will be overseen by National Co-driver Coach and former WRC navigator Nicky Grist.

The three co-drivers chosen for the 2012 programme are:

Joe Cruttenden, aged 22 from Rochdale in Lancashire
Chris Davies, aged 21 from Bridgend in Mid Glamorgan
Jack Morton, aged 17 from Stanley in County Durham

Cruttenden has co-driven for 20 drivers in a dozen different cars and took the Michael ‘Beef’ Park Award with a class win on the 2010 Wyedean Rally. Davies began navigating in 2007, since when he has sat with over 20 drivers and competed at an international level in Europe and Africa, while Morton took overall wins on the 2010 Autodrome Stages and 2011 Crail Summer Stages.

Cruttenden said:
“The prospect of working with the likes of Nicky and the other coaches on the MSA Academy has made me put a renewed focus on my co-driving career. I’m hoping Nicky can help me with my pre-event preparation, as that’s an area I feel I can really improve on.”

Davies said:
“It was a huge surprise when I picked up the phone to hear Nicky on the other end and I’m ecstatic to be part of the programme. Being able to work with experts of Nicky’s calibre on a scheme like the MSA Academy is something that money can’t buy; as an aspiring co-driver I don’t think I could have a better teacher.”

Morton said:
“I feel honoured to have been chosen by such a great icon as Nicky and I feel privileged to be able to work with him alongside two of the best young co-drivers in the country. I’m aiming to learn as much as I can so that I can progress onto Team UK and then hopefully emulate some of Nicky’s success in the future.”

Grist added:
“Joe, Chris and Jack have got a fair amount of experience and some excellent results under their belts, so they are ideal candidates for this new programme, which will act as a stepping stone to the Team UK national squad. We will begin with an assessment day that will allow me to identify the areas in which I feel they can improve. I’ll then run three or four sessions throughout the year to set them off on the road to bigger and better things.”

MSA unveils 2012 Team UK national squad and expanded MSA Academy

Posted: January 13, 2012 2:02 PM

The Motor Sports Association (MSA), governing body for UK motor sport, has confirmed the young drivers that have been selected to form this year’s Team UK national squad. In addition, the MSA has unveiled plans to extend the membership of the MSA Academy to include a selection of the most promising young drivers from various domestic championships.

Officially unveiled today at Autosport International show in Birmingham, the racing drivers selected to join the MSA’s driver development scheme under the guidance of National Race Coach David Brabham, are:

Jack Harvey, age 18 from Bassingham, Lincolnhire
Josh Hill, age 21 from Farnham, Surrey
Alex Lynn, age 18 from Dunmow, Essex
Lewis Williamson, age 22 from Golspie, Sutherland
Josh Webster, age 17 from Stowmarket, Suffolk
Nick Yelloly, age 21 from Solihull, West Midlands
Oliver Rowland, age 19 from Sheffield, South Yorkshire

The three rally drivers selected to join the programme under the guidance of new National Rally Coach James Wozencroft, are:

Mark Donnelly, age 20 from Omagh, Tyrone
Elfyn Evans, age 23 from Machynlleth, Powys
John MacCrone, age 22 from Dervaig, Isle of Mull

National Co-driver Coach, Nicky Grist, will be working with the following young British co-drivers:

Andrew Edwards, age 25 from Aberystwyth, Ceredigion
Stuart Loudon, age 22 from Glasgow
James Morgan, age 20 from Aberdare, Mid Glamorgan

“We are very excited by the make-up of this year’s squad,” says David Brabham, MSA National Race Coach. “Oliver obviously claimed the McLaren Autosport Young Driver title and we are looking forward to working with him for the first time, while Alex will have learned a lot from that shoot-out experience. Indeed he has already gained a place on the FIA Institute Driver Academy, as has Lewis Williamson who was with us last year, and this will further extend the training programme and development that both drivers receive. We welcome Josh Hill and Nick Yelloly to the squad for the first time, as well as Josh Webster who becomes the first graduate of the MSA’s Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence programme at Loughborough College to take the step up to Team UK.”

With Mark Higgins’ own rallying commitments curtailing his involvement with the programme, James Wozencroft will take up the position of National Rally Coach, confirming his position as one of the leading coaches working in UK motor sport.

“We’re delighted to have Elfyn and John back for another year as both have made significant progress in the past 12 months,” says James. “Mark Donnelly had a really impressive couple of years and we are really looking forward to working with him.”

Former WRC co-driver Nicky Grist will again take charge of developing the co-drivers, but has plans to change things for this year.
“The art of co-driving is so specialised that it’s very difficult to fit the guys into the overall Team UK programme, so we’re going to create a new schedule for them. Of course, if something is happening with the drivers that can benefit the co-drivers, then we’ll incorporate that, but I think we can have a big impact with some more bespoke training.”

Nicky is also making a further three places available for younger co-drivers to receive help and advice throughout the year and a chance to become part of the Academy structure. An application form is available from the MSA by emailing msaacademy@msauk.org.

“These youngsters would be able to feed up to the elite side of the Academy in future years,” said Grist, “so it’s a good chance for us to work with them a bit more closely and provide the sort of guidance that can really help in the early stages of a career. A good co-driver is one that is keen and willing to work for the opportunities that present themselves, so I’ll be interested to see who might apply.”

Expanded MSA Academy

A further group of young drivers have been selected to become MSA Academy members in 2012 and will benefit from a number of sessions with MSA Academy coaches throughout the year.

“Thanks to the great work of everyone involved with the MSA Academy, Team UK and the AASE programme, we now have a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience at our disposal,” says Robert Reid, MSA Performance Director. “We now want to spread that knowledge much further and ensure that as many young drivers as possible are developing themselves and their careers in the right way.

“Thanks to the support of our friends at the Racing Steps Foundation, we have been able to develop a suite of materials that can really help young drivers at an early stage of their careers and roll that out more widely. These new Academy members will benefit from a number of development sessions during the year, as well as access to the MSA coaches as they require. We know from the feedback we receive just how valuable this kind of programme can be, so we are delighted to be able to expand our efforts in 2012.”

The drivers selected for the MSA Academy are:

Race

Jody Fannin
Max Goff
Archie Hamilton
Jordan King
Seb Morris
Matt Parry
James Peace
Charlie Robertson
Dan Wells
Dino Zamparelli

Kart

Ben Barnicoat
Matt Graham
Jessica Hawkins
Callan O’Keeffe
James Singleton

Rally

Callum Black
Nick Cristofaro
Peter Taylor
Jack Rowe

Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE)

The drivers enrolled on the MSA’s AASE programme through Loughborough College in 2011/12 who are also part of the MSA Academy are:

Jordan Annels
Jack Barlow
Callum Bowyer
Damon Brooks
Jonathon Brown
Jake Dalton
Cameron Davis
Jake Dennis
Jamie Dzyra
Ryan Green
Ryan Hayes
David Humpston
Chris Ingram
Tom Ingram
Declan Jones
Matthew Lambert
Sarah Moore
Oliver Myres
Jade Paveley
Rhys Price
James Raven
Shaun Slavin
Matt Thompson
Matt Tiffin
Charlie Turner
Bradley Wheeler
Luke Whitworth

The entire membership of the MSA Academy will be meeting together for the first time at the Porsche Performance Centre at Silverstone on 1 February 2012.

“We aim to integrate the three areas of the MSA Academy much more closely this year,” confirms Reid. “The principles of talent development are now consistent throughout the Academy structure, so it makes sense to bring the various programmes together where possible. It will be good for the younger members to see that they are part of the same scheme as the guys at the top of tree; it’s also good for the more experienced members to feel that there are people looking up to them and learning from them. I am sure that they will all benefit greatly from the increased interaction.”

---

Team UK

Team UK is the designation of a national squad of the country’s most promising young drivers and represents the pinnacle of the MSA Academy structure that has been created to guide young drivers from eight years old through to world championship level.

Team UK is operated on behalf of the MSA by Brabham Performance Clinic, with race and rally coaches providing specific expertise to supplement the common learning shared across all disciplines. 2009 Le Mans champion David Brabham fulfils the role of National Race Coach alongside former BRC class champion James Wozencroft as National Rally Coach, with former WRC co-driver Nicky Grist as National Co-driver Coach.

The content of the Team UK programme is significantly more demanding and focussed than previous schemes, enabling a greater emphasis to be placed on driver coaching and in-car performance. Individual fitness programmes and dietary consultations ensure that the drivers are in the best physical shape, while the application of advanced sports psychology equips them mentally to perform at the highest level.

Exclusive visits to teams from F1 and WRC as well as to leading component suppliers provide invaluable insight into the demands and requirements of a top driver and the squad enjoys access to some of the most sophisticated simulation equipment in the world.